Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

1. What is Beers trying to accomplish as CEO of Ogilvy and Mather World Wide? The people at Ogilvy & Mather didn’t take Charlottes appointment to the agency with enthusiasm. She wasn’t from O&M and they didn’t like outsiders. But Beers had a charm and passion that made an impression with the firm and its insiders. Her first order of business was to remove the word “beleaguered” from press reports.

She felt that people had lost sight of Ogilvy’s impressive assets.

She also felt that people had no clear sense of what it stood for. She would change all of that with new plans to adjust O&Ms structure and systems. With the philosophy of “Brand Stewardship”, she would give the people something that would release their passion for the industry again. She wanted O&M to show intelligence, style, and first class to all clients. Beers wanted O&M to be a bridge between consumers and the products.

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2. What is your assessment of the vision? “Thirsty for Change” Beers did the right thing by putting together a small team who wanted this change as much as she did. Having the right people on your side is very important in order to lead others into such a big adjustment. The crafting of the new vision wasn’t easy. Although some felt that this would be what would take those forwards, others were confused and were reluctant to make adjustments. I feel that Beer’s vision of ‘brand stewardship’ was what the agency needed at the time.

She saw the problem with other firms’ focus on competition by shifting resources and fees. By catering to clients with a completely new strategy and focus, she would gain the biggest clients and regain the trust of lost clients.

3. What is you assessment of the process Beers and her team went through to create the vision? The idea and process to build clients’ brand was taken with uncertainty, but the team came together to push forward. The text says it best- “The first six months were high excitement, high energy, and steep learning curve. That was followed by 12 months of disappointment and frustration.” While the team communicated the new strategy, Beers delivery and personality assured clients that O&M was “positioned to steward their brands growth and development.” (P.152). That same fall her strategy took pride in regaining the trust of two new accounts including Jaguar Motor car’s U.S. account, as well as the return of American Express who left the firm in 1991.

4. What are the key challenges facing Beers at the end of the case? Clients showed enthusiasm and wanted the services that ‘brand stewardship’ bring, however, numerous challenges surfaced with branding stewardship and the slow process of teaching to the employees. Problems came from creative, who showed resistance to BrandPrint. Another problem came from an executive who said that there was a problem with insufficient communication. But the biggest challenges came from the local and global tensions.

“While tension had always existed between the centers and the local markets, the increasingly centralized bran campaigns exacerbated conflict.” (pg.157). Also, some members of the team that helped the vision go forward were feeling that they needed to grow and work better as a team. There was a lot of reflection to do for Beers in her 1994 course of actions.