NEW YORK—Ogilvy Public Relations has launched a new global behavior change practice, OgilvyEngage, that will help companies motivate and assist consumers and other stakeholders to adopt socially-beneficial behaviors.

The new practice is built on Ogilvy Public Relations' nearly 30-year legacy of social marketing, which applies marketing principles and techniques to prompt and support behaviors that benefit society as well as the individual. The firm has handled numerous high-profile campaigns for government agencies and non-profit clients.

"Businesses frequently seek to drive awareness of important social issues," says Christopher Graves, CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations. “But more can be done. What's needed is to move people beyond awareness toward actions that matter which is where behavior change can play a role. A company can deepen its relationship with its customers by supporting them in such actions as managing their healthcare, developing better nutrition habits, and protecting their homes and their assets.”

OgilvyEngage will help clients assess behavior change opportunities, better understand the motivations of their consumer audiences, and design results-oriented messages, strategies and programs. It will offer clients access to the agency's proprietary “dynamics of change” model, a tool designed to define the types of change a company should invest in to bring about maximized outcomes for its business, individuals, and society--and the processes for implementing change programs.

OgilvyEngage will be led by Bess Bezirgan, senior vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations, who joined the firm in September from GolinHarris to develop the new offer. Bezirgan is a veteran specialist in corporate communications, sustainability, and corporate responsibility and has worked with global brands including Tetra Pak, Aveda, Alcoa, and the Dow Chemical Company.