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Ogilvy Malaysia chief executive David Mayo to step down

Ogilvy Malaysia chief executive David Mayo is leaving the agency after deciding not to renew his contract after 21 years with the agency.

He will step down later this month.

Mayo has been chief executive of Ogilvy’s Malaysia operation since January 2017, after more than two and a half years as group chief marketing officer based in Singapore.

Mayo, an advocate of disruption and transformation in the industry, concluded it was time for a change and had been contemplating his position for some time.

He told Mumbrella: ““Ogilvy and I have been the making of one another. As in any marriage we’ve had our ups and downs and we have both benefitted from one another. But now it’s the right time for me to move on.

“My belief is that clients don’t want agencies in their current format. They want deeper, faster access to data and the creators who can activate it. They want to be 100% ‘there’ and 80% perfect rather than the other way around.

“And they want people who can deploy commonsense and bravery to make that happen. Less admin, more action. Less planning more delivery. Less process and more fun. I haven’t met a client in the past year who doesn’t feel the same way the agencies all do.”

An internal email sent to its leadership team said Mayo had “decided not to renew his contract with the company from December in order to pursue a new direction that he will be announcing himself in due course”.

“To avoid any conflict of interest, we have agreed – with sadness – that he will step down at the end of this month”.

The note added that Mayo had been “instrumental in building the company over the years”.

The popular Brit, who has worked for Ogilvy in various guises, was president of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising ASEAN before, in 2012, taking on the job of reinvigorating the Bates brand in Asia following its merger with British agency CHI.

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