WPP names Young successor to Lazarus

New York - WPP has confirmed Miles Young, chairman for Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Asia Pacific, will succeed Shelly Lazarus as worldwide CEO of The Ogilvy Group effective 1 January 2009.

Young will move to New York, and will be succeeded by Tim Isaac who is currently heading up the agency's ASEAN region as well as OgilvyAction. At the same time, Ogilvy Asia Pacific has named Paul Heath as CEO. Lazarus, who has been worldwide CEO since 1996, will remain chairman of The Ogilvy Group.

"She'll be an extremely difficult act to follow and we are delighted she will continue to focus, as chairman of The Ogilvy Group, on developing Ogilvy's client relationships. Miles brings to the role of CEO a deep understanding, not only of European and Asian markets, but also of the role that new technologies, and integrated thinking, bring to our business," WPP CEO, Sir Martin Sorrell, said.

The Ogilvy Asia Pacific region has almost doubled in size to a US$500 million revenue business in the past five years according to WPP.