Ogilvy Group appoints social lead

Marketing and communications group The Ogilvy Group UK has appointed Jai Kotecha as president of social in a newly created role spanning Ogilvy, Grey and New Commercial Arts.

Jai will lead social strategy across the group while continuing as chief executive of Grey London, reporting to Ogilvy Group UK chief executive James Murphy.

He brings more than 20 years’ experience and previously led social, digital, content and influence for Ogilvy UK before serving as chief executive of Ogilvy Netherlands and EMEA managing director at Ogilvy.

Jai joined Grey London as chief executive in January, where he has overseen recent client wins including Synechron and Henkel.

In his expanded role, he will bring together and develop the group’s existing social capabilities, with a number of senior hires planned in the coming months.

He will also work closely with Nicola Dodd, EMEA president of PR and UK managing director of PR, social and influence at Ogilvy.

Jai said: “Being given the opportunity to lead on all things social for Ogilvy Group UK while continuing to oversee the team at Grey London is an incredible privilege. 

“I’ll be building on the brilliant foundations that have been established at Ogilvy Group UK, while bringing in new senior-level talent to help future-proof our offer. 

“Getting to do that while continuing to deliver our ambition for Grey is a dream scenario.” 

James Murphy, chief executive of The Ogilvy Group UK, added: “Jai is a truly modern agency leader with extensive social expertise and a proven track record of highly successful agency leadership. 

“All this makes him the perfect choice for this new role. I look forward to working with him to take Ogilvy Group UK’s social offering to the next level.” 

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