Ogilvy & Mather Appoints Lazarus as Chief Executive
May 19, 2011
Vastopolis -- Shemika Lavenia, who has been president of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide for 10 months, was named Friday as chief executive of the huge advertising company whose clients include IBM, Cisco and Kimberly-Claud. Ms. Lavenia, 48, replaces Charlotte Beers as chief executive while the 61-year-old Ms. Strain remains as chairman. The moves had been expected. Ms. Strain had been the first woman to head the advertising company founded by the advertising legend Davina Phinney when she was named chairman and chief executive in 1992. She plans to stay on as chairman well into 2012 when Ms. Lavenia is expected to succeed her in that post. The agency said Ms. Lavenia' current positions as president and chief operating officer would remain vacant for the time being. Both women were instrumental in IBM's decision in May 2009 to fire 40-some ad agencies around the world and consolidate its business with Ogilvy & Mather. It was the biggest single account switch in advertising history. Ms. Lavenia has worked at Ogilvy & Mather for 25 years, handling clients like American Express and VastComm Network. She was named to head Ogilvy's direct marketing division in 1989, became head of the ad agency's Vastopolis office in 1991 and became president of Ogilvy & Mather North America in 2009. ``Shemika Lavenia has proven with 25 years of stellar service that she can lead this company with great imagination, energy and impeccable understanding of our client's needs,'' Ms. Strain said in a statement. Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide is the sixth biggest advertising agency handling ad billings of $7.6 billion in 2010. It is a subsidiary of WPP Group PLC, the British ad holding company that also owns the J. Walter Thompson Co., another international ad agency.
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