Ogilvy Paris – new executive committee, appointed Léonard Dupray, Natalie Heckel, and Pierre-Hubert Meilhac

In June 2020, Ogilvy Communications Group appointed Matthieu Elkaim and Emmanuel Ferry as co-chairs of the Paris agency. Since their appointment, they have been working to build a “New Ogilvy Paris” by accelerating the agency’s transformation. Diversity of expertise and creative solutions; a hybrid approach to client issues; rigorous strategic and creative thinking, nestled at the intersection of advertising, editorial content, social networks, PR, influence, consulting, behavioral sciences, and consumer experience. And upstream, a quasi-systematic use of social intelligence tools that allow to observe and understand the multiple audiences with which brands must interact.

To support them in the implementation of new strategic orientations and to amplify synergies between businesses, they have set up an executive committee over the past two years, representing all the agency’s expertise. Within this new executive committee, Matthieu Elkaim and Emmanuel Ferry announce the appointment of Pierre-Hubert Meilhac as vice-president as well as the appointments of Natalie Heckel and Léonard Dupray as Managing Partners in charge of the Advertising department.

“Pierre-Hubert Meilhac has been leading cross-functional projects at Ogilvy Paris for several years, such as those related to diversity and inclusion within the agency. In his new role, he will support the agency’s high-growth businesses to instill the same dynamic as that of the PR & Influence department he oversees. He will also lead specific projects for both internal and external clients and will launch new offerings in the coming months,” says Emmanuel Ferry, Co-Chairman of Ogilvy Paris.

“Natalie Heckel and Léonard Dupray embody the hybridization between an “advertising” and “social media” culture. Each of them brings a specific skill set with the same ambition to accompany clients towards a communication that meets the expectations of audiences in a constantly changing media landscape. This is the only way to maximize the impact of our campaigns,” adds Matthieu Elkaim, Co-President of Ogilvy Paris.

The transformation of Ogilvy led by the new executive committee with the 250 talents of the agency is illustrated by a strong growth of the PR & Influence and Experience expertise as well as an increase in corporate subjects. This new model has already proven itself, as evidenced by the recent wins of Michelin global (CRM and experience), Gamm vert, POINT.P (social media), Monkey Shoulder (PR/influence), Tinder (PR activation), Aperol (PR), Starbucks (Experience), Coinhouse (Experience), or La bouche rouge (paid social)…

Pierre Hubert Meilhac, VP – Head of PR & Influence has an in-depth knowledge of both institutional and consumer issues. He leads a team of some 30 PR & influence specialists and assists the Ogilvy Group’s French and international clients (Crédit Mutuel, TCS, Nestlé Waters, Ford, Caisse d’Epargne, Bacardi-Martini, Shiseido, etc.) with their brand, btob or corporate communication strategies. For the past 20 years, Pierre-Hubert has advised companies, brands, and executives in sectors as varied as food and beverage, spirits, travel and tourism, technology, entertainment, sports, health, finance, the automotive industry, government ministries, etc. on their positioning and influence issues.  Prior to joining Ogilvy, Pierre-Hubert was Managing Director of Golin (Interpublic – MullenLowe) where he led the transformation of the Paris-based agency by integrating influence and social media into the group’s corporate and consumer expertise. Pierre-Hubert is a member of the Ogilvy Paris Executive Committee and leads the agency’s D&I strategy. He also sits on the board of directors of the syndicat des agences conseil en relations publics (SCRP) and of the sensitive agency Nouvelle Cour, which aims to promote diversity in the communications sector.

Natalie Heckel, Managing Partner Advertising, Brand & Content – Head of Health & Welness is a French-American with over 25 years of experience in communications. She began her career at Lintas and then at Leo Burnett working on the deployment of global platforms for luxury, food, and automotive brands.  Natalie joined Ogilvy in 1998 in Austria where she worked with major international groups such as Mattel, Kimberly Clark, and Kraft in their expansion in Central and Eastern Europe. She joined Ogilvy’s Paris office in 2001 as Sales Director managing multidisciplinary platforms for major brands of the Nestlé, Mondelez and Ford groups. In 2016, she developed the Health & Wellness business and, in conjunction with other WPP group partners, set up communication tools adapted to the new challenges facing brands in the wellness sector. In 2018, Natalie also took over the role of Chief Delivery Officer to implement new working methods internally and continue to strengthen the agency’s efficiency in delivering increasingly complex modern marketing platforms.  As of April 2022, Natalie appointed Managing Partner of the agency for the Advertising Brand and Content division, working with Leonard Dupray.

Leonard Dupray, Managing Partner Advertising, Brand & Content – Head of Social & Performance has graduated in International Business Engineering at the Institut Mines-Télécom and in Marketing-Advertising at ISCOM Paris. He started his career in technology & innovation in 2012. Afterwards, he created, developed, and sold his online presentation startup.  He joined Ogilvy in 2015 and developed the Social Engagement and Performance expertise through the Social CRM model. In 2017 he became Head of Social & Performance, a role in which he worked to create more synergies between content and media. He will then develop the Social Intelligence offering to place data and the consumer at the heart of the agency’s Social strategies.  As part of Ogilvy’s global transformation in January 2022, Leonard has become Managing Director of the agency’s historic Advertising Brand & Content practice. His in-depth knowledge of social media and his understanding of strategic issues have enabled him to support several French and international brands with diverse challenges, such as Accor, Chanel, Coca-Cola, Allianz, and Michelin.

Ogilvy has been creating iconic advertising campaigns since its founder David Ogilvy opened his first agency in New York in 1948. Ogilvy is a multi-award-winning creative network that helps build brands that matter in 132 offices and 83 countries. In Paris, Ogilvy has 250 employees and with over 20 different nationalities is one of the largest hubs in the network.