NEW YORK — Ogilvy PR has decentralized its strategy and planning arm, and instead, has formed a new division that’s spread across all offices in North America. 

The new Insight & Strategy group will initially be composed of 35 senior and mid-level staff across eight offices in North America with a view towards infusing the capabilities even further. EVP Michael Briggs will lead the effort to generate more  research-based insights for clients.

“What’s fundamentally different is we’re now ensuring that we have this core capacity in each of our offices, in each of our practices,” said Ogilvy’s North American CEO Rob Mathias.

Many of the central players in the former strategy and planning division moved on to new positions, including its global lead Jennifer Scott who was named Ogilvy’s MD of New York last November.

“It’s now a dispersion model,” he added. “If the talent is held only by a few, we’re not really doing ourselves or our clients justice.”

When asked if this model alleviates the challenge of getting clients to pay a premium for planning, Mathias noted, “we find where there’s demonstrable value, clients will pay. For our insights to be valuable, they have to be truisms that clients can’t find on their own.”

In North America, Ogilvy has moved to model with discipline heads across the region: Jennifer Risi leading media influence; Rachel Caggiano leading content; Briggs for insight; and a yet-to-be-named regional lead for social.

“These are the disciplines that need to touch a client engagement,” Mathias said. “We’re creating a model where we can see where these disciplines will interact.”

Other Ogilvy regions have implemented a similar model.