Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide is a subsidiary of the WPP Group.

U.S. government PR contracts
In October 2008, Ogilvy won two six-year, multi-million dollar contracts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to continue to promote the "Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action" and the "Inside Knowledge: Get the Facts About Gynecologic Cancer" initiatives.

In July 2008, Ogilvy won "two multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts by the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health." One contract involves helping "the Institute in the planning, development, and implementation of a range of communications and media relations services." Ogilvy has held that contract since 2007, according to the Holmes Report. The other contract deals with the Institute's "Heart Truth" campaign, including "the creation and promotion of a women and heart disease brand: the Red Dress" and such events as the annual "The Red Dress Collection Fashion Show" and "The Heart Truth Road Show." Ogvily has held that contract for seven years.

According to the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform Minority Office, Ogilvy PR received the following amounts per year, for federal PR contracts:
 * $621,000 in 1998
 * $3,381,897 in 2002
 * $6,401,671 in 2003
 * $1,580,352 in 2004

Ogilvy PR's federal contracts have included work for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, on the “Heart Truth” campaign, an initiative using the red dress as the national symbol to not only raise public awareness, but also give women a personal and urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease; and Office of National Drug Control Policy, on their National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, organizing and carrying out "media buying," "supportive research," ensuring "a coherent advertising strategy," and "day-to-day management."

Ogilvy PR has also worked for the Office of Homeland Security, to "provide real journalists for its biennial mock terrorist exercise," called TOPOFF, since the first exercise in 2000. 

On September 28, 2006, Ogilvy PR issued a press release which announced that, "since the beginning of August, [the firm] has been awarded thirteen new contracts across four core practice areas: Social Marketing, Public Affairs, Healthcare and Consumer Marketing." The new contracts, which would all be headed by Ogilvy PR's Washington DC office included " Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mitretek Healthcare." 

Information given on the government PR contracts included the following (the dollar amounts for the contracts were not given):
 * CDC Business Responds to AIDS - advising, outreach and marketing work for the CDC's "workplace education programs on HIV/AIDS prevention for business and labor audiences."
 * CDC Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Fruits and Vegetables Promotion - PR support for the CDC's "social marketing plan for fruit and vegetable promotion activities over the next five years."
 * CDC National Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Campaign - support for CDC efforts to develop, implement and evaluate a "national campaign to raise awareness of women's gynecological cancer," including "cancers of the uterus, ovaries, cervix, vulva, and vagina."
 * CDC Teen Safe Driving Campaign - support for creating a new CDC program to "encourage parents to play a lead role in their children's safe driving habits."
 * CDC Terrorism Materials Development - design and production of "print and interactive materials ... for emergency healthcare providers."
 * CMS National Multimedia and Education Campaign and Grassroots Outreach Contract - An "indefinite delivery indefinite quantity ... umbrella contract," to "assist CMS over five years to plan, develop, produce and deliver consumer-based communications targeted primarily to recipients of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Programs and materials also may target adult children of beneficiaries, State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) participants and people who are approaching Medicare age."

An October 2007 press release from the firm touted six new U.S. government contracts, awarded to the firm's "Social Marketing practice." The new contracts included:
 * Three with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for its Community Health Portal; National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention; and its Choose Respect Campaign, which seek "to encourage youth, ages 11 to 14, to form healthy relationships and increase behavior changes that will reduce their risks of forming unhealthy, violent dating relationships."
 * One with the Federal Trade Commission, for its National Do Not Call Registry.
 * One with the Food and Drug Administration, for its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. This contract involves "communications strategies that will increase consumer awareness of the potential for food terrorism."
 * One with the National Institutes of Health, for its National Eye Institute.

Government relations
In February 2007, Ogilvy PR announced that The Federalist Group, a lobbying firm that Ogilvy had purchased in 2005, was changing its name to Ogilvy Government Relations. "Ogilvy Government Relations has earned an unsurpassed reputation for successful legislative and regulatory advocacy as it has transitioned from a Republican focus to a large, bipartisan firm," enthused an Ogilvy PR press release. 

