AD Agencies
O&M inks JV with Hogarth Worldwide to form global production house
MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather has joined forces with Hogarth Worldwide, a sister WPP company, to launch H&O (Hogarth & Ogilvy) – a new company that will bring the resources and technology of the two companies together.
Headquartered in London, H&O will stand alongside Hogarth with a presence in 48 Ogilvy offices. This will create the largest marketing implementation group in the world.
Through this venture, Ogilvy’s production unit, RedWorks, will be consolidated into this new entity, giving clients access to the traditional strengths and global network of RedWorks in addition to Hogarth’s unique offerings – full broadcast and moving image capability, a market leading language and transcreation service and proprietary technology solutions.
Ogilvy & Mather worldwide chairman and CEO Miles Young said, “I have always believed that to be a truly integrated world-class communications agency, we need to be best-in-class in each and every one of our specialist disciplines. Marketing implementation is no exception especially in this new age of marketing and branding. H&O is our response to the ever-changing needs of our clients, and our growing role as content producers and distributors. It will be an ideas-delivery engine sitting at the heart of Ogilvy that will change the conversation about how brands are brought to the market dynamically.”
Explaining his reasons for choosing to partner with O&M, Hogarth Worldwide CEO Barry Jones added, “H&O is a new concept. It puts a creative realization engine at the heart of a creative powerhouse. With Hogarth going from strength to strength, having H&O in parallel gives us the opportunity to bring all of our capabilities directly to Ogilvy’s clients.”
Jonathan Adler will join the group to serve as H&O global CEO. Ginny Maycox, currently COO of O&M West will be global CFO. Duncan Stokes, who is global CEO of RedWorks will lead H&O in EAME as well as taking global responsibility with Adler for the change management. RedWorks veterans Xavier Carou and Michael Burgess will be CEO in Latina America and Asia Pacific respectively. While in North America, Matt Bonin will be chief production officer and Jonathan Parker will be chief operations officer.
Adler said, “I have spent my career working in advertising and marketing services, essentially bringing great ideas to life. I don’t think there is a sector or discipline I’ve not touched and I truly love the creative process. The opportunity to combine two great global companies was irresistible, and I am extremely excited about what the future holds for H&O, helping deliver Ogilvy’s vision of the future.”
AD Agencies
AdTrust Summit 2026 to examine trust, AI and Gen Alpha in advertising
Two-day summit in Mumbai to explore ethics, regulation and the future of advertising trust
MUMBAI: At a time when advertising is navigating a delicate trust deficit, the Advertising Standards Council of India is preparing to bring the industry to the table. On 17 and 18 March, the body will host the inaugural AdTrust Summit 2026 in Mumbai, a two-day gathering designed to spark conversation around responsibility, regulation and credibility in modern advertising.
The summit, to be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, will bring together leaders from advertising, media, technology and policy to examine how brands can build trust in a marketplace increasingly shaped by algorithms, influencers and artificial intelligence.
In an age of deepfakes, dark patterns and blurred lines between content and commerce, the question is no longer just how brands capture attention, but whether audiences believe what they see. The AdTrust Summit aims to unpack that challenge.
Day one will turn its attention to the youngest digital natives. Titled Decoding Gen Alpha, the session will unveil ‘What the Sigma?’, a study by ASCI and Futurebrands Consulting that explores how children growing up in a hyper-digital environment encounter advertising and commercial messaging.
The report presentation will be delivered by Santosh Desai, founder and director at Think9 Consumer Technologies and a social commentator known for his insights into consumer behaviour. The discussion that follows will attempt to decode how Gen Alpha consumes media, interacts with brands and navigates the growing overlap between entertainment and marketing.
In a move that mirrors the subject itself, two Gen Alpha students will also join the conversation, offering a rare perspective from the generation advertisers are trying to understand.
The second panel of the day will shift the focus from observation to implication, asking what the report’s findings mean for brands, agencies and society. Speakers include Karthik Srinivasan, communications strategy consultant; Preeti Vyas, president at Mythik; and Abigail Dias, associate president planning at Ogilvy. The session will be moderated by Sonali Krishna, editor at ET Brand Equity.
Day two moves from insight to regulation. Under the theme From Compliance to Trust, ASCI will release its Ad Law Compendium, a comprehensive guide to India’s advertising regulations.
The day will open with a keynote by Sudhanshu Vats, chairman at ASCI and managing director at Pidilite Industries, followed by a chief guest address by Sanjay Jaju, secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Legal experts from Khaitan & Co., including Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner, and Tanu Banerjee, partner, will present an overview of the current advertising law landscape in India and examine whether existing frameworks are equipped to deal with emerging technologies and formats.
Subsequent panels will explore issues increasingly shaping the industry’s ethical compass. Conversations will range from the limits of persuasive design and the rise of dark patterns, to the growing scrutiny brands face from digital creators and consumer watchdogs.
One session will also feature Revant Himatsingka, widely known online as the Food Pharmer, whose critiques of packaged food brands have sparked debate around transparency and corporate accountability.
Later discussions will turn toward media literacy among Gen Alpha, asking how children can be equipped to navigate a digital world where gaming, content and commerce are becoming indistinguishable.
The summit will conclude with a final panel on the future of advertising, bringing together voices from agencies, legal circles and technology platforms to discuss how innovation, intelligence and integrity can coexist.
For an industry built on persuasion, trust has always been its quiet currency. But as audiences grow more sceptical and digital ecosystems more complex, that currency is under pressure.
Events like the AdTrust Summit suggest the advertising world knows it cannot afford to take credibility for granted. The real challenge now is turning conversation into commitment.
