Brent Choi has added to his Canadian role as chief creative and integration officer with J. Walter Thompson Canada, taking on a new role as chief creative officer for the agency’s New York office.
That office has experienced considerable turnover in the chief creative officer position in recent years, with Choi becoming the fifth person to hold the role since 2010, according to AdAge.com.
Choi’s appointment comes as Adam Kerj, who joined as CCO in October 2014, leaves the agency for personal reasons. Choi