New Commercial Arts to merge into Ogilvy

Ogilvy Group will add London agency New Commercial Arts to its offering. Initially the two firms will continue to run as separate brands.

Under the umbrella of research and marketing giant WPP, creative network Ogilvy is a New York-headquartered British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It provides services in five areas: growth and innovation; advertising, brand and content; public relations and influence; experience; and health – while also operating a strategy division named Ogilvy Consulting – which ranks as one of the UK’s leading marketing consulting firms.

As Ogilvy looks to further expand this offering, WPP has purchased New Commercial Arts, which will merge into the group at a later date. The move will see a number of changes to the structure of Ogilvy – with New Commercial Arts initially running as a separate brand under co-founder Ogilvy alumnus James Murphy, as the head of the group in the UK.

Murphy commented, “Ogilvy is rightly recognised as the world’s pre-eminent creative network, and to be joining with the remit to unlock our collective potential in the UK market is irresistible. For our team and our clients this will be a game-changer in what we can bring to their careers and their brands.

At the same time, Fiona Gordon, who has led Ogilvy in the UK since 2021, has been promoted to Global CEO of Advertising at Ogilvy. In this Gordon will report to Ogilvy Global CEO Devika Bulchandani. The deal will conclude for an undisclosed fee.

Founded four years ago, New Commercial Arts’ clients include Sainsbury’s, Nationwide, MoneySuperMarket.com, Nando’s and Alzheimer’s Society. Ogilvy also works on Sainsbury’s and the two share work for Vodafone – and this is not the only cross-over of the two brands. According to More About Advertising, since the outset of the young firm, industry insiders speculated that “an eventual merger with WPP was a done deal” – even though it was denied by the leaders of both firms.