Andy Berndt

Co-President, Ogilvy New York 

After graduating from Duke University with a degree in English literature, Andy Berndt put his marketable skills to work as a volunteer fireman, would-be architect and carpenter.

Pressured into a “real” job, he found himself in advertising, starting in account work at Ammirati & Puris. At A&P, he pitched and won the struggling Compaq Computer business and stayed with it until it regained the top spot in the computer industry. From there he went West to Wieden + Kennedy to start up the Microsoft account and launch Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. In 1996, he took over the Nike account at W+K, overseeing all lines of the U.S. business.

Only the very best job in advertising could trump the second best, so Berndt left W+K to help relaunch Apple Computer and the “Think Different” campaign with Steve Jobs and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day Los Angeles. A creative at heart, Berndt eventually hung up his account guy shoes and switched to the creative side as a copywriter at Ogilvy.

During his six years on the creative side, Berndt rose to group creative director, working and winning awards for such clients as IBM, Yahoo!, ONDCP, Lenovo and others. His work has appeared in venues from CA to The One Show to the Clios to the London International Awards. He has won a stack of Effies, including the Grand Effie for IBM.

In 2007, Berndt was named co-president of Ogilvy New York, partnering with Michelle Bottomley to oversee the integrated operations of Ogilvy’s headquarters office. The move followed a year of serving as managing director of Ogilvy & Mather New York, overseeing the agency’s operations and business functions, including strategy and planning, accounts management, finance, HR and new business. 

During his leadership of Ogilvy’s New York office in 2006, Berndt embraced the agency’s work with New York city schools and minority communities. He partnered with the agency’s chief diversity officer and co-led the agency’s diversity advisory board, an external body composed of distinguished professionals from a variety of fields who provide the agency with objective and experienced insight.

Berndt sits on the development committee of DreamYard, a group of artists and teachers committed to building stronger communities and neighborhoods through arts education. He supports and is an adviser to St. Philip’s Academy, a private school in Newark, N.J., that serves children from the community. He is also on the board of the New York chapter of Junior Achievement, a nonprofit organization that connects volunteers with students in grades K–12.

In October, Berndt took a new position at Google, as managing director of the newly formed Google Creative Lab, tasked with stewardship of the Google brand and leading marketing creative efforts.

Andy Berndt works too much, secretly lives in Jersey and has a patient wife and two perfect daughters.

Last Updated: 2007