It’ s not every day that John Seifert, incoming Ogilvy & Mather worldwide chairman and CEO, and Miles Young, outgoing Ogilvy & Mather worldwide chairman and CEO, grace an occasion with their camaraderie and brilliance. Ogilvy & Mather Philippines’ transfer of office to Rockwell Drive, Makati City was one such momentous occasion. Young appointed Seifert earlier this year as his successor. Seifert assumes the role with 37 years of experience at Ogilvy & Mather, having been O & M North America chairman prior to his new post. Miles, who joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1982, will continue to work with Ogilvy & Mather in a non-executive role and assumes the position of warden at his alma mater, New College, at Oxford University this year. During Miles’ leadership, Ogilvy & Mather won |
the Cannes Lions Network of the Year five consecutive times.
Most recently, Young has been touring the globe with Seifert, who reveals,“ It’ s been busy. I tell everybody I feel like I joined the Rolling Stones. I’ ve been traveling the world. I was appointed in January in Frankfurt. I went from Frankfurt to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. Then, I had multiple trips between the US and Europe, to Latin America and then a number of different client meetings in between. Miles and I did a China trip meeting with various clients and staff. Then I was in the south of France for the Cannes advertising festival which was amazing— our fifth Network of the Year award. And now we’ re doing this Asia, Australia, India, Middle East wing.”
CRISIS AS OPPORTUNITY Recalling how he first took the helm
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of Ogilvy & Mather at the height of the financial crisis, Young confesses,“ The first lesson I learned was to resist the temptation to throw myself out of the window. The second lesson was one was the very strong sense that a time of crisis is a fantastic time of opportunity. I know very well that if I hadn’ t moved to New York at that financial crisis period, I would not have been able to make the changes in the agency that I had to make. There were changes crying out to be made and the situation around me made it possible to affect them.”
LEARNING TO LISTEN Prior to becoming CEO, Young had been chairman of Asia Pacific. He recalls,“ In Asia you’ ll learn to listen, you learn to be patient and you learn to bring people on the side gently, without forcing them. You’ ll learn also the power and importance of the relationships,
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July- August 2016 | adobo magazine |