John Killam grew up in networks. But Ogilvy’s Canadian CEO, who helped lead shops like Red Magnet and OMD Canada before being hired at the agency in 2019, says he’s never been in one that is “so completely dialed in at the global level as Ogilvy.”

The organization has embraced what it’s calling “borderless creativity,” says Killam, the ability to “bring brainpower from any place, be it one city of the next - like [our Toronto office] working with one of our other two offices in Canada – or working across the border with the U.S. or with our colleagues in Europe.”

While the agency has long had access to the network’s cross-market talent, Killam says the pandemic has “poured gas on it, because we’re bringing global people to meetings all the time.”

The model has strengthened Ogilvy’s offering in Canada and has opened new opportunities for the shop to shine globally, adds CCO Megan Farquhar, who was hired from Leo Burnett Chicago in January 2021.

“It’s giving us a chance to show the rest of the world what Canadian talent is capable of,” she says. “As other offices also deal with “The Great Resignation” and there are times when they need some extra firepower, we’re seen as a gem in the network.”

To play that larger leadership role within the network, Ogilvy has been adding depth to different disciplines.