Jeff Odiorne Joins Grey New York as Co-chief Creative Officer

NEW YORK, March 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tor Myhren, President and Chief Creative Officer of Grey New York, today announced that Jeff Odiorne is joining the agency's flagship office as Co-Chief Creative Officer.  This marks Myhren's first major appointment since his promotion to President last December.

"Jeff is going to be an outstanding partner to me as my responsibilities expand.  He is a natural leader," said Tor Myhren.  "He has a crystal clear vision.  He is decisive and people want to follow him into battle.  Jeff fits into our culture perfectly.  He is one of the smartest guys I know, but he mixes that with a gritty relentless, 'get it done' blue collar work ethic."

Jeff Odiorne: Entrepreneur, Talent Builder

Jeff Odiorne came to national prominence as a founder, Chairman and Executive Creative Director of OWNP, Odiorne Wilde Narraway and Partners, where he spent a decade.  The agency opened in 1994 and grew to $150 million in billings, with 85 employees, and offices in San Francisco and London.

At the epicenter of Bay Area creativity, OWNP helped create the entire electronic gaming industry with its launch of Electronic Arts, which remains an industry leader.  Key clients included Teva, Lucky Brand jeans, Bay Area Mercedes Dealers, California Burger King Franchisees, Salon.com, Grand Marnier and Mike's Hard Lemonade. Its alumni have gone on to success at Crispin, BBH, Goodby and TBWA/Chiat/Day.

"Jeff has six kids, all Millennials.  It's incredible to me how well he understands this generation," said Myhren.  "You can see it in his totally collaborative style.  And obviously his deep experience in the video game and digital worlds will be a huge asset."

Since OWNP, Jeff Odiorne has operated his own boutique agency and consultancy, Youngblood, and separately, Phasmatrope Studios, a production company, both based in Philadelphia.  He has consulted on new business with major agencies in addition to serving his own clients.

"Tor is a phenomenal and rare leader, just look at the success of Grey New York's turnaround," Jeff Odiorne said. "I believe leadership is a catalyst and not a conclusion.  Tor excels at this. I look forward to helping him and the executive team at Grey write the next chapter."

A second-generation ad veteran, Jeff Odiorne got his start as a copywriter at Y&R in Rochester, New York.  He later moved west to work for Chiat/Day, Goldberg Moser O'Neill and Publicis & Hal Riney before starting his own agency.

Grey's Record Performance

Over the past two years, Grey New York has won 33 out of 37 pitches, over $1 billion in new business billings, from such blue-chip clients as the NFL, DirecTV, Red Lobster, T.J. Maxx, Bausch & Lomb, Sargento Foods, Mayflower/United Van Lines, Allianz and TruTv, along with major new assignments from GSK, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Procter & Gamble and Eli Lilly.

Grey is the only advertising agency to be featured in FAST COMPANY magazine's "50 Most Innovative Companies in the World" issue in both 2010 and 2011.  The agency's transformation was the subject of an Adweek cover story, "Red Hot Grey."

About Grey

Grey New York is the flagship and largest office of Grey, the advertising network of Grey Group.  Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies.  Its parent company is WPP (Nasdaq: WPPGY).  Grey Famously Effective Since 1917 serves a blue-chip client roster of many of the world's best known companies:  Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Darden Restaurants, Pfizer, Canon, 3M, Eli Lilly, ETrade, NFL, Boehringer Ingelheim, J.M. Smucker and T.J. Maxx.  (www.grey.com)

SOURCE Grey

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