Ogilvy Africa Network Unveils Ogilvy One to Accelerate Digital Innovation 

The Ogilvy Africa Network late January announced the launch of Ogilvy One in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), marking a significant step in the agency’s commitment to enhancing customer experience. Led by content, powered by data, and supercharged by technology, the Ogilvy Africa Network says it is shaping the future of customer engagement by designing relationships that drive lasting business, brand, and customer value.

Ogilvy One offers a range of end-to-end services, including a suite of MarTech products to transform the customer journey. This offering is underpinned by a newly unified global technology backbone powered by Verticurl, a leading marketing technology agency of the global Ogilvy network.

Vikas Mehta, Regional CEO for Sub-Saharan Africa at Ogilvy, said the company brings Ogilvy One to a region that boasts of one of the youngest audiences in the world. “This expertise further enhances Ogilvy Africa Network’s ability in partnering with clients to innovate at the intersections of content, data and technology. Powered by creativity and enabled by a suite of MarTech products custom-built for Africa, Ogilvy One opens new opportunities for brands to sandbox and scale innovative experiences across the user journey,” said Mehta.

Meanwhile, Mr Jason Smit has been appointed Managing Partner to lead Ogilvy One. With over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, AI, and MarTech, Jason has a proven track record of delivering innovative, data-driven solutions for leading brands.

Joining Jason on the leadership team is Kavata Wafula, Head of Paid Media; and Adderley Williams, Head of Digital Content. The technology practice for Ogilvy One would be led by the Ogilvy Africa Network’s Chief Technology Officer, Vimal Kaul.

Announcing the leadership team, Mr Mehta commented: “Vimal, Kavata and Adderley have made significant contributions to Ogilvy’s success over the years; and we are delighted to welcome Jason to the Ogilvy family. With his addition, Ogilvy One can boast of an enviable all-star lineup, right from the start.”

The convergence of content, data, and technology is reshaping brand-consumer interactions, he said, and Ogilvy One goes beyond optimising campaigns by putting creativity at the centre, to design more meaningful customer relationships for creating long-term value. Globally, Ogilvy One works with a broad range of B2C and B2B clients, including some of the world’s most iconic brands such as IBM, Mondelēz, Nestlé, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, Verizon, and Enterprise, as well as several regional and local clients.

“I’m thrilled to join the Ogilvy Africa Network on this journey,” said Jason Smit. “The potential for digital and AI to empower businesses of all sizes is immense.”

Ogilvy One has approximately 100 specialists in Sub-Saharan-Africa and 3,800 specialists in the global network spanning strategy, creative and design, UX/UI, data, media and performance, platform integration, creative technology, innovation, and AI, among other areas.