Devika Bulchandani has been appointed CEO of Ogilvy North America and global chairwoman of Advertising. Bulchandani will be responsible for driving all aspects of Ogilvy’s core business across the United States and Canada which spans Advertising, Brand & Content, Public Relations & Influence, Experience, Growth & Innovation, and Health. She will also support Ogilvy’s advertising business across the global network.
Most recently Bulchandani served as president of North America for McCann Worldgroup. Prior to being appointed to that role in December 2019, she was president of McCann New York, the company’s lead office. Under her leadership that office experienced a period of significant growth and industry recognition that encompassed numerous creative, effectiveness and innovation awards. Over the past four years McCann New York won a total of 100 Cannes Lions and was the 2nd most awarded agency in 2019 in the world. Under her leadership, McCann was named the Most Creatively Effective Agency Network in the U.S. by the Effie Awards last year.
Bulchandani joined McCann New York’s strategy department in 1997 and played a key role in transforming “Priceless,” the Mastercard advertising concept, into a global business platform encompassing a wide range of digital and experiential marketing programs. She rose quickly through the agency ranks and co-founded McCann XBC, the agency unit dedicated to Mastercard, where she was named president.
Andy Main, global CEO for Ogilvy, said, “Dev is a leader with relentless drive, a sharp understanding of our clients’ rapidly evolving needs, and an undeniable track record of using creativity as a catalyst for growth. With Dev leading our teams across North America, I’m confident that Ogilvy will be strongly positioned to deliver the ideas our clients need to create giant value for their businesses at speed and scale.”
Bulchandani said, “Few people blazed trails in this industry the way that David Ogilvy did, and I’m invigorated by the opportunity to work with Andy to shape Ogilvy’s future. At this time of immense change, I look forward to harnessing the creative brilliance and diverse expertise of Ogilvy’s global network to solve problems and create lasting value for clients.”
Bulchandani is deeply devoted to social causes that promote equality, diversity and inclusiveness. She is a founding member of Times Up Advertising, where she has tirelessly championed equality for women in advertising, particularly for women of color. To mark International Women’s Day in 2019, Bulchandani brought together her industry peers for a discussion in partnership with NYWICI, AAF and Bloomberg Media that featured the pioneering women of Madison Avenue. In 2017, she was named among “Working Mothers of the Year” by She Runs It and is also a previous recipient of the AdColor Innovator Award.
She has volunteered her time for numerous industry/community projects, including work with the Ad Council. She is also an active board member of the Ad Club in New York.
