Ogilvy paints town red for David Ogilvy’s centennial birthday

To mark the centennial of David Ogilvy’s birth, the agency he founded held special celebrations on June 23 at all their offices around the world and also at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. 

Madhukar Sabnavis, country head, discovery and planning, Ogilvy India said, "We, in India, are also partaking in the worldwide celebrations of David Ogilvy’s birthday. Each office is having its own set of activities to celebrate, and remember both the spirit and principles of our inspirational founder."

In Mumbai, the office was decked up in red and employees got together to celebrate the occasion with games and treasure hunts. In Delhi, along with the games, employees had maintained a dress code that is closest to David Ogilvy’s.

On the legacy left behind by David Ogilvy, Tham Khai Meng, worldwide chief creative officer, Ogilvy & Mather said, “To work at a company founded by someone like David Ogilvy is inspiration in itself.  It’s that kind of legacy that pushes you to explore ideas and ways of thinking, and drives you to new and better things.  We wanted to pay our respects to the great man, but also to celebrate just what made him such a pioneer in this industry and how that can inspire people today.  Where better to commemorate his creative legacy than Cannes?”

At Cannes, the longest red carpet ever seen in Cannes was rolled out along the entire length of the Croissette, leading to the steps of the Grand Auditorium, where a giant billboard stated, “On this day, 100 years ago, David was born to inspire.” After dark, all the lights along the boulevard will bathed the pavement in red, setting the mood for the agency’s celebration at Le Grand Hotel.

The company had earlier kicked off the celebration by challenging Ogilvy employees from around the globe to create a short video on the theme of inspiration to honour David’s lasting influence, with the grand prize to be Ogilvy’s on-the-ground bloggers at the festival www.ogilvy.com/contest “Turning red” and the theme of ‘inspiration’ is carried out through the official website where people are prompted to tweet “What inspires you?” to #do100, turning their Twitter avatar red and adding their message to thousands of others from around the world in a giant David Ogilvy mosaic.