Carla Hendra, global CEO of Ogilvy Consulting, will be retiring in 2024 after nearly three decades with the agency. Throughout her tenure, Hendra has held a range of leadership positions spanning clients, geographies, and businesses.
Devika Bulchandani, global CEO of Ogilvy, noted, “Is Carla Hendra a strategist? Is she a client leader? Is she a CEO? Is she a consultant? There is only one title that adequately describes her–icon. She has had one of the most iconic careers and it is hard to capture the impact she has had on the agency. Always an innovator, her curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit repeatedly helped develop offerings that always kept Ogilvy on the cutting edge. There are many ‘Carlas’ in the world, but there is only one Carla Hendra. While she is starting a new chapter, she will always remain a part of our Ogilvy family.”
Shelly Lazarus, chairman emeritus at Ogilvy, who has known Hendra throughout her Ogilvy tenure, added in a tribute to her friend, “Before it was obvious, Carla anticipated a world where digital technologies are mainstream, and digital marketing would no longer be ‘new media,’ but central to people’s lives and businesses everywhere. She was also a master of building teams that work across divisions, disciplines, and geographies (what is now encapsulated in what we call Borderless Creativity). This required focus, diligence, and a certain level of humor. And she did all of this while raising three amazing children. She was a role model for women in the agency and in the industry, especially in the data and tech spheres where women in leadership positions were far and few between. Carla Hendra made all the difference to Ogilvy. We are forever in her debt.”
Hendra said, “Ogilvy has been a gift to me and my family for just about 28 years across roles with clients, disciplines, regions and most of all, our people. That it has become a creative and strategic force in the industry is no accident, and I am lucky to have played any part in Ogilvy’s story. I look forward now to expanding my work on public and private company boards in 2024.”
Hendra began her career at Ogilvy in client leadership where she was tasked with growing its global digital and demand generation services business with IBM. Two years later, she assumed a digital leadership role as president of Ogilvy One in North America and under her leadership the unit became one of the fastest growing digital and direct marketing agencies in the world. Hendra foresaw a future where digital technologies would become ubiquitous, making digital marketing an integral part of people’s lives and businesses everywhere.
Over the years she helped launch offerings that led the agency and its clients into the future–from OgilvyEntertainment, the shop’s first foray into branded content, to a media practice that evolved into Neo, now a part of GroupM. She also understood the important role that loyalty would come to play in the modern customer experience and led the acquisition of The Lacek Group in 2000. After leading Ogilvy North America as CEO for five years, she founded Ogilvy Consulting, which has grown over the past decade from a startup to 200+ consultants in 11 countries, providing a true differentiator for the agency’s clients as they grapple with complex challenges. Under her leadership, Ogilvy Consulting has been recognized as one of the top consultancies by both Forbes and the Financial Times.
No matter what role she was in, Hendra’s commitment to people shined through in various ways. Two decades ago, she partnered with the NYC nonprofit PENCIL to bring the Future Marketers program to Ogilvy, inspiring public school elementary students to explore careers in marketing and communications–and the partnership is still running strong today. She created the Ogilvy One Associates Program which has evolved into today’s Ogilvy Associates Program, one of the industry’s most competitive and sought-after early talent programs. Hendra was also the first-ever female jury chair of the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in 2001, showcasing her pioneering role not just within our organization but also in the global creative landscape.
The leaders that Hendra has attracted and nurtured will continue to lead Ogilvy Consulting into the future, including Ann Higgins in EMEA, Susan Machtiger in North America, Chris Brewer and Paolo Mercado in APAC, and Ranjiv Ramgolam in LATAM.
