By Storyboard18
Publication Date: 2026-03-20 03:45:00
WPP’s Ogilvy has ended its role as IBM’s creative agency of record, concluding a 32-year relationship that had come to define one of the longest-standing partnerships in modern advertising, according to a Campaign US report. The association dates to 1994, when IBM consolidated its then-$500 million advertising business with Ogilvy, ushering in a series of campaigns that helped recast the technology company’s identity for successive eras.As recently as August 2024, the two organizations marked three decades of collaboration with a celebration at Ogilvy’s headquarters at 3 World Trade Center.
The separation comes as Ogilvy opted not to participate in IBM’s upcoming creative agency review, the Campaign report added.
People briefed on the matter described to Campaign US that the decision as a commercial one, pointing to longstanding balance-of-trade tensions between WPP and IBM rather than dissatisfaction with the creative work. IBM had previously initiated a review of its…
