1 Just five months after Ogilvy Group was swallowed up in an unsolicited takeover, Kenneth Roman, Ogilvy's chairman and chief executive officer, said he is leaving to take a top post at American Express Co.
2 Mr. Roman, 59 years old, abruptly announced he will leave the venerable ad agency, whose largest client is American Express, to become American Express's executive vice president for corporate affairs and communications.
3 He will succeed Harry L. Freeman, 57, who has said he will retire in December.
4 Mr. Freeman said in August that he would retire by the end of this year to take 'executive responsibility' for an embarrassing effort to discredit banker Edmond Safra.
5 American Express representatives apparently influenced the publication of unfavorable articles about Mr. Safra.
6 The company later apologized and agreed to make $8 million in contributions to charities chosen by him.
7 Although Mr. Freeman is retiring, he will continue to work as a consultant for American Express on a project basis.
8 Ad industry executives weren't surprised by Mr. Roman's decision to leave Ogilvy.
9 The agency, under his direction, bitterly fought a takeover attempt by WPP Group PLC of London before succumbing in May.
10 And although Mr. Roman and WPP's chief executive, Martin Sorrell, have gone out of their way to be publicly supportive of each other, people close to Mr. Roman say he was unhappy giving up control of the company.
11 Some executives also cite tension because of efforts by Mr. Sorrell, a financial man, to cut costs at the agency.
12 Mr. Roman will be succeeded as the head of Ogilvy's flagship ad agency, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, by Graham Phillips, 50, who had been president of North American operations and who, like Mr. Sorrell, is British.
13 Alexander Brody, 56, will take on the newly created position of president of the world-wide agency and chief executive of its international operations.
14 He had been president of the international operations.
15 Mr. Roman also had overseen Ogilvy Group's two other units, the Scali McCabe Sloves advertising agency and its research division, but those units will now report directly to WPP.
16 Mr. Roman appears custom-made for the American Express job.
17 Known as a traditional executive, he is very much in the conservative American Express mold.
18 Moreover, after 26 years at Ogilvy he had honed a reputation for being squeaky-clean and a straight arrow -- which can only help American Express in the wake of the Safra incident.
19 He also is close to American Express's chairman and chief executive officer, James D. Robinson III. Aside from working with Mr. Robinson on the American Express advertising account for about 11 years, Mr. Roman serves on several of the same charities and boards as Mr. Robinson.
20 The abrupt management change sparked widespread speculation that Mr. Roman had been pushed out of Ogilvy's top spot by Mr. Sorrell.
21 But Mr. Roman flatly denied the speculation, saying Mr. Sorrell had tried several times to persuade him to stay, offering various incentives and in one instance sending a note with a case of wine (The wine, naturally, was Seagram's brand, an Ogilvy client). 'He asked me not to resign.
22 The implication that I was pushed aside wouldn't be accurate,' Mr. Roman said.
23 Mr. Sorrell, traveling in the Far East, couldn't be reached.
24 Mr. Roman said American Express's Mr. Robinson first approached him about the job in late September.
25 According to industry executives, Peter Sutherland, a former European Community commissioner from Ireland, was also a serious contender for the American Express job.
26 Although it ultimately wasn't offered to him, he will be on retainer to American Express as an adviser on international matters.
27 After talking on and off for the past four weeks, Mr. Roman said, he agreed to take the job because 'it's the right time, it's a terrific opportunity, and I think I leave the company in very strong hands.
28 It was my decision, not anyone else's.'
29 Mr. Roman also brushed aside reports about infighting between him and Mr. Phillips, his successor at Ogilvy.
30 The two executives could hardly be more different.
31 Mr. Roman comes across as a low-key executive; Mr. Phillips has a flashier personality.
32 During time off, Mr. Roman tends to his garden; Mr. Phillips confesses to a fondness for, among other things, fast cars and planes.
33 Industry executives say that although the two executives used to clash more frequently, the WPP takeover brought them closer together.
34 'I'm the guy who made him head of New York, head of the U.S., president of North America, and recommended him {to Mr. Sorrell} as my successor.
35 Would I have done all those things successively if I didn't think he was the right guy?' Mr. Roman asked.
36 He labeled reports of friction 'ridiculous,' and said that he spent part of the weekend on Mr. Phillips's boat in Connecticut.
37 Mr. Roman will oversee American Express's public relations and government affairs, among other things, but he won't be involved in its advertising, which is handled by the operating units. 'I consider this a second career,' he said.
38 He also will sit on the company's corporate planning and policy committee, made up of the top corporate and operating executives.
39 Mr. Roman's departure isn't expected to have any enormous repercussions at Ogilvy.
40 American Express, Kraft General Foods, and Mattel executives said the move won't affect their relationships with the ad agency. 'General Foods's relationships with its agencies are based on the agencies' work, and will continue to be,' said David Hurwitt, a vice president of Kraft General Foods.
41 But some clients and analysts expressed concern that Mr. Phillips isn't as well-known to many clients. 'Ken was my key contact,' said J. Nicholas Hahn, president and chief executive officer of Cotton Inc., which represents cotton producers. 'I don't know {Mr.
42 Phillips} all that well.
43 I haven't seen or talked to him in several years.'
44 And some analysts questioned whether Mr. Phillips would have the skills Ogilvy needs to turn the agency around.
45 While the agency has done well in many parts of the world, its flagship New York office has had a dismal track record recently; it has won few new accounts while losing big ones, including Maxwell House. 'I think {Mr.
46 Phillips} is going to need some help.
47 I think they need creative leadership, and I don't think they have it,' said Emma Hill, an analyst with Wertheim & Co.
48 Ogilvy & Mather's top creative executive, Norman Berry, left the agency earlier this year. 'Norm Berry was a creative inspiration at the company, and nobody has filled that void,' said Ms. Hill.
49 But other analysts said that having Mr. Phillips succeed Mr. Roman would make for a smooth transition. 'Graham Phillips has been there a long time, knows the culture well, is aggressive, and apparently gets along well with' Mr. Sorrell, said Andrew Wallach, an analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert. 'It's probably a reasonable transition.
50 Hopefully, he'll be the answer to the problems they've had in New York.'
51 Sale of Saatchi Unit Close
52 Computer Sciences Corp., El Segundo, Calif., said it is close to making final an agreement to buy Cleveland Consulting Associates from Saatchi & Saatchi
53 Computer Sciences wouldn't disclose the proposed purchase price for Cleveland Consulting, which counsels companies on logistics and supply.
54 But David Lord, managing editor of Consultants News, an industry publication based in Fitzwilliam, N.H., said an industry standard would suggest a purchase price of between one and two times Cleveland Consulting's approximately $15 million annual revenue.
55 Both Saatchi & Saatchi, which announced its intention to sell off most of its consulting business in June, and Cleveland Consulting declined to comment on the proposed sale.
56 Ad Notes. . . .
57 NEW ACCOUNT: AmBase Corp., New York, awarded the ad account for its Home Insurance Co. unit to Biederman, Kelly & Shaffer, New York.
58 Billings weren't disclosed. . . . Puerto Rico Telephone Co. awarded its $3 million account to West Indies & Grey, Grey Advertising's office in Puerto Rico.
59 DIET COKE: Coca-Cola Co. yesterday said singer Elton John signed to appear in an ad for Diet Coke.
60 Details of the commercial, which will be part of the brand's 1990 advertising campaign, weren't disclosed.
61 Mr. John becomes the latest of many music stars, including George Michael and Whitney Houston, to appear in ads for the diet drink.

American Express representatives apparently influenced the publication of unfavorable articles about Mr . Safra .
apparently
Has it been proven? 