O&M rejigs Euro operation for Ford

Ogilvy & Mather is overhauling its agency structure to service the Ford of Europe account. The restructure creates a new layer of central management at O&M as part of an attempt to mirror the new brand management system introduced last year at its loss-making motor client.

O&M is Ford’s lead agency in every European market apart from Germany, where Young & Rubicam has the business. Y&R last week picked up the advertising for the soon to be launched Cougar model. The agency has won Ford business worth $120m (80m) in Europe over the past three years. O&M’s restructuring is understood to be at least partly in response to Y&R’s success.

“It is the responsibility of the client’s lead agency to act as a leader and that involves servicing the business properly,” says O&M client services director on the Ford of Europe account Sean Neall.

The restructure creates four pan-European brand teams for Escort, Fiesta/Ka, large cars/speciality and commercial vehicles plus a fifth group – responsible for umbrella branding. Each team will have a regional brand account director, creative director and representatives from all the agency’s disciplines. All five divisions report to a central European management team, based in London.

Patrick Collister, executive creative director in London, takes on additional responsibility as executive creative director for Ford of Europe. The former Bates Asia regional account director Greg Paull joins as regional account director for the Escort group. An O&M insider Kathleen Donald becomes regional account manager on the umbrella branding group. Direct marketing specialist Attila Keleman becomes regional account supervisor central and Eastern Europe.

The four regional brand account directors, who will head the four teams, have yet to be appointed. They will be recruited both internally and externally.

News analysis, page 26