OgilvyOne Acquires Leopard - B2B Sales & Marketing Firm

by PR Newswire

NEW YORK, N.Y., June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Expanding its integrated offering to include a full range of sales and demand generation tools for its leading edge business-to-business clients, OgilvyOne North America announced that it has acquired Colorado-based Leopard, a B2B marketing agency that specializes in helping companies accelerate the sales cycle for complex B2B products and services.

The acquisition will allow OgilvyOne to provide a fully integrated solution to its business-to-business clients that incorporates branded communication strategies with sophisticated sales solutions. Expanding on a rich heritage of connecting brand equity to customer loyalty, OgilvyOne North America's acquisition of Leopard adds deep capabilities in sales enablement.

"Today's B2B CEO's and CMO's look for marketing partners who can leverage the heavy investment in a sales force to the equally important investment in marketing, noted Carla Hendra, President of OgilvyOne North America. "Leopard has spent the last twenty years helping clients translate marketing objectives into strategies and tactics that link their sales force and channel partners to the right marketing messages, information and tools to turn prospects into customers. Their ability to bridge the gap from the brand to the customer via the sales channels provides a valuable complement to our portfolio of B2B capabilities."

OgilvyOne also noted that in addition to being able to align sales and marketing, the acquisition also provides OgilvyOne with proprietary technology developed by Leopard for digital asset management. Both companies also share key clients including IBM and SAP.

Sherri Leopard, founder and CEO of Leopard, stated, "We've worked side-by- side with Ogilvy for years in several of our client accounts. We can't imagine a better partner to complement our services. By joining forces we can provide our joint clients with a comprehensive set of capabilities, sales support tools and unmatched expertise in turning B2B brands into customer equity."

Leopard will report to Hendra and remain in place as CEO of Leopard, continuing to oversee day-to-day operations at the agency which will become an independent unit of OgilvyOne with over 100 employees. Leopard will continue to conduct business under the Leopard brand from its offices in Broomfield, Colorado.

"For a long time, OgilvyOne has looked outside the traditional boundaries of our business to set the standard for marketing partnership with our clients. The Leopard acquisition further expands our business and provides our clients with new ways to grow theirs," explained Hendra.

Leopard has won numerous awards for its work, including several recent awards from the Business Marketing Association (BMA) for sales enablement, demand generation and marketing communication programs for Motorola, IBM and Sterling Commerce. Both Leopard and Ogilvy North America were named to B-to-B Magazine's Top Agencies list for 2006. Ogilvy earned top honors in the "large agency" category. Leopard has also been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Colorado by the Denver Business Journal, as well as a top woman- owned business in the U.S. by DiversityBusiness.com.

Contact:
Toni Lee of Ogilvy
(212)237-5090
toni.lee@Ogilvy.com

Source: Ogilvy

CONTACT: Toni Lee of Ogilvy, +1-212-237-5090, toni.lee@Ogilvy.com