A COO for Mike Abel

Abel joined Ogilvy as account manager on Volkswagen in 1993, was appointed to the Holding Board in 1997 and became Ogilvy Cape Town MD in 2001. This year he was awarded Financial Mail Agency Leader of the Year.

National level

"Although Mike will remain head of the Cape group of companies, his skill and knowledge will now also be harnessed at a national level," says Nunu Ntshingila, CEO of Ogilvy South Africa. "At this level Mike will work together with Rob Hill, group planning director for Ogilvy South Africa, and I on cementing our strong offering in the new media space across the group.

Comments Abel, "Our new business growth bears testimony to the fact that we are now a truly integrated advertising and communications company able to offer the full and integrated 360 degree range of marketing services and in my new role I aim to strengthen this further."

New wave

Abel's move has created the opportunity for a new wave of leadership at Ogilvy Cape Town.

Business director Jacques Burger has been promoted from director of account management to MD of Ogilvy Above-The-Line and Eric D' Oliveiria moves from business director to deputy MD of Ogilvy Above-The-Line.

Tabatha McDonald will take over Burger's previous role as director of account management, a department she successfully led at Ogilvy Johannesburg.

Denise van der Westhuizen and Peter Badenhorst stay on as the leadership team of Ogilvy One and Ogilvy Interactive.

New discipline

Another development at Ogilvy Cape Town is the creation of a new discipline focused on developing big brand ideas, headed up by Mark Fisher, whose new title is executive director, creative and brand development. Fisher will continue to work on major advertising campaigns and remain creative leader on the international Castrol portfolio.

His new appointment opens up the opportunity for his two creative directors, Chris Gotz and Gordon Ray, to assume the leadership of and day-to-day management of the above-the-line studio.

"This new discipline headed up by Fisher has been created as a means to further reinforce our position as an agency driven by ideas. I feel these new roles will have a very positive impact on our business as they stand to further consolidate Ogilvy's core strengths of innovative ideas that build and sell brands across the across the entire 360 degrees," concludes Abel.