SPOTLIGHT
THE FIRM
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as opposed to transactions.”
Reflecting on what legacy
he leaves behind, Young says, “I
think, without doubt, it’s taking the
agency back to its roots of being a
creative place, valuing creativity
and being prepared to go out and
win in the best competitions in
the world and all of your peers
recognizes that you are very creative.
So the journey which we’ve been
on the past seven or eight years to
restore that credible reputation.
I think it’s been successful and I
am extremely proud of that.”
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Seifert now treads a road
paved by Miles and appreciates
the legacy he leaves behind.
Seifert notes three initiatives
responsible for Miles’ success:
“The first is, Miles is an investor.
He believes in investing for growth,
investing in talent, investing in
clients. He had come from the
Asia Pacific region where he was a
chairman for 14 years and he grew
the business way beyond anyone’s
expectations. And so when he came
to the US in middle of 2008 just
when the financial crisis was upon
us, he spend all of the equity he built
over the success of fourteen years
to invest. So the first is, no matter
how difficult the world feels, don’t
be afraid to invest for the future.”
“The second thing about Miles
is, he is a huge believer in helping
develop the youngest people in the
company. He had an initiative called
adaptive country where he would
take the up and coming youngest
employees about particularly
developing market and bring them
together and take them away for a
week and give them the benefit of the
smartest people on their company
and let them participate in thinking
about the future of the company.
That has created the success we
have in places like the Philippines,
Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.”
“And the third thing about
Miles is, he is a passionate leader
when it comes to developing a point
of view for the company. We just
launched this new initiative called
the V12 [The Ogilvy & Mather
adobo magazine | July - August 2016
Velocity 12 Report: The Reshaping
of Global Growth]. Miles has an
innate view of seeing around the
corner before others do. David
Ogilvy was like that. Miles has
done an amazing job on that and
I would carry that forward.”
PAYING IT FORWARD
For his part, Seifert brings the savvy
of leading a portfolio of 25 global
clients worth nearly $1 billion in
revenue. He enumerates what he
bring to the global chairmanship:
“I’ve had the experiences of a
fast growth reality of Asia where
I spent eight years. I’ve helped
them build their brands across the
world. Then most recently, I’ve
had the benefit of running in our
North America business. That has
given me a perspective that is very
relevant for the company we have
today because we are truly global.”
“I think I’m very close to
clients. I’ve spent most of my
career serving clients. so I think
I have a pretty good sense of
understanding what their needs
are or what they expect of us.”
“And the third is that, I’ve had
the benefit of being mentored and
developed by the best people in the
company. I was a college dropout.
When I started in Ogilvy, I was a
summer intern. I did not deserve
the job that I got when I started
with Ogilvy and the only reason I
was able to spend my entire career
in Ogilvy is I had amazing mentors
who enabled me to have a variety
of different experiences... I hope
A time of crisis is a fantastic
time of opportunity. There were
changes crying out to be made and
the situation around me made it
possible.
-MILES YOUNG
I can pay forward... I want many
more senior women to grow on the
company and gender equality is one
of my most important priorities.”
FAST INTO THE FUTURE
Guiding Seifert forward into the
future is The Ogilvy & Mather
Velocity 12 Report (see page
174), published June 2016 as
one of Miles’ initiatives.
Seifert asserts, “Brands have
always have to adapt to the values
and beliefs of the consumers
that they seek, bond with and do
business. Now we live in a world
where global brands can’t grow if
they’re not relevant locally. It’s never
been more challenging to figure out
how to be relevant, emotionally and
compelling in a local context.”