OgilvyBikes - 1st NY Corporate Bike Share Program Launches

AGENCY STAGES TWEET RIDE TO INTRODUCE PROGRAM

NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Supporting efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and LEED application for its new green headquarters at the Chocolate Factory on 11th Avenue, Ogilvy & Mather New York has launched the City's first corporate bike sharing program.

The program includes the creation of 150 covered bicycle spaces in the agency's new garage to house the 50 Breezer bicycles the agency purchased, and to accommodate the growing number of agency employees who bicycle to work every day. Some 200-plus agency employees have already taken a bicycle safety course offered by NY Bikes, and the agency is offering free helmets for those who join the program and want to use the loaner bicycles. Shower facilities are available to those who participate in the OgilvyBikes program.

"When we moved to our new building we purposefully incorporated as many green elements as possible, underscoring sustainability as an important business objective for Ogilvy," explained Gunther Schumacher, Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy & Mather North America and lead driver of the OgilvyBikes program. "The OgilvyBikes program comes at a time when the City is opening up streets for bicycles and a greater number of our staff is looking to be part of a movement driving environmental change close to home, while getting fit and having fun at the same time."

In launching OgilvyBikes, the agency created an event designed to share the joy of exploring NY's neighborhoods with experienced agency bike riders and those new to navigating NY on two wheels. On Tuesday morning at 9am, OgilvyBikes members set off in the rain down the West Side Highway, capturing images of the ride on twitter that they posted to #ogbikes1.

"Ogilvy and Mather is starting to make the rest of New York City's bike commuters green with envy," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "We're thrilled to be working together to make this city more bike-friendly, both on the streets and in the workplace."

Ogilvy & Mather has long supported environmental causes on a pro-bono basis and through its OgilvyEarth practice that works with clients on sustainability initiatives. It recently won a series of awards for the "Polar Bear" campaign for the Environmental Defense Fund and has just launched the Hopenhagen campaign for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.

SOURCE Ogilvy