Ogilvy & Mather North America's final quarter of 2009 may be a leading indicator of better days ahead for the advertising industry. “Our fourth-quarter new-business performance was the best we've seen in several years,” said John Seifert, the agency's chairman-CEO.

Seifert cited the concept of “recession marketing”—focusing on reinvesting in employees with insights that lead to better work—as a key to the agency's success. “We've tried to emphasize that our corporate culture is not about the past, but rather taking the essence of what the company is supposed to stand for to raise our game through thought leadership,” he said.

Among the agency's account wins last year were CDW, Citizen's Bank, Medco and United Parcel Service of America.

“The key to the CDW win was our "compass model,' showing that we could deliver a core team that drew from multiple points around the compass,” Seifert said. “It doesn't mean we have to have everybody everywhere, but rather that we have a flexible way to bring talent together.”

Siefert said the agency's success comes from linking the complex products of its clients to easily understood concepts. For example, to help b2b audiences engage with the products of Cisco Systems, Ogilvy Digital Labs linked Cisco with the TV show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”—specifically in the form of a game centered on the “CSI: New York” spinoff.

Gamers interacted with Cisco tools and software integrated into the game, helping the game's leading characters solve various crimes while bringing Cisco products to life in ways not possible in other media.

In its “Smarter Planet” campaign for IBM Corp., Ogilvy focused on the global consulting and solutions company's credentials for solving the world's problems in areas such as energy, education, financial systems, health care, public safety, technology and transportation. The campaign launched with full-page newspaper ads in major cities, with accompanying TV spots exploring what a smarter planet could mean for IBM's core IT and business-leader targets. Brand tracking indicated that those exposed to the message were 30% more likely to recognize IBM as a company that makes the world work better, while 66% were more likely to do business with IBM.

For software development and consulting company SAP, Ogilvy developed a mobile marketing campaign connecting the benefits of the client's products in helping companies run their operations with greater efficiency and flexibility. Under the theme “It's time for a clear new world,” banner ads were posted on the mobile Web sites of 11 different companies, including CBS, CNN and Gizmodo. Users clicking on the ads were connected to an SAP site where they could view any of five short videos detailing the connection between clarity and successful businesses.

To date, more than 46 million SAP impressions have been served across all countries, with an average click-through rate of 0.37%. Some 3% of viewers shared videos with others.

“Every client I talk to feels more confident about 2010, but [they] are cautious about how strong the rebound will be,” Seifert said. “Our view is, it's going to be done through the doing, with people immersed in what's going on and what's new.” —Christopher Hosford

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