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Sep. 19, 2007

It was reported late yesterday that Andy Berndt, co-president of Ogilvy and Mather in New York has left his job at the branding firm to move to Google.

Berndt will oversee Google's new global unit that is dedicated to collaborating with search marketers, advertisers and entertainment companies.

Google's new unit is unofficially identified as a "lab for innovation", according to some ad-industry executives familiar with Mr. Berndt's departure from Ogilvy & Mather.

Since May 2007, Berndt has been co-president of O & M's New York office, after being promoted from managing director, a post he held since last year.

Berndt, who was just named as an inductee to the AAF Hall of Achievement, has an interesting mix of both creative and account experience.

Prior to joining Ogilvy as a copywriter almost ten years ago, he was on the account side, first at Weiden & Kennedy, where he worked on Nike and on Microsoft during its 1995 "Start Me Up" campaign.

Berndt then headed to TBWA, Chiat & Day, where he was the account executive on Apple's "Think Different" campaign.

Over the past six to seven months, there's been a lot of speculation whether Google would try to get into the ad agency business.

Google's new global unit isn't being called an agency per se, but a unit offering creative consultation and account services would fit the description.

According to some ad industry executives that work closely with Google, the search company has been busy trying to seriously attract more creative talent to the company.

For its part, Microsoft directly bought its way into the agency business with its recent $6 billion purchase of aQuantive, a parent company to agency Avenue A/Razorfish.

When asked whether it would shed the agency after the purchase, Microsoft was adamant that it liked the business...

Berndt's departure comes as Ogilvy has been trying to bolster its new-business prowess, having recently failed in pitches for Wal-Mart and Sprint Nextel.

Overall, Berndt was known to be interviewing executives to take over the agency's new-business effort, according to people familiar with the situation.

An Ogilvy spokeswoman confirmed Andy Berndt's departure, although she did say he will stay on for a transitional period. She added that Ogilvy will "continue to be led by its strong management team."

A call to Berndt's office wasn't returned by press time, nor was a request for comment from Google.

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Source: Ad Age