PORTLAND, OREGON– Neal Arthur and Karl Lieberman have been elevated to Wieden+Kennedy’s global leadership team, as chief operating officer and chief creative officer, respectively.
They will work alongside Colleen DeCourcy, who remains in her role as agency president and CCO, to run the independent, eight office network.
Tom Blessington, current co-president, will move up into the Chairman’s role, taking the reins from Dave Luhr, who will be retiring at the end of 2020.
Under Arthur and Lieberman’s leadership, the New York office has had four consecutive years of its best revenue growth since the office opened in 1995, adding brands like Ford, McDonald’s, Michelob ULTRA, Kraft Heinz, and Duracell to the agency’s roster.
“W+K is always reinventing itself, always seeking,” said DeCourcy. “The process works because the agency places its bets on people who are more interested in others than they are in themselves. My faith in the future isn’t just about Neal and Karl. It’s rooted in the many, many people here who want to do more with this culture than make ads.”
Said Blesington, “Colleen & I are thinking about the future. Bringing new leadership into the fold now sets us up for success. We could not be more excited to elevate these two extraordinary talents and look ahead.”
Arthur joined W+K in 2005. Before taking on the MD role, he was the head of strategic planning. During his tenure as MD, Neal has expanded Wieden’s portfolio of clients to include a broad and diverse roster of iconic brands. Not only has Neal cultivated talent within the agency, but he also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for Ghetto Film School
Lieberman joined W+K in 2008. His background is in both art direction and copywriting, and his work has been widely celebrated in culture. Notable examples during his time at W+K Portland include the Emmy-winning P&G “Thank You, Mom” Olympics campaign and “The Return of the Colonel” campaign for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Before W+K, he co-created “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign for Dos Equis that ran for a decade and helped triple the brand’s business.
“15 years ago, I couldn’t even get an interview at Wieden, so to find myself in this position is as surreal as it is awesome. This place has always pushed me,”said Lieberman. “When I came to Portland, they made me switch from art direction to copywriting. When I finally got comfortable with the idea of being a copywriter, they made me a creative director. When I finally settled into Portland, they moved me to New York. Now it’s my turn to help give more people the opportunities, inspiration, and confidence Wieden has given me over the years.”
The changes will officially go into effect on January 1, 2021.
