The industry veteran reveals what Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide is doing to stay on top of tomorrow's digital trends, and how connecting with consumers on multiple platforms is the formula for success.
A career that spans the golden years of traditional advertising to the more volatile digital age is rare to come by these days. But advertising industry icon Shelly Lazarus, CEO and chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, has truly mastered the fine art of creative and professional endurance during her 30-plus year tenure with one of the leading worldwide advertising agencies.
After joining Ogilvy in 1971, Lazarus quickly climbed the ranks of powerful ad men, setting a new course for professional women in a male-dominated industry. In short order, she became known as one of the most powerful executives in advertising.
As the head of a $2 billion company, Lazarus has guided successful campaigns for most of the largest brands that Ogilvy handles, including American Express, Dove, Ford, Kraft, Kodak and IBM. And her reputation for winning and keeping the world's top brands became a valuable and irreplaceable asset for Ogilvy.
Lazarus reached the pinnacle of Ogilvy's management hierarchy in 1996, when she was appointed CEO, and chairman the following year. But a little more than 10 years later, in January of next year, Lazarus will relinquish her coveted CEO title to Miles Young, a 25-year veteran of Ogilvy who has spent the last 13 years as head of its Asia Pacific region.
Lazarus will still have her hands in the game, of course, retaining her chairman title and continuing to keep Ogilvy on course as one of the most high-profile agencies. But how the digital medium will transcend the advertising world is anyone's guess at this point.
Lazarus had a few key pointers to share with iMedia on what Ogilvy is doing to conquer the web, and what she would have done differently in her career -- if anything.
iMedia: You were once quoted as saying, "Don't underestimate the value people place on authenticity." How has this translated to helping brands gain success in such a media-saturated environment as the internet?
Shelly Lazarus: I've always believed that a brand is a relationship. And like all good relationships, it is built on trust. If a brand violates that trust by doing something that its customers consider false or inauthentic, it risks serious and sometimes irreparable damage to its reputation. If a brand makes a misstep, it is always best to own up to it and address it head on, because it will be revealed. Today, consumers are in charge, and able to quickly communicate to their network. Better they talk about how trustworthy and authentic a brand is, rather than how it evaded responsibility.
iMedia: Do you still ascribe to your theory of 360-degree branding? Has it become harder or easier to accomplish this in the digital environment?
Lazarus: At Ogilvy, we believe that brands are built by a whole range of influences. With the advent of the internet, digital media and interactivity, we recognized that connecting with consumers on multiple platforms when it counted would be the formula for success. 360 Degree Branding means taking a big brand idea and tailoring it for the media that are most effective with consumers -- whether mass marketing, branded entertainment, or customer experiences at retail or on the internet. Today, because of digital and interactive technology, we know a lot more about what people want, and we have so many more ways of reaching and engaging them with relevant communications when they are most receptive.
iMedia: What is your best piece of advice for building an engaging and profitable brand experience online?
Lazarus: We believe that great brands are built through great ideas, however they are expressed. David Ogilvy said, "Unless your campaign contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night." That is as true today as it was when he said it 40 years ago. When you have big, compelling ideas, connecting with people is easy. When you get down to the universal truths of a brand, you know what the brand experience should feel like. You know how the brand can be best expressed at every point of contact, anywhere in the world.