CHICAGO: Ogilvy has hired Mark Bieganski as EVP of consumer PR, a newly created role.
Bieganski started at the firm on December 8 and is reporting to Ogilvy PR global CEO Julianna Richter. He will also serve as client lead for Ogilvy’s long-standing partnership with LG Electronics U.S.A., for whom he is overseeing all aspects of Ogilvy’s partnership, which includes PR and influencer for LG business units including home entertainment and appliances in the U.S.
The firm’s LG team is made up of about 20 staffers, who are focused on PR and influencer work. Ogilvy’s partnership with LG dates back to June 2004. Last year, LG retained WPP’s LG-One multi-agency unit, comprised of Ogilvy and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, for its global corporate PR AOR account.
Bieganski will partner with leaders across Ogilvy to integrate strategy, creative, social and agile content across the client portfolio.
“[Bieganski’s] background has a blend of earned media, social, influencer, content creation and creative and innovative technology,” said Richter. “That will be a key part of what we are building, so I will work closely to infuse that across all of our clients so we take a more modern and creative approach to storytelling.”
Richter and Bieganski previously worked together at Edelman. Richter worked at Edelman for 18 years, most recently as the agency’s U.S. COO, a position she left in November 2018.
Bieganski worked at Edelman for nine years, most recently as SVP of integrated brand. He left the firm in November. At Edelman, he focused on top clients in consumer tech and CPG. Most recently, Bieganski was a client leader for Adobe, supporting communications for its flagship creativity apps, such as Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as its digital document apps such as Acrobat and Sign. He also led integrated work for clients including Kellogg’s, Dairy Management, Conagra Brands, Chamberlain, Land O’Lakes and The Trevor Project.
Previously, Bieganski worked in media and has served as an adjunct instructor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and DePaul University, where he taught graduate and undergraduate classes on social media and digital storytelling.
“Ogilvy is redefining the boundaries of communications and PR, at a time when consumers expect brands to have a voice in today’s cultural dialogue, and brands need to be disruptive enough to cut through the clutter and meet consumers where they are,” said Bieganski. “I couldn’t be more excited to partner with [Richter] and the talented teams at Ogilvy to shepherd the next chapter of the LG relationship, an iconic brand whose innovative products continue to make everyday life easier."
In January, Richter became Ogilvy’s global CEO of PR and Influence. Before that, the global PR CEO position had been empty since Stuart Smith left the WPP firm in January 2019 to join Vegolutionary Foods as chief marketing and growth officer.
Ogilvy PR posted a 7% revenue increase last year to $320 million, according to PRWeek’s Agency Business Report 2021.
