Ulrich Tillmanns named Chairman of the German Ogilvy Group

Frankfurt, Germany, 20-1-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Effective January 1, 2014, Ulrich Tillmanns has been named Chairman of the German Ogilvy Group. Thomas Strerath, Group CEO, explains Tillmanns appointment to this more clearly defined, operations-oriented position: “Ulrich Tillmanns brings the necessary organizational and process skills to drive the further integration and associated standardization of our operating units and offices. Even though the role is primarily a non-executive one, he will be leading operative projects.“

In this function, Tillmanns will also be a strategic consultant and coach to the CEO, the Chief Financial Officer (Helmut Hechler), Chief Strategy Officer (Larissa Pohl) and to the Chief Creative Officers (Dr. Stephan Vogel and Michael Kutschinski), as well as a partner to all managing directors of the operational units.

“The increasing complexity of the business calls for simplification and standardization in all basic areas of the organization and processes to meet the changing demands for speed and integration. It’s a great challenge, and I am very much looking forward to it”, says Ulrich Tillmanns, who has been with Ogilvy since 1991 and has led various operational units in both London and Duesseldorf.

He will be handing over his previous role as Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Duesseldorf to Martin Alles. Moving forward, the two brands at this location, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and OgilvyOne will be uniformly led by Alles, Thomas Schwarz (Creation) and Dirk Lapaz (Finance).

Ulrich Tillmanns 
After studies in political science, sociology and psychology, Ulrich Tillmanns began his career in 1978 as a public relations officer in the German 3rd Air Division, an integrated NATO unit in the Lower Rhine region. In 1985 he entered the industrial sector, where he held various positions, including press spokesperson and head of marketing for many years.

Tillmanns founded a new Ogilvy unit in Duesseldorf with colleauges in 1991, where he has faithfully remained in the agency group in various capacities ever since. His portfolio includes dozens of leading national and international brands as well as advising the German federal government and the regional government of North Rhine Westphalia.

After working several years in London, Tillmanns took over the leadership of the Ogilvy Advertising unit in Duesseldorf in 2010 as its Managing Director. He also leads the OgilvyEarth practice in Germany, a discipline of Ogilvy Worldwide, which specializes in sustainability consulting. In 2012 Tillmanns was appointed to the CSR Advisory Board for the regional government of North Rhine Westphalia.

Ulrich Tillmanns is married and has two grown daughters. He lives in Krefeld, Germany.

For any press inquiries please contact: 
Angelika Boese
Ogilvy & Mather Germany
Phone 0049-(0)69-96225-1706
E-Mail: angelika.boese@ogilvy.com

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Ulrich Tillmanns