Ogilvy, Lars Bastholm Parting Ways

To think it all seemed so peachy when we spoke at the ANDYs. Anyhow, Ogilvy has confirmed that North American CDO/New York CCO Lars Bastholm is leaving the agency effective June 15 as the result of a mutual decision made between Bastholm, John Seifert and Ogilvy NA CCO Steve Simpson.

Seifert sent a note to staff, which reads, “Lars, Steve and I recently sat down and discussed the progress of Ogilvy’s strong business recovery, the development of our creative community, the agency’s creative product, and our respective leadership roles. We agreed that Lars had made significant contributions to accelerating our digital transformation, recruiting sparkling talent, and helping win IKEA, a showcase accomplishment that revitalized our approach to new business and fueled our growth in 2010.”

Bastholm originally joined O&M from AKQA in early 2009 and eventually took over as New York CCO nearly a year ago. While Ogilvy searches for his replacement, Simpson will assume creative leadership duties at the NYC office. From the looks of his Twitter profile, Bastholm, who has had some gripes about Ogilvy NY’s creative output in the past (a possible issue perhaps?), is prepping for his trip to Nice…which could be more personal than business this year.

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