HONOLULU, HAWAII - A former Ogilvy & Mather general manager here left the company after buy-back talks broke down, taking some 14 staffers and about $9 million in billings with him. Martin Schiller, who has set up The Schiller Group, said he did not have a contract with Ogilvy to prevent him from contacting clients once he had left the shop. 'I did not talk to clients while I was there,' he said. New Schiller Group clients include various Castle & Cooke real estate projects; the Island of Lanai; Hyatt Resorts Hawaii and F.W. Woolworth. Meanwhile Ogilvy moved quickly to shore up the shop. Archie Thornton, who is returning to O&M after a stint launching his own tropical clothing business, assumes responsibility for the creative group, administration and promotional activities. Frank Haas, who is also a former O&M executive, will handle marketing planning and strategy, research and media. Phil Kinnicutt was assigned account services as well as O&M's pr unit. Ogilvy retains several clients and an estimated total of $12 million in billings.
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)