Hogarth ups stakes in the agency production wars with new Ogilvy partnership H&O
WPP in-house production giant Hogarth Worldwide and agency Ogilvy & Mather are forming a new “global creative powerhouse” (their words) called H&O. The two parties claim this will be “the largest marketing implementation group in the world.”
On the face of it this looks rather unnecessary, Hogarth has been around for years now and WPP’s agencies, who also number JWT, Grey and Y&R, have been required to use it. In reality, agencies being agencies, they haven’t always.
Hogarth CEO Barry Jones (left) says: “Our latest venture with Ogilvy means we’ll be even better placed to help brands drive the transition from thematic television advertising towards always-on content for social media. Many brands waste a huge amount of time and effort on production.
“What’s actually required is a seamless and agile link between creative ideas and efficient delivery. Hogarth has pioneered new ways of working with brands to help them make significant savings. With H&O we can offer seamless integration with creative excellence too.”
H&O will be found somewhere in 33 Ogilvy offices around the world. Hogarth now employs over 1000 people around the world. Clients include Nestle, Dyson, Mattel and Ford.
H&O will, no doubt, make production life easier for Ogilvy’s big global clients. The move, though, also tightens WPP’s grip on the increasingly important production sector; a way of preventing valuable work sliding away to the likes of Deutsche Post-owned production giant Tag and the new(ish) breed of agencies like Oliver that set up in client companies.