When Miles Young accepted the top job at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, he did three things.
He reminded the advertising world that he is one of its most gifted leaders. He showed that Asia is fertile ground for nurturing the network’s top talent. And he left the industry wondering whether his successor could fill an enormous pair of shoes.
He reminded the advertising world that he is one of its most gifted leaders. He showed that Asia is fertile ground for nurturing the network’s top talent. And he left the industry wondering whether his successor could fill an enormous pair of shoes.
Happily for Ogilvy, the network is spoilt for choice when it comes to management talent in Asia. Less happily for Ogilvy, it is spoilt for talented managers who think they should be running the show. As is often the case with companies on top for a long time, the toughest competition is within.
Of the top brass, Kent Wertime, the regional head of OgilvyOne, Chris Graves, head of Ogilvy PR, Paul Cox, the CFO, Tham Khai Meng, ECD and co-chairman, Paul Heath, now the regional CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, probably all thought they were in with a shout at the chairmanship.
But Young insists that Tim Isaac, the regional vice-chairman, was the obvious choice. “It would have been surprising if it had been anyone else,” he says. “The role requires client-facing skills, which rules out Paul Cox. And business nous, which I’m afraid rules out Khai. Paul [Heath] will get it eventually - it’s just a matter of time.”
Young describes the Ogilvy Asia chairmanship as “one hell of a job”; five disciplines in 15 countries need to be singing from the same songsheet, he says. But in Isaac he has appointed someone who knows the network and Asia well (he has spent the past 13 of 22 years in Asia with Ogilvy). There will be differences in how Isaac will run the region. But there will be more similarities, insists Young, who was known for his hands-on approach.
“Tim will be just as personal, but will delegate more. There isn’t much to choose between us. Perhaps I bark a little more,” he says.
Rather than go solo, as Young did, Isaac will work with a commitee composed, sensibly enough, of Heath, Cox and Tham. He will also stay in Bangkok, where he has been running Southeast Asia.
Isaac bristles at the suggestion his appointment was a surprise because of his age. At 59, some say he has one eye on retirement. “In Asia, where wisdom and experience are respected, I am not sure I am too old. I don’t feel it,” he says.
He will need all that experience in the months ahead. Among the Western networks, Ogilvy has been the clear leader in Asia for several years, a testament to Young’s leadership. Simply maintaining that status will be an achievement. The past few months have seen rival networks begin to make up ground. The increasing pressure on Ogilvy Asia-Pacific to prop up the rest of the network (Ogilvy is a flagging force in the US and Europe) has not gone unnoticed by its competitors, who will use Ogilvy’s relative state of flux to their advantage.
One of its strongest competitors is McCann Erickson, which has enjoyed a good year. Kevin Ramsey, its regional CEO, admits Ogilvy has “the strongest brand in the region”, though he adds: “I don’t consider them unbeatable. Ogilvy is big and powerful, but we are coming after it.”
Also over Ogilvy’s shoulder is BBDO. Regional CEO Chris Thomas says: “When you are big you will shrink rapidly the moment that you think that being big is a virtue. For Ogilvy at a time of transition there are two risks - managing the powerful forces that are unleashed during leadership changes and a consequent loss of focus.”
One of Isaac’s biggest challenges will be to strengthen Ogilvy’s credentials outside of creative and digital. “Miles has structured the network to embrace change. But we need to continue to improve on 360-degree delivery.”
