Ogilvy Melbourne lures ex-Wunderman Australia CEO Peter Horovitz for managing director role

Ogilvy has lured respected industry leader Peter Horovitz (left) back to agency life, announcing his appointment as managing director of Ogilvy Melbourne.

Horovitz will oversee all agencies within Ogilvy Melbourne, with staff of more than 270, helping each head of business to drive growth. The role of Melbourne MD has been vacant since Andrew Baxter moved to Sydney to take the helm of Ogilvy Australia as CEO in May 2011.

Horovitz has an impressive business career of more than 20 years, most recently as partner at Red Sky Consulting, a preeminent leadership, business strategy and communications skills business. He previously worked at Young & Rubicam Group for 17 years, including more than five years as MD of the Sydney office and as CEO of Wunderman Australia, where he helped drive collaboration across the digital and CRM offerings.

Says Baxter: “Ogilvy Melbourne is a big, successful and diverse business. But it’s a busy place, and we need strong overall leadership to set the path for continued growth while the current management team drive the day to day. Peter is absolutely the right person to take on that challenge.

“Each of the heads of our specialist businesses have done a great job in the last 18 months, creating some famous campaigns and excellent results for our clients. Peter’s role will be to build on this success and provide the vision, focus, and momentum to consolidate our leadership position in Melbourne for the next decade.”

Says Horovitz: “Ogilvy is an incredibly strong brand and has a genuine ‘A’ team of creative and strategic talent under its roof. I’ve always loved the business, and have a history of encouraging and fostering collaboration; something that Ogilvy excels at. I’m excited to join the group and help ensure we create the best environment for producing great work that works.”

Baxter said the roles of BADJAR Ogilvy’s general manager Michael McEwan, OgilvyOne Melbourne’s GM Nick Muncaster, Ogilvy Growth Companies GM Andrew Egan, OgilvyAction’s CEO Sean Taylor and ONE20’s general manager David Fleer remain unchanged.

Says Baxter: “The leaders are doing a great job, and Peter’s role is big picture business growth, not day to day business management.”

Agencies within Ogilvy Group Melbourne that will fall under his remit include BADJAR Ogilvy, OgilvyOne Melbourne, OgilvyAction Melbourne, OgilvyRed Melbourne and One20 Melbourne.

He will also work closely with Dave Pountney, the Melbourne head of Ogilvy Australia’s industry leading digital partner, DT Melbourne.