AD Agencies
O&M UK launches Ogilvy Pride to tap $3 trillion market
MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather Group UK has introduced its new specialism Ogilvy Pride.
Ogilvy Pride delivers deep market insight into the LGBT community, a consumer group valued in excess of $3 trillion globally. Working alongside Ogilvy’s existing practices and specialisms, Ogilvy Pride will enable new and current clients to harness the consumer spending power of LGBT individuals in brand marketing and communication programmes.
The inclusion of minority groups, such as the LGBT community, in mainstream marketing content allows our clients to reach consumer groups that have previously gone unrecognised and position their brand as progressive.
Ogilvy Pride is the first global agency partner of Stonewall, the UK’s largest LGBT rights charity, and has already integrated the offering into a number of client accounts across parts of EMEA and to win business such as Turner Broadcasting’s truTV in the UK.
truTV is the television entertainment brand owned by Turner Broadcasting. Ogilvy Pride’s strategic capabilities, audience expertise and creative approach offered the perfect partnership for truTV to ensure the UK launch of RuPaul’s Drag Race had the maximum impact on all its target audiences.
Ogilvy Public Relations UK CEO Michael Frohlich said, “We are delighted to announce Ogilvy Pride, a new specialism we can offer to our existing and new clients. Ogilvy Pride began as a grass roots community to champion diversity in the workplace and has quickly grown into a key specialism for the business. Ogilvy Pride both responds to, and capitalises on, the huge appetite from brands to understand and tap into LGBT audiences in order to further diversify and grow their consumer audiences.”
Ogilvy Pride head Andrew Barratt added, “Shifts in social attitudes and the considerable spending power of LGBT people provides huge opportunity for brands to harness Ogilvy Pride’s specialist expertise. By 2020 it is estimated that in London alone the traditional mainstream majority will be outnumbered by minority groups. For a global brand campaign to be truly strategic in its communications, consideration of minority consumer audiences such as LGBT is now key.”
AD Agencies
WPP appoints Hephzibah Pathak CEO of WPP Creative India
Ogilvy India chair takes charge of unified creative model in key market
NEW DELHI: WPP has appointed Hephzibah Pathak as chief executive officer of WPP Creative India, putting a local leader at the helm of its newly created creative operating model in one of its most important growth markets.
The move brings clarity to how WPP’s global restructuring will play out in India, weeks after the group unveiled WPP Creative as part of its Elevate28 strategy. The unit sits alongside WPP Media, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions, and is designed to simplify what the company previously described as an overly complex structure.
Pathak, who continues as executive chairperson of Ogilvy India, will represent all agencies under the WPP Creative umbrella in India. Her role centres on driving integration across brands, expanding capabilities and ensuring clients can tap into the network’s full talent pool without friction.
WPP said Pathak will work closely with agency brand CEOs to “enhance integration, expand capabilities, and ensure seamless client access”, while maintaining the distinct identities of its agencies.
The portfolio under WPP Creative includes leading networks such as VML, Landor, AKQA and Grey, along with Burson and its affiliated firms. Leaders across these agencies will now report into Pathak, even as each brand continues to operate independently within a unified system.
The appointment also formalises a dual-track strategy in India, preserving agency identities while accelerating collaboration. Pathak is expected to work closely with media leadership to align creative and media capabilities, reflecting growing client demand for integrated, multi-market solutions.
WPP Creative global CEO Jon Cook has described the unit as “not an agency” but an operating system that helps creative, design and PR brands work together more effectively. The group has been clear that it is not merging or phasing out legacy agency brands, instead aiming to reduce complexity on the client side.
Pathak brings nearly three decades of experience within the network, having joined in 1997 and held roles ranging from Mumbai office head to chief client officer. She made history in 2024 as the first woman to lead Ogilvy India in its 95-year presence in the country.
Her expanded mandate positions India at the centre of WPP’s Asia-Pacific strategy, with a focus on strengthening brand presence, deepening client relationships and unlocking growth in a fast-evolving market.
The appointment signals WPP’s intent to move beyond the traditional holding company model towards a more integrated, AI-enabled structure. With Pathak now steering WPP Creative India, the group appears set to test whether simpler structures can indeed deliver sharper creative outcomes.
