Ogilvy activates Activation by merging Out of Home units

In what is being touted as a ‘first-of-its-kind 360-degree Out of Home (OOH) communication offering', Ogilvy India has merged four of its independent Out of Home businesses to create a single entity under the Ogilvy Activation banner. The four businesses that have been brought together to form the new combined specialist unit are Ogilvy Landscapes (the agency's outdoor media business), Ogilvy Outreach (the rural communication division), OgilvyLive (the ground-level brand communication division) and retail brand identity division, Ogilvy Signscapes. In a related development, Pratap Bose (previously country manager, OgilvyLive/Ogilvy Landscapes - India) has been appointed as president, Ogilvy Activation, while JC Giri (ex-country head, Ogilvy Landscapes) assumes charge as country head, Ogilvy Activation.

Addressing a press gathering in Mumbai yesterday, Bose said that clients are increasingly looking for a unified OOH platform, and Ogilvy Activation promises the only 360-degree OOH platform catering to clients' needs. "We have been the pioneers in the Out of Home arena, launching divisions such as Ogilvy Landscape, Outreach, Live and Signscapes," he explained." Each individual unit has a proven track record, and by integrating them we believe we can leverage the synergies better to put forward a more complete offering for clients. We believe our clients are looking forward to our expertise in the Out of Home area, and by offering a complete spectrum of opportunities and services in the non-traditional area of advertising, Activation will change the nature of the OOH offering in India." He also pointed out that no turf or territory issues afflict the four divisions, which makes the integration natural and effortless.

The objective behind merging the four independent OOH divisions into a single unit is to create better opportunities for connecting with the consumer across touch-points, and Ogilvy Activation is being billed as a developer and enhancer of brand-consumer relationships ‘at the last mile'. Speaking on the manner in which the resulting synergies can be tapped, Bose said, "There are great opportunities for synergy in the way the individual units overlap to deliver at a higher level. Our edge comes from the expertise, knowledge, resources, manpower and scale that the combined entity brings together." In terms of talent alone, the combined entity boasts over 140 professionals. Activation currently has an estimated billing of over Rs 225 crore.

Among the things that the four divisions have in common are clients, geographical territories, suppliers and material and related knowledge bases. "The overlaps are fairly obvious," said Piyush Pandey, executive chairman & national creative director, O&M India. "For instance, Outreach, which functions in media-dark areas, organizes events, which is what OgilvyLive has been doing in urban areas. With Activation, there is an opportunity to bring the learnings together for the benefit of clients."

The broader objective at Ogilvy India includes seeing Ogilvy Activation emerge as ‘a catalyst for change in the area of OOH in the Asia-Pacific region. "India leads the organization in many ways, and the approach to the last mile is a lead for other countries in the region," said John Goodman, CEO, Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia.

Commenting on Ogilvy Activation's business prospects, Pandey said, "The primary focus of the division is to get brands across to all possible consumer touch-points in the last mile. We want to bring to our clients the brand power that mass media alone can never achieve. I am certain some strong relationships will emerge as more and more clients buy into Ogilvy Activation's 360-degree communication platform as a value proposition." © 2004 agencyfaqs!