He is leaving without a job to go to and his departure comes just three weeks after Clare Donald, Ogilvy UK’s chief production officer, also announced that she was leaving without having a new job lined up. Jo Coombs, the chief executive of the now defunct OgilvyOne, quit before the restructure was completed.
Rudd has worked at O&M since 2015 and took on his current role in May after the company underwent a restructure that saw all of its sub-brands disappear as part of the creation of a single P&L.
He then became part of Ogilvy UK’s 12-strong management team led by chief executive Michael Frohlich, which also included O&M’s former chief strategy officer Kevin Chesters and chief creative officer Mick Mahoney, who remain at the agency.
Rudd said: “I am extremely proud of our turnaround of Ogilvy and I’m hugely grateful to the team at Sea Containers for making it happen. The time is right for me now to explore what else is interesting out there.”
Frohlich added: “Charlie played a pivotal role in redefining O&M’s offering when he took on the role of CEO in 2015 – his love for the creative product and developing Ogilvy’s talent contributed to huge success for our clients and their work, as well as the wider agency. His presence and energy will be missed here at Ogilvy, but we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
