Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

In 1936, David got an internship at the London ad agency Mather & Crowley, which sent David abroad to study American advertising techniques for one year. He returned from his year abroad with extensive knowledge about American advertising techniques. In 1948, after being out of advertising for ten years, Ogilvy started his own agency. His brother Francis financially assisted him. S. H. Benson Ltd., another London shop, also invested $45,000, but insisted that Ogilvy hire someone who knew how to run an agency. Ogilvy hired Anderson Hewitt away from J. Walter Thompson to be president, and appointed himself vice president in charge of research. The business opened as Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather (HOB&M).

Opening a new advertising agency in 1948 seemed good timing. The Depression and World War II had driven all but the largest, well-established, advertising firms out of business and had discouraged attempts by newcomers to break into the market. However, with the war over and the American economy expanding with unprecedented vigor, and a greater public awareness of the media and its influence, advertising became a necessary element in any business practice. The potential for growth was almost limitless. Still, the agency of HOB&M did not become successful overnight. Competing with such long-standing industry leaders as J. Walter Thompson, Young & Rubicam, Leo Burnett, and BBDO was difficult.

HOB&M moved forward steadily. In 1951, a small shirt maker, C. F. Hathaway, came asking for help. This led to the "man with the black eye patch" campaign, arguably one of Ogilvy's most famous that ran for 25 years. Quickly after came the Schweppes Co., a British maker of soda water and other mixer beverages. By 1952, David Ogilvy was becoming incredibly well known. However, trouble was brewing at the agency. Despite his role as Mr. Ogilvy's boss, Anderson Hewitt was not getting noticed at all. By 1953, Anderson was gone, and HOB&M had become Ogilvy, Benson & Mather.

Soon after, the third of Mr. Ogilvy's defining advertising moments came along. With a meager budget of $50,000, Rolls-Royce appealed to Ogilvy in the same low-profit, high-prestige way that Schweppes and Hathaway had. The Rolls-Royce ad ("At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.") became the paradigm for all subsequent automobile advertisements. In the short run, these three ads barely paid for themselves; the accounts were small. However, over the long term, the Hathaway, Schweppes, and Rolls-Royce ads demonstrated the 'Ogilvy Style' and attracted a number of new clients.

In 1955 O&M helped launching Unilever's Dove as '1/4 moisturizing cream'. In 1960, Shell Oil started an account, increasing O&M's revenues by almost 50%. Later, accounts were also secured from General foods, Bristol-Myers, and Lever Brothers, to name just a few. By 1962 the agency's billings had increased dramatically, and Ogilvy had established himself as an innovator in the business. Indeed, the 1960's and early 1970's marked a period of expansion and innovation. In 1964 Ogilvy, Benson & Mather Inc. of New York merged with Mather & Crowther Ltd. of London to become Ogilvy & Mather International. In 1966 O&M became the first ad agency to go public on both the London and New York stock exchanges.

During the same period O&M also became more diverse in its range of advertising. It developed campaigns for large corporations, non-profit organizations (e.g., the World Wildlife Fund), whole nations (Puerto Rico, Singapore, France), and international clients whose markets were primarily outside the US. By 1975 O&M had grown extensively. In addition to General Foods and its other base accounts the agency had established accounts with American Express, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Campbell's Soup, and Mercedes Benz. Branch offices were set up around the world to handle the large amount of international business the firm had developed and subsidiaries were consolidated under the umbrella of the parent company.

Growth on the scale experienced by O&M also resulted in adverse effects. O&M's creativity became stifled as the immensity of the operation created bureaucratic impediments. The agency became conservative, feeling an obligation to its shareholders to secure consistent dividends and minimize risks. The agency successfully produced conservative campaigns for large companies, but creatively speaking, had stagnated. David Ogilvy was aware of what was happening and, on the eve of his retirement, made some dramatic changes, taking new, creative people on board. To avoid creativity problems in the future, O&M created a network of semi-autonomous subsidiaries that, while having access to the resources only a large company can provide, still work in a "small shop" environment.

In May of 1985 Ogilvy & Mather International Inc. became the Ogilvy Group in a hostile takeover. In 1989, O&M was acquired by number 2 advertising conglomerate WPP Group.

From the eighties onward, companies in all industries have increasingly been focusing on building brands. Factors ranging from the rise of the global economy to the rise of the Internet have helped make brands more powerful than at any time in history. On the 5th of May 1994 IBM made marketing history by consolidating its entire $400 million global advertising account at one agency, Ogilvy & Mather.

However, from the 1980's onwards O&M began to experience conflict of interest problems among clients and prospective clients, making it hard for the firm to expand. In other words, it became difficult for the firm to pursue additional clients in a particular industry when it was already doing the advertising for another company manufacturing the same type of product.