Mike Walsh is Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy & Mather Europe, Africa, Middle East and was in Zurich last week on a flying visit.In his responsible job as CEO, Mike Walsh gets up in the air more often than he would like. From his base in London, he has to keep an eye on the worries and joys of 250 agencies in 66 countries. With a normal workload, that would mean visiting at least one other agency every day in a different country every week. Frequent flyer Walsh is glad that there are faster means of communication. But when the sky is as blue as it was during his visit to Switzerland, he still enjoys traveling, Walsh reveals in the office of Managing Director Gaby Zimmerli at Grendene Ogilvy & Mather in Zurich.Twice a year, the CEO visits the agency on Bergstrasse. He usually combines the visit with a client meeting. This time, a meeting has been scheduled with British American Tobacco in Zug, a client that is currently growing fastest for Ogilvy internationally. Incidentally, "nothing concrete is pending" in Zurich, Walsh states reassuringly. "We measure our agencies on their ability to find local business while being there for our international clients. Zurich is very good at that," praises the CEO. Although: The signs of the economy are not yet pointing to recovery. But the Chairman of the Ogilvy UK Group sees a silver lining on the horizon in the interactive sector, of all things. "Everyone fell for the dot-com boom. But here we are again seeing the first signs of recovery," says Walsh, raising hopes for better times ahead. Distilling information is a promising business for Walsh. With its case studies, Ogilvy has arguably the most efficient and "most sophisticated knowledge management" of any network, he says. "Some of our clients even want to buy the system."
Things are not going so smoothly at Ogilvy international in the PR area. "It's hard to grow in this economic environment." But Walsh has a goal of creating a "major PR network" in Europe. "We have a small network and want to double it," he reveals.
He gratefully discusses the topic of why his home country, England, always stands out at competitions with particularly creative advertising. The quality of the media in general is highly developed in England, he says, as the example of the BBC and many print products from Fleet Street shows. "Advertising is a reflection of this world and quality."
On the subject of English humor in advertising, he says, "Always look on the bright side of life" was the best song lyric even for Monty Python, when it was about not being defeated by the world's adversity. "It's a British way."
Walsh has been CEO of Europe, Africa and Middle East since 1994. In these almost ten years, the total budget has quadrupled, while profits have grown sevenfold. To Walsh's credit, "Keeping good talent in place is the most important thing in management."
Ogilvy's corporate culture also includes the fact that agency father David Ogilvy was a founding member of the World Wildlife Fund. His work at the WWF as a "special adviser" is now being continued by Mike Walsh.
He also handles communications and helps with fundraising for the English Red Cross, where Walsh had previously taken on responsibility as vice chairman for six years. "If you've received a lot, you have to give something back," he says of these commitments.
Walsh is married and has a 22-year-old son and a
18-year-old daughter. In his spare time he plays golf and tennis. He is a passionate collector of children's books and already owns over 700 rare copies, mostly from the Victorian era. Besides the graphics, what interests him most about children's books is the belief in a better world.
Likes to keep it with Monty Python and prefers to look at the brighter side of life: Mike Walsh.
Andreas Panzeri
