Ogilvy & Mather and its OgilvyOne direct division, both owned by British ad conglomerate WPP Group plc, have signed a deal with PeoplePC to provide the agencies' employees with IBM home computers and unlimited Internet access at subsidized costs.
The deal makes Ogilvy one of the few major agencies to wire its work force at home, though not as a way to work from home, but simply to be Internet-enabled at home. PeoplePC is a client of OgilvyOne, an agency that recently won a top Echo Award for its work on behalf of the client.
PeoplePC, San Francisco, in the past has struck similar deals with Ford Motor Co., The New York Times Co., Delta Air Lines and Visa USA.
Through the program, Ogilvy's 2,500 U.S. employees can pay for either a home computer or a notebook PC over 36 months. The package comes with options such as WorkPads, color printers and larger monitors.
