Ogilvy has hired former FIG and Joan strategist Anibal Casso as its chief strategy officer for Ogilvy North America. Casso will oversee a group of over 250 strategists across Ogilvy’s PR, health, experience and advertising businesses and work closely with over 50 growth and innovation specialists.
“As consumer expectation of brands goes up, brand strategy that links business priorities to cultural impact is of paramount importance and Anibal’s experience is perfectly suited to deliver that for our clients,” Devika Bulchandani, CEO of Ogilvy North America and global chairwoman of advertising, said in a statement.
Casso, who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York, was most recently with agency FIG as executive director of strategy, and before that was chief strategy officer at Joan. He has also held strategy positions with Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5 and 72andSunny. Over the past 20-plus years, he has led work for brands including Old Spice, Google, Diageo, Spotify, General Mills, Heineken, Nissan and others.
“Ogilvy is an iconic company that I have immense respect for because it consistently proves the most effective creative work is heavily rooted in insight, truth and good strategy,” Casso said in a statement. “I love helping brands solve problems by thinking and creating at the intersection of different skill sets and backgrounds—this is how we enable impact. This is the kind of opportunity that reignites the flame inside of you and I’m excited to be joining a team that is energized and motivated to show the industry the best of Ogilvy.”
Casso will start his role at Ogilvy on August 9.