Ogilvy taps self-starters to deepen digital

TORONTO-BASED OGILVY/OGILVYONE, part of the WPP network, makes its first appearance on the DAOY shortlist thanks to a ramped-up presence in the digital space, including breaking down the barriers between the traditional shop Ogilvy and its digital arm OgilvyOne, says Matt Hassell, CCO, OgilvyOne.

Although the two arms have some distinct clients, Hassell says he and his counterpart at Ogilvy, CCO Ian MacKellar, have been working more closely together on its shared clients to help bridge the divide between traditional and digital.

"More and more, we're getting briefs from the client that say. 'We need to engage with our customer in a way that's meaningful,' not 'We need a web page, a print ad or TV,'" he says. "So, it makes sense to have much tighter alignment going forward."

The agency has also brought in a creative technologist - group digital director Neil Mohan, who has a background in digital marketing - to help bridge the gap between creativity and technology, while MacKellar adds that it's important for the agency to bring in media-agnostic staff who can think across all mediums.

And it seems to be working, helping the agency nab an honourable mention this year, not to mention global buzz and a Silver B!G Award for its Photoshop "Beautify" tool for Dove.

"If I think of what we did for Dove this year for the Photoshop action, it was a very simple idea, but a group of people came together to make it happen and they didn't come from traditional backgrounds," MacKellar says. "There was a digital technologist, a digital art director, so-called traditional writers - I think the next generation of agencies will [have] that kind of structure."