Ogilvy North America appoints new leadership team

Ogilvy has named Carina De Blois chief operating officer of Ogilvy North America. In an internal memo, Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO of Ogilvy, said De Blois, who was most recently president of Ogilvy New York, is stepping into the larger role to “accelerate” Ogilvy’s momentum. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs “Her grace, ability to break down the barriers that restrict creativity, and commitment to divine discontent were all contributing factors to our success last year,” Bulchandani said in the memo. De Blois will report to Bulchandani. She succeeds Conor Nash, who left the WPP agency at the start of the new year to become chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Omnicom PR shop Ketchum. Darla Price, who was named an Ad Age Leading Woman in 2022, will step into De Blois’ place as president of Ogilvy New York, taking responsibility for all of the New York office’s business across its advertising, PR, experience, consulting and health offerings. Price joins from DBB, where she made history as the first Black female president of DBB New York. She has spent more than two decades in leadership roles at agencies such as McCann and Saatchi & Saatchi, where she worked with clients including Microsoft, Kroger, Olay, Lockheed Martin and General Mills. In her first eight months at DDB's helm, Price revamped her leadership team, increasing its diversity numbers from 12% to 45%. The agency’s overall diversity also grew by 18%, with 40% of new hires being diverse. “I have known and admired Darla for many years,” Bulchandani said in a statement. “Her ability to move clients, creativity, and culture forward is unparalleled—and I could not be prouder to have her leading our flagship office into the future." De Blois has spent almost half of her 20 years in the industry at Ogilvy, including time as chief client officer for the New York office as well as global client leader for Ogilvy’s Samsung account. She also worked on accounts including IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Facebook. Bulchandani herself had a title change in September 2022 when she took over as global CEO after Andy Main stepped down. In the last year, Ogilvy North America has drawn new clients including Truly, Audi, H&R Block, TIAA, PetSmart, Lowe's, Verizon's B2B account, FedEx and the U.S. Department of Education. SC Johnson consolidated its global creative with Ogilvy in the fall after Ogilvy previously split the work with Omnicom’s BBDO. Ogilvy also noted that it has received some briefs for Coca-Cola Co. via OpenX after WPP was named the brand’s global marketing network partner in late 2021. Ad Age Leading Women and Rising Stars Last call for the annual awards Enter here

Ogilvy North America appoints new leadership team

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