MOne Split: OgilvyOne and MindShare Go Separate Ways

Executives at WPP’s MindShare Worldwide and its OgilvyOne Worldwide units have agreed to split up their jointly created interactive and direct media agency mOne, which they set up in 2003.

MindShare will call its half of the business MindShare Interaction, while Ogilvy has yet to name its newly segregated unit.

“From the first of January, MindShare Interaction is its own digital and direct media organization,” John Montgomery, former CEO North America for mOne and now global head of MindShare Interaction, told ClickZ News. “From a MindShare perspective, we can offer a more nimble service. We’re now 100 percent integrated into MindShare with MindShare’s clients.”

Nasreen Madhany, who ran mOne globally, will continue to lead the OgilvyOne side of the business. Additionally, mOne’s influential research head Gerard Broussard will go to MindShare and strategic operations director Susan Schiekofer will go to OgilvyOne.

Clients will be divided roughly according to their legacy relationships with the agencies, with OgilvyOne retaining IBM, Cisco and Ameritrade.

Montgomery said the split has been in the works for some months, and that clients have been aware of it since fall. But he said public discussion of the decision has been “fairly low-key.”

He added MindShare Interaction will operate in three regions: Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.

mOne was formed in April 2003 from MindShare’s mDigital and OgilvyInteractive:Media divisions. It was agreed at the time that the partnership would integrate work for mutual WPP clients and would also pitch together on new accounts.