Neo@Ogilvy forges ahead with a fair share of clients

When mOne Worldwide (the 50:50 joint venture between OgilvyOne Worldwide and Group M Worldwide) was dissolved in January 2006, one wondered what would happen to the online planning and buying function for OgilvyOne and GroupM clients, carried out till then by mOne.

Well, things were sorted out quickly, with Group M forming Interactions, its own online division for Group M clients. OgilvyOne, meanwhile, formed Neo@Ogilvy as a part of its digital offering.

Neo@Ogilvy seems to be ready to take off with a good set of clients in its kitty. These include certain mOne clients that Neo@Ogilvy has managed to retain, such as IBM, SAP and American Express.

According to Renuka Jaypal, president, OgilvyOne, India, and national business director, telecom, OgilvyOne, Mumbai, the outlook for the online medium has changed for these clients since they aligned themselves with Neo. She says, “Previously, these clients were occasional and did sporadic work in the online space. But now after Neo has been formed, they are looking towards a more consolidated offering, with a more serious view of the online medium.”

“For instance, American Express hasn’t really been too active in the online space as far as India is concerned,” Jaypal says. “With our consolidated offering, which includes online planning, buying and execution, it’s now looking towards this area in a more focused manner.”

Apart from bagging a few businesses as part of the mOne heritage, Neo@Ogilvy has also had a few independent wins, prominent among them Yahoo! India and IL&FS Investmart.

In addition, some of O&M’s clients such as SBI and Lenovo have also come on board. Is Neo@Ogilvy consciously wooing O&M clients?

“We obviously won’t approach all of Ogilvy’s clients,” Jaypal responds. “We are only approaching those clients to whose business we feel we can add value, and who can make good use of the booming online digital space.”

But from the look of it, Neo@Ogilvy is largely targeting brands in the IT or services sectors. Jaypal explains, “Usually, such brands are among the first to wake up to the digital revolution; the others follow. So, naturally, we pride ourselves in having clients who understand the nature and importance of the medium and have dared to take the first plunge.”

“But having said that, Neo@Ogilvy will not restrict its set of businesses to the IT and service sectors only,” Jaypal adds. According to her, even FMCGs, durables or airline brands need to shed their obsession with traditional media and wake up to the growing online world. In fact, some industry sources believe that Neo@Ogilvy has signed on a prestigious airline brand and is holding discussions with two retail chain giants, which, if true, only goes to strengthen Jaypal’s point.

Neo@Ogilvy has its central office in Mumbai, which is headed by Prasanth Mohanachandran. It has another office in Bangalore and will soon expand to Delhi and set up a team there as well.

Neo@Ogilvy’s aim is to provide its clients with end-to-end solutions in the online space, such as online planning and buying, coming up with creatives, execution, results analysis and monitoring and data analytics.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!