Several top management changes at O&M Worldwide

Tim Isaac will now head Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific. Miles Young, who held the position earlier, has been appointed global CEO of the Ogilvy Group

WPP has announced the appointment of Miles Young as global chief executive officer of the Ogilvy Group. Young was chairperson of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Asia Pacific till now. He succeeds Shelly Lazarus, who led the company for 11 years. Lazarus will remain chairperson of the Ogilvy Group. Both appointments will be effective from January 1, 2009.

Young is one of Ogilvy's stellar performers. He has run Ogilvy in the Asia Pacific region for the last 13 years. In addition to his responsibilities at Ogilvy, he has also functioned where appropriate as de facto WPP chairperson in the region, supporting acquisitions, developing talent and building practical integration initiatives. His appointment ensures continuity of leadership at Ogilvy.

With his background in both traditional advertising and direct marketing, Young, like Lazarus before him, is a master of multidisciplinary marketing and integrated offerings – a philosophy that drives Ogilvy's brand building business practice, which is called 360 Degree Brand Stewardship.

In an official communiqué, WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell says, “Lazarus has done a fantastic job as brand guardian of Ogilvy, building a first class client roster and driving the company to fully embrace integrated marketing under the 360 Degree Brand Stewardship. She has taken Ogilvy from a strong position, both geographically and functionally, to a superb position.”

“Miles brings to the role of CEO a deep understanding, not only of European and Asian markets, but also of the role that new technologies – and integrated thinking – bring to our business,” says Sorrell.

Commenting on her successor, Lazarus says, “I have worked in partnership with Miles for years. He has a simple mandate – to do for Ogilvy Worldwide what he has managed to do so brilliantly for Ogilvy Asia.”

Before moving to Asia in 1995, Young spent 12 years in the European market. He began his marketing career in the early 1980s, working in pure advertising at Lintas and Allen, Brady & Marsh before joining Ogilvy & Mather in 1983. In 1990, he led Ogilvy's Direct operations (precursors to the agency's digital offering) in Europe, ultimately as chairperson. During this period, he played a pivotal role in establishing the European hub for IBM when Ogilvy landed the landmark global account in 1994.

Young is a graduate of Oxford University, where he gained a first class degree in history. He has lectured and written widely on integrated marketing, a special interest.

Tim Isaac will succeed Young in heading Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific.

Isaac joined the Ogilvy family in 1995 and is a veteran of the business in Asia. At O&M, he has been successively responsible for the agency’s global clients, for the Singapore office and the Thailand office. Currently, he heads the agency’s ASEAN region and OgilvyAction, the agency’s most recent setup.

Isaac will operate with Tham Khai Meng as co-chairperson in exactly the same way as Young did.

In another development, Paul Heath has been given the new post of chief executive officer, Ogilvy Asia. Heath joined O&M as a graduate trainee in 1987, and then rejoined Ogilvy in Asia in 2003. Most recently, he led the agency’s advertising network, in which he has achieved record new business gains.

Young says, “Isaac and Heath represent the best of Ogilvy. Together with Khai, they will provide the leadership to push our brand to even higher levels. In the past five years, we’ve more than doubled the size of the business.”

He adds, “It also reflects my undying belief in Asia’s crucial role in our worldwide company going forward.”