Lee Newman New President at Ogilvy & Mather Chicago
February 20, 2012 by Screenmag
Ogilvy & Mather Chicago is expanding its leadership team with the addition of Lee Newman as President of the unified agency, from Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam.
"I've never had the opportunity for work for an agency with such a comprehensive suite of services,” Newman says. “Perhaps even more impressive is the way Ogilvy has been able to put it all together into one unified offering on behalf of its Chicago clients. It's obviously a winning formula and I'm excited to be a part of it."
In his new role, Lee will oversee day-to-day management of Ogilvy Chicago. The agency has been on a three-year winning streak, most recently adding global responsibilities for the SC Johnson business across its home fragrance and home cleaning divisions. Other recent wins include Kimberly Clark, CDW, Arrow Electronics, Grant Thornton, Ashford University and ACT. The agency has seen its revenues increase 150 percent and its employee base grow from 215 to 500.
Current Ogilvy Chicago chief Jack Rooney will become Chairman and CEO of the agency in addition to handling global management of the SC Johnson relationship.
“We have been fortunate to see our business in Chicago grow with the addition of significant new clients and the growth of our multi-discipline agency model,” says Rooney. “Lee is a proven executive with an entrepreneurial drive which is integral to our culture in Chicago. He’s a great addition to our leadership team.”
As Managing Director of Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam since 2008, Lee has led a group of 130 people from 25 different nationalities to service a prestigious list of global clients including Nike, Coke, Heineken, P&G, Electronic Arts, Levi’s, ESPN, GE, and BASF. He helped oversee growth in new clients, increased profitability and expanded the agency’s footprint to include Russia and the Middle East. This year W+K Amsterdam was named the most awarded agency by the Gunn Report. Besides W+K Amsterdam, Lee has worked at a number of leading agencies during the course of his 20-year career, starting at Leo Burnett in Chicago. He then worked at Fallon on BMW and was part of the team that won the first Titanium Lion at Cannes for the BMW Films campaign. He has also worked at McKinney & Silver and GSD&M.