Ogilvy hires Mick McCabe as global chief strategy officer

Ogilvy has found a replacement for Ben Richards, its longtime global chief strategy officer who left the agency in June after 11 years to start a new venture. 

Mick McCabe will fill the role that has been vacant for more than eight months. Currently chief strategy officer at Publicis Creative/Le Truc, McCabe will oversee strategy across all of Ogilvy’s business units — experience, advertising, PR, health, and growth and innovation — across 131 offices in 92 countries. 

“We are thrilled that a global talent with Mick’s rich experience is joining our team,” said Andy Main, global CEO of Ogilvy, in a press statement. “Mick is a thinker and proven leader who exemplifies how we want Ogilvy to succeed — by blending strategy, creativity and technology to create impact and growth for us and our clients. He will be an important partner as we continue accelerating Ogilvy’s own business transformation.”  

McCabe is a longtime Publicis executive. Prior to his current role, he was global chief strategy officer at Publicis Worldwide for six years and chief strategy officer at Leo Burnett USA for nearly four years. Before that, he was at various agencies and ran strategy at Deutsch and Kirshenbaum Bond. 

During his time at Publicis, McCabe worked across clients including Allstate, Bank of America, CVS, Heineken, Samsung, Walmart, Altoids, BMW, Nintendo, Ikea and McDonald’s.

“I am thrilled to be joining Ogilvy at this moment, where the stars are aligning for the agency on all fronts: strong new business momentum, unrivaled global talent and a proven ability to flex its diverse strategic and creative muscle on a global stage,” McCabe said in a statement. “I’m joining a fantastic team of new and established leaders, doing great things at the magical intersection of creativity, data and experience. Who wouldn’t be excited about that?  I’m looking forward to working with everyone to further accelerate Ogilvy’s bright next chapter.” 

McCabe is the latest new executive to join Ogilvy’s C-suite. The agency has an almost entirely new management team since Main took over as global CEO in 2020. 

Since then, Ogilvy has brought on Liz Taylor as its global chief creative officer. Devika Bulchandani, who joined in 2021 as global chairwoman of advertising was recently promoted to global president. Last year, Ogilvy also tapped Steve Soechtig as its global chief experience officer, Stacey Ryan Cornelius as global chief financial officer and Jag Dhanji as global chief people officer. 

In North America, Ogilvy brought on Anibal Casso as chief strategy officer and Chris Beresford-Hill as president of advertising and creative lead. 

“Better and smarter thinking has never been in greater demand and more valued by clients,” Bulchandani said in a statement. “Since Ogilvy’s inception, creativity founded on deep strategy has underpinned every aspect of our business. As we continue to invest in both these areas, Mick’s expertise, instincts, and track record of delivering creative solutions to complex problems will be an incredible asset to our people and clients alike.”