Lessons to be Learnt from Ogilvy’s Big New Move
A 70 year old creative company just demonstrated that old brands can adapt to changing times, increasing competition and cultural shifts.
Ogilvy, formerly Ogilvy and Mather, has rolled out a series of changes and restructured their brand to be more inclusive, with a new tagline “Make Brands Matter”. Other changes include a new logo and color theme, a digital platform in the form of a website, a consultation division and an employee video.
However, I am writing this post today, not to highlight a story that is already a few days old, but to point out why changes are necessary, and can lead to some wonderful outcomes when implemented right.
To start off, I would like to point out that such changes are better not rushed. In fact, if you’re a brand as old as Ogilvy, you’ll do well to take all the time you need. It took Ogilvy almost 2 years to get this done.
Right off the bat, the first change that takes the most time to get implemented is…
Creating a Unique Visual Identity Worth Remembering
When you start your own brand, your focus is primarily drawn towards two things — the name, and the theme. Visual representations,or visual identity if you will, is a powerful medium that goes on to establish a psychological connection between your brand and the customers. The visual identity that you create should symbolise the values, ethos and principles of the brand.
The major visual representations to be worked on are the logo and the color theme. Does your brand provide services or products that are meant to make your customers feel relaxed? Go with a white theme and a minimalist look. Likewise, if your need is to make your end user feel stirred about something, like a social cause or your brand new business proposition, you need to pick a look and theme that screams for attention (in a positive way).
Here is an example from Ogilvy’s new logo:
The connected alphabets in the logo (‘g’, ‘i’, ‘l’, ‘v’, and ‘y’) signify the newly unified operating units that can deliver results in a more collaborated fashion.
Also, it’s always a good idea to draw inspiration from case studies. Take your time as rushing often leads to ineffective results with these things — so keep a steady pace while planning.
Organisational Restructuring
This step is about placing the right people having the required skills in the right positions so that they can do the required job in the best possible way. Organisational restructuring is about identifying the best people for a particular job or profile — this could be done from the existing pool of employees at a workplace or by hiring new people.
Either way, the primary goal should be to ensure that the job is done and the clients are satisfied.
Integrating Services for Simplification and Effectiveness
This is especially applicable for large agencies and corporations that run on multiple arms and branches. For them, it is a workable way to distribute their tasks and get them done as quickly as possible, but from a client’s perspective, it can get a tad confusing.
To simplify things for a client and to make the job less complicated, an agency should integrate the services in a workable manner. Here, effectiveness and quality of work need to be the top priorities and should not be compromised at any cost.
Establishing an Open Channel of Communication
For an agency, having an open communication channel is of utmost importance. If you already work in such an environment, that’s great as it means one less thing for you to work on. If not, new ways need to be implemented so that the work and the deliverables are seen through from one end to the other in a seamless manner.
Technology can be used to increase collaboration among employees and improve the end result in the process.
So, along the lines of Ogilvy, these are the lessons that can be drawn and incorporated by any other agency. Of course the end results will vary depending on how well they have been implemented and the timing. Being on that side of the transaction, all I can say is, you need to be patient for the results to reflect on the accounts of your business and the length of your clientele list.
