John is a 38-year veteran of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. He was appointed Worldwide CEO in January 2016 after leading the revitalization of Ogilvy’s North American operations since 2009, resulting in strong revenue growth, digital transformation, diverse talent recruitment, and outstanding new business development. John was previously Chairman of O&M’s Global Brand Community, a portfolio of 25 global clients representing over $1 billion in annual revenue. John has worked across the Ogilvy network in a wide range of client leadership and general management positions in Los Angeles, Chicago, Bangkok, Singapore and New York. He has led multi-discipline global brand teams for American Express (“Membership”), BP (“Beyond Petroleum”), DuPont, Siemens, and many others. John is a frequent lecturer at universities and business forums on the subject of “Enterprise Branding.” He is a National Board member of buildOn, a non-profit group targeting at risk high school students in the most dangerous urban communities across the U.S. He is a passionate student of history, interior design, and neoclassical architecture.
John is a 39-year veteran of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and he is a member of the company’s Worldwide Executive Committee and Board. John was appointed Chairman of all O&M operations in North America in 2009.
Previously, John was the Chairman of O&M’s Global Brand Community, where he oversaw a portfolio of 25 global clients representing nearly $1 billion in income across O&M’s multiple communications disciplines.
John has worked throughout the O&M’s worldwide network in client leadership and general management positions in Los Angeles, Chicago, Bangkok, Singapore, and New York. He dropped out of the University of Southern California after three years to join O&M Los Angeles as a summer intern in 1979. He was transferred to O&M Chicago in 1983 to run several divisions of the Sears retail business, including the launch of Sears Business Systems Centers, an early entry into the personal computer revolution.
In 1986, he began an international tour, joining O&M Thailand as General Manager / Director of Client Service. In 1988, John was promoted to Country Manager of O&M Singapore, the region’s most recognized creative agency, where he was responsible for O&M’s advertising, direct marketing, public relations, and sales promotion businesses. While in Asia, he led a wide array of global, regional, and local clients across many business sectors, including packaged goods, retail, luxury, industrial, financial services, IT, travel, and entertainment. In 1992, he moved to New York to lead the American Express account globally. Since 1999, John has led multidiscipline global brand teams, including BP (he led the development of the “Beyond Petroleum” corporate campaign), American Express, DuPont, Siemens, and many others.
John is a frequent lecturer at universities and business forums around the world on the subject of “new age” branding. He’s a passionate student of history, interior design, and neoclassical architecture.
John was appointed Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather North America in January 2009. He is a 30-year veteran of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, and a member of Ogilvy’s Executive Committee and Worldwide Board. Previously, John was the Chairman of Ogilvy’s Global Brand Community, where he oversaw a portfolio of 25 global clients representing nearly $1 billion in income across all of Ogilvy’s 360 Degree communications disciplines. John has worked throughout the Ogilvy worldwide network in client leadership and general management positions in Los Angeles, Chicago, Bangkok, Singapore, and New York. He dropped out of the University of Southern California after three years to join Ogilvy as an intern in 1979. His first accounts -- Universal Studios, Mattel Toys, and Mattel Electronics – hooked him on advertising for life. He joined Ogilvy Chicago in 1983 to run several divisions of the Sears retail business, including the launch of Sears Business Systems Centers, an early entry into the personal computer revolution. In 1986, he began an international tour, joining Ogilvy Thailand as General Manager/Director of Client Service. In 1988, John was promoted to Country Manager of Ogilvy Singapore (the region’s most recognized creative agency), responsible for Ogilvy’s integrated communications disciplines of advertising, direct marketing, public relations, and sales promotion. While in Asia, he led brand communications teams for a wide array of global, regional, and local clients in a variety of business sectors including packaged goods, retail, luxury, industrial, financial services, IT, travel and entertainment. In 1992, he moved to New York to lead Ogilvy’s American Express account globally. Since 1999, John has led multi-discipline global brand teams serving BP (John led the development of the “Beyond Petroleum” corporate campaign), DuPont, Siemens, and many others. John is a frequent lecturer at universities and business forums around the world on the subject of “new age” branding. He’s an avid golfer as well as a devoted student of history and neoclassical architecture. (He’s also a very proud father of two sons – both of whom managed to graduate from respected universities and enter the advertising business!)