New Reality Show Inspired by World's Greatest Salesperson Contest

CANNES, France, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- A new reality show inspired by OgilvyOne's Search for the World's Greatest Salesperson contest was announced today at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival by OgilvyOne Worldwide and OgilvyEntertainment, in collaboration with Generate and MSN.

The half-hour, episodic broadband series developed by OgilvyEntertainment and Generate will take the form of a "makeover" show that will celebrate the "salesperson" inside all of us. The series will be distributed on MSN once sponsorship is secured and will include "how-to" information and other supporting content on the subject of selling. Casting for the series will be conducted through video submissions from consumers who will talk about their current sales positions and why they want to become better salespeople.

The idea for the series came from the success of OgilvyOne's multi-platform World's Greatest Salesperson contest that generated over 230 submissions on YouTube from 12 countries, more than 100,000 visits to the YouTube brand channel, 90,000+ video views, and the naming of a winner today as the World's Greatest Salesperson following a final sales "shoot out" in Cannes.

"We immediately thought of turning the contest into an entertainment platform based on the unbelievable response and popularity of the YouTube brand channel contest," explained Doug Scott, President of OgilvyEntertainment.  "We are seeing unprecedented demand for original online content.  This new series will have an instant audience and will enable the world to watch as our real life salespeople reveal if 'great salesman are born, or made'."

The show will break down the sales process with revealing and entertaining real-life stories that go behind the scenes of a cold-call sales pitch.  Viewers then see how a "pitch doctor" would improve the presentation, and finally, the show will take the viewer through an actual real-life sales call.

"Sales is an art form – one that has starred in countless movies and shows – providing both a reflection of our culture and times and a demonstration of how to be successful," explained Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman & CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide. "This show is a natural outgrowth of our mission to reinvigorate the noble art of salesmanship and the ideals of our founder, David Ogilvy."

"We have had great success in the past working with both Ogilvy and Generate in the original content area," said Russ Axelrod, senior brand strategist, Branded Entertainment and Experiences Team (BEET), MSN.  "This program represents the next step for us in this space and we're very excited to help bring it to market."

"We're pleased to be continuing our productive relationship with Ogilvy Entertainment and MSN BEET," said Generate CEO & co-founder, Jordan Levin. "The World's Greatest Salesperson is another innovative and engaging content experience that creates unique value for advertiser and audience alike across multiple screens."

The show will be executive produced by OgilvyEntertainment, produced by Generate, a leading content development company, and shown on MSN.com.

About OgilvyOne Worldwide  

OgilvyOne Worldwide is the strongest, most experienced and most highly awarded one-to-one marketing network in the world, with over 120 offices in 50 countries. It provides clients with a full range of direct, consulting and interactive services to deliver profitable customer relationships.  The roster of clients is equally balanced between global clients including American Express, Cisco, IBM, Lenovo, Nestle, SAP and Unilever, and leading clients in our local markets. OgilvyOne Worldwide is a unit of The Ogilvy Group, a WPP company (Nasdaq: WPPGY), one of the world's largest communications services groups.

About OgilvyEntertainment

OgilvyEntertainment, part of Ogilvy & Mather, develops and produces some of the most innovative original entertainment properties for distribution across all forms of media. Working closely with its clients, the firm builds entertainment properties that deliver on marketing goals by telling brand stories in culturally credible ways. OgilvyEntertainment's clients include IBM, Unilever, Cisco, DuPont, Kraft, and TD Ameritrade.  It comprises entertainment executives, media planners and brand strategists, who maintain a wide network of partnerships across talent agencies, distribution channels and production companies.  Ogilvy & Mather is a unit of WPP.

About Generate

Founded in 2006 by leading media executives from television, film, digital, advertising, production and talent management - including former CEO of The WB television network, Jordan Levin - Generate creates premium content for distribution across traditional and emerging platforms that connects the entertainment, technology and advertising communities.  As a pioneer of the modern studio model, Generate built full-service development, production, talent and research divisions helmed by industry veterans to provide media companies and brands with customized solutions that engage audiences and align strategic business goals.

SOURCE Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide