IHG appoints Ogilvy as its global customer-marketing agency

According to the agency, the account will be handled out of agency arms OgilvyOne, RedWorks, OgilvyAction and OgilvyInteractive, which, according to a spokeswoman, will lead the account.

The news follows IHG's decision to consolidate its media account with Mindshare, fully aligning the group’s business under WPP.

“Our task is to help them in their mission of caring for their guests through contemporary and leading edge communications and technologies, all around the world," Miles Young, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, said of the win.

Last year, Ogilvy & Mather was appointed as IHG rival Shangri-La Hotels and Resort's creative and digital agency following a full-service review that included McCann Erickson and long-term incumbent TBWA.

According to a regional spokeswoman at Ogilvy, the agency has gone through lengths to separate the conflicting accounts internally. IHG is to be handled by OgilvyInteractive while Shangri-La will be overseen by Ogilvy & Mather.

She further said that IHG’s business will be managed out of Atlanta and Ogilvy’s Hong Kong team, where Shangri-La’s global account is handled, will not work on the account at all.

“None of the businesses will overlap,” she added.

Last month, Shangri-La also consolidated its global communications account under WPP after appointing Maxus as its media agency-of-record.

The decision ended its 10-year relationship with OMD.

IHG claims to be the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, overseeing more than 4,400 hotels and more than 645,000 guest rooms in 100 countries.

Its hotels include InterContinental Hotels and Resorts; Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts; and Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts.