Wieden+Kennedy announces major management shift

Colleen and Dave.jpg

Dave Luhr, Wieden+Kennedy global president and Colleen DeCourcy, global chief creative officer, are credited with crafting the agency's latest management restructuring. (Grace Rivera photo)

Wieden+Kennedy, the Portland-based global agency known for clever ads for the likes of Nike and Old Spice, has made a major management shift.

The agency expanded its roster of stakeholders, or partners, from 9 to 24, more than half of them representing agencies from locations other than Portland.

In a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive, the agency said the decision to expand its leadership roster was made with an eye toward its 35th birthday next year and to position the agency for its future.

"Our current nine-person partner group is based on a model we've outgrown," agency global president David Luhr said in the statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "That group doesn't reflect the breadth of perspective and skills we want to see in the next generation of leaders, and the next, and the next. Given the size and complexity of the agency, we need more decision-makers representing more offices, more disciplines and different voices. Our leadership needs to be a bigger and better reflection of the agency we have become."

The agency credited Luhr and Colleen DeCourcy, global chief creative officer, with crafting the new management structure which also jettisoned the title partner for stakeholder - several of the new "stakeholders" formerly were called "partners."

"We're proud of this moment," DeCourcy wrote on the website Medium, where the agency broke the news on Monday. But DeCourcy, who works in the Portland office, used the platform for an unflinching assessment of the state of leadership and diversity at one Portland's best-known businesses.

"While this change is a step in the right direction, it is still not an accurate reflection of the make-up of our agency, and the wider world," DeCourcy wrote.

"We need more racial diversity and women at the top. We selected this group from a pool of agency leaders that wasn't diverse enough. What that tells us is that we have to continue to get real about why this is the case.

"It's on us to support, promote and retain a much more wide-ranging group than we have over the past 35 years. We accept responsibility for making sure this leadership team grows to include that talent. We've got miles and miles to go before we sleep. This is a start."

While partnership terms vary for an advertising agency, or any business, the status of partner at an ad agency typically conveys a built-in share of profits as well as a greater say in creative and management direction.

A statement from the agency sent to The Oregonian/OregonLive, noting that the agency is approaching its 35th birthday, said its stakeholders "have a shared focus and role in making the agency a strong and creative leader into the next era. These people were selected because they have made consistent and significant contributions to their offices and the network."

Eleven of the partners are based in Portland, where W+K was founded on April 1, 1982, and where it keeps its headquarters. Dan Wieden, who co-founded the agency with David Kennedy, who is no longer with the agency, is one of the 11.

In addition to Portland, the agency's other offices are in Amsterdam, Delhi, London, New York, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Portland remains the biggest agency, with 600 of its 1,500 total employees.

W+K last made a major management shift in January 2013, announcing several key appointments, including Luhr as president and two new co-executive creative directors -- DeCourcy and Mark Fitzloff. At the end of 2011, the agency announced the addition of four partners, for a total of 11.

While the agency handles a variety of accounts, it is best known for its work with Nike, a client for the past 34 years.

The agency, which has prided itself on saying it would remain independent forever and not follow others into corporate ownership, did not directly answer a question from The Oregonian/OregonLive about whether its headquarters would always be in Portland, saying, "Portland is our founding and biggest office. We are a global agency with eight offices around the world and we will always have an office in Portland."

Wieden had the last word in the agency's news release, with this statement:

"I am so damn proud of this place. We started as a ship of fools, and that, I quite firmly believe is why we have succeeded for almost 35 years. But I really never thought we would be talking about the next 35. The hope is always that the next generation does better than the one before them. I think under the leadership of Dave and Colleen, and this inspiring group of new stakeholders, we just might be onto something."

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman

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