Ogilvy & Mather Throws a Virtual Anniversary Party

Ogilvy & Mather Advertising is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a commemorative Web site and virtual office party designed by OgilvyInteractive Paris.

A spokesman for the company, founded in 1948 by David Ogilvy, said the anniversary, marked on Sept. 17, “is both an opportunity to look back at the stages marking the group’s expansion and an opportunity to turn towards the future by exposing Internet communication to its 10,000 employees.”

OgilvyInteractive Paris was given the mission to create and develop the 50th anniversary site for the parent company’s 300 offices in 90-plus countries.

The site, constructed like a virtual building in which each floor represents a continent has two different types of content, static elements and live elements. The static elements consist of the best creative work from every country, photos from each office and many anecdotes.

Among the live elements there are interactive games, a chat room, and 24 Webcams (video cameras linked to Internet). They are strategically located in venues throughout the world to capture images of the commemorations in real time, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, hired for the commemoration by Ogilvy New York.

Unfortunately, a spokesman said that it is for employees only until next week. IAR will provide a URL when it is released.

“Thanks to the Internet, the international dimension of the group will be more concrete with exchanges between individuals. On the basis of this experience we are going to propose to advertisers in the near future to test virtual communities be it for their employees or clients”, said Philippe Gugan, operations manager at Ogilvy Interactive Paris.