Steve Harding Named Global CEO of Ogilvy Action

Miles Young, Worldwide CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, said, “Steve has been the convenor of our management team, and it is natural that he should step up. He is truly an activation professional. He has selling in his bones, and a real vision for how the business creates strategic advantage by affecting behaviours. Our ambition for the business, which is showing high growth, is very substantial. Steve and his superb team are tasked with positioning to lead this discipline as a global ‘must-have’ for clients old and new.”

Harding joined Ogilvy & Mather in May 2005 when he merged his activation company Tarantula with Ogilvy & Mather’s 141 Worldwide, becoming the CEO of the merged operations. In 2007, when 141 Worldwide was relaunched as OgilvyAction, Harding was named CEO, OgilvyAction EAME. At the end of 2009 when the OgilvyAction Global Leadership Team was established, he became an inaugural member.

In commenting on his new role, Harding said, “I’m very excited about taking on the OgilvyAction Global role. The activation marketplace is clearly one of the most dynamic marketing disciplines today. I know with the help of our leadership team we will achieve our mission of becoming the world’s best brand activation network.”

OgilvyAction’s management team that Harding will lead also includes Sheila Hartnett, CEO, North America; John Goodman, President, Asia Pacific; Regis Duarte, General Manager, Latina; and David Fox, Worldwide Managing Director, BAT.

Harding started his career at Smith and Nephew, followed by Carlsberg Tetley both in sales and marketing roles. He then moved to the agency side in the early 1990's joining a sales promotion start-up called USP, which he was a shareholder of before it was sold to a UK PLC. Harding then became MD of the newly formed CSP, which he left in 1998 to start up Tarantula Activation Communications, where he oversaw the development of the company in the UK as well as its international presence in Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Japan. In 2005, he joined Ogilvy.

About OgilvyAction:
OgilvyAction is the global brand activation network of The Ogilvy Group. With its 69 offices employing 1,700 people, OgilvyAction delivers a focused range of disciplines including experiential, shopper, trade, and promotional marketing. Supporting each of these is a capability in field marketing, digital activation, retail design and analytics that builds brands by creating purchase behavior. The agency’s client portfolio features Fortune 500 Blue Chip brands and some of the most innovative local marketers around the world. Ogilvy is part of WPP, one of the world's largest communications services organizations (NASDAQ: WPPGY, www.wpp.com.) For more information, visit our website at www.ogilvyaction.com.