Ogilvy's idea to yield a big turnaround: Think small; Revamp de-emphasizes advertising, puts accent on holistic marketing.(News)

Advertising Age, January, 2008 by Parekh, Rupal

Byline: RUPAL PAREKH

Last thursday, in front of the 1,300 staffers crowded in Manhattan's Cipriani restaurant, Ogilvy North America co-CEO Carla Hendra ruled that the 60-year-old agency would now be in "perpetual beta,'' a state of permanent change to meet a challenge faced by all the large agencies: How to retrofit a hulking beast of a company to compete in an increasingly media-neutral world, in which lean one- or two-office shops are beating their bigger brethren.

Starting immediately, the WPP Group-owned agency is trying to get small, requiring that client meetings center around four key people at the table-marketing, creative, strategy and program management-and it will gradually streamline its structure, doing away with many of its 20-plus...

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