Q & A with Jane Mazur - Media Relations

Jane Mazur
EVP, Media Relations
E-mail | 212.880.5200



Back to Media Relations

1. How long have you been with Ogilvy? What made you want to join the company?

I have been with Ogilvy for 3 years. I joined because it was an opportunity to bring an expertise in media to the forefront of everything we do. Instead of creating something individual, I was able to create a practice that's embedded within all the other practices. It truly was an entrepreneurial opportunity, and it was exciting that Ogilvy valued what media really means as an end result for our clients.

2. What is it that differentiates how Ogilvy approaches media relations? What do we know how to do that others do not?

Ogilvy knows the media and how reporters and producers think, but we do things differently in that we do not have individuals that just go out and pitch. Virtually every member of our agency is engaged in media relations to some extent. We teach media relations year-round and have a proprietary pitching training program to keep everyone strong on these skills. We also have a media team that works daily as part of the account team, so we are there from the beginning of the process with strategic counsel, all the way down to execution. We work with all the individual account members to make sure we're maximizing proactive and reactive media at all times.

We also look at media relations across all kinds of media. We don't look at media as traditional and non-traditional anymore, because digital has changed that landscape. We partner with all the different entities within Ogilvy to make sure that we're thinking about media in a very holistic way.

3. What is your process for developing ideas for your clients?

Ogilvy thinks 360 -- we look at the big picture. At the end of the day, we are part of the marketing discipline, so we're always thinking about what the client is actually trying to accomplish: what their marketing goals are, what the messages are they're trying to deliver, and who their audiences are.

After analyzing a client's needs we structure a plan around what the end result should be, and we assign the most appropriate team members to various aspects of the campaign. That could be day-in account people who are living and breathing specific media that is indigenous to the account itself, or it could be experts in the media practice who come and add that extra muscle.

Ogilvy's two biggest assets to clients are our people and our ability to work so seamlessly as a 360 entity -- not just with Ogilvy partners, but partners in general. We really have an open and enthusiastic attitude about being a core member of our client's team.