No Neo@Ogilvy replacement as Mandel walks

Asia Pacific - Neo@Ogilvy CEO and OgilvyOne VP of digital for Asia Pacific, Ken Mandel has resigned for personal reasons, two years after taking on the dual roles. OgilvyOne Asia president, Kent Wertime says a direct replacement will not be sought.

Wertime dismissed speculation that the agency was scrambling to fill Mandel's role and said that there will be no knee jerk reaction to the situation and that new senior appointments will be announced in due time. He also said that Mandel's resignation was amicable and for family reasons, and "although we will miss his input - one man doesn't make our entire digital offering".

Before joining Neo@Ogilvy, Mandel ran Bates Vietnam which was then part of the Cordiant Communications Group, later moving to Singapore to head Cordiant's marquee interactive agency CCG.XM (now known as XM Asia). At XM, legend has it he enforced a confidentially agreement after some of Coca-Cola's online work resembled work presented by the agency in a losing pitch effort.

Mandel's decision to leave is believed to be primarily due to the heavy travel schedule associated with the role, and his want to spend more time with his young family. At this moment in time, Mandel has made no announcements regarding his immediate future, he will serve an undisclosed period of notice, and one former colleague speculated that a boutique consultancy might be a possibility whilst another Mandel associate predicted he would spend more time sailing, "as long as he can keep away from spinnakers".

Mandel, who could not be reached for comment, will serve his full notice.