Promoting E-voting
"Diebold Election Systems (DES) has hired Ogilvy PR to burnish the company's image and the benefits of electronic voting in California," PR Week reported in August 2005. The state had decertified one of DES' e-voting machines the previous year, and the company wanted to ensure that their "story is told" and that voters "understand the technology," said Ogilvy PR's Michael Law, who heads DES' California work. According to PR Week, Ogilvy PR was researching public perceptions of DES, with an eye to developing messages "about the ease of electronic voting, particularly for voters who do not speak English, as well as for handicapped voters."

Clients
According to O'Dwyer's PR Daily and other news accounts,  Ogilvy PR's clients include:
 * Abbott Laboratories
 * Advent Software
 * Ajilon
 * American Chemistry Council
 * American Furniture Manufacturers Assn
 * American Home Mortgage
 * Ardais
 * Armor Holdings
 * Artesia Technologies
 * Association of Investment Management & Research
 * Bayer/GSK
 * CalTeach
 * CalTrans
 * CAMS
 * Cargill, Inc
 * Case Logic
 * Castrol
 * Celestial Seasonings
 * Cendant Travel Distribution Services
 * Chester's Int.
 * Chile's trade commission, "ProChile," in October 2008 for a multi-year contract to "position the Chilean country brand in eight countries" and "provide Chile with messaging, media relations, digital communications and digital influence, support and counsel for events, trade shows, partnerships and sponsorships."
 * Committee of Chief Risk Officers, Inc.
 * Deloitte & Touche
 * Dey L.P.
 * Diebold Election Systems
 * Discovery Communications Inc.
 * DuPont
 * East African Cables
 * EchoStar
 * Eckerd Corporation
 * Epilepsy Foundation
 * FM Global
 * Giant Bicycles
 * Hudson Highland Group
 * Jackson Hewitt
 * Janssen
 * Johnsonville Sausage
 * LEGATO
 * LG Electronics USA
 * MasterCard International
 * Medtronic
 * Merck
 * Mervyn's
 * Novartis
 * Ortho Biotech
 * Pakistan's embassy in the U.S. - a three-month initial contact signed in December 2007, "to provide media training, guidance, reporter outreach and write press materials for the Embassy."
 * Pfizer Inc.
 * Pharmacy Access Partnership
 * Pizza Hut
 * Quizno's
 * SITA
 * Snap-On
 * Soap & Detergent Association
 * Society of American Florists
 * Special Olympics
 * Sun Microsystems
 * TAP Pharmaceuticals
 * TrueBeginnings
 * Uniden America Corp.
 * United Way of America
 * Wayne Farms
 * Wells Fargo
 * Yellow Corporation
 * YMCA

Contact information
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide 825 Eighth Avenue World Wide Plaza New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-880-5200 Fax: 212-370-4636 Web: http://www.ogilvypr.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Public relations firms

External articles

 * "Pfizer still works Ogilvy", O'Dwyers PR Daily, December 20, 2004.
 * Hamilton Nolan, "Ogilvy pushes into Russian market with new partnership", PR Week, March 2, 2005.
 * "Diebold Hires Ogilvy," O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub. req'd.), August 22, 2005.
 * Andrew Gordon, "Ogilvy to help Diebold with CA outreach," PR Week (sub. req'd.), August 25, 2005.
 * Ogilvy press release, "Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Awarded Thirteen New Contracts in Its Washington Office," distributed via PR Newswire, September 28, 2006.
 * Jessica Holzer, "Grassroots campaigns poised to gain by ethics rule changes," The Hill, February 6, 2007.
 * Press release, "Federalist Group Announces Name Change to Ogilvy Government Relations: Leading Government Affairs Firm to Co-locate with Foremost Communications Firm, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide," Ogilvy via PR Newswire, February 15, 2007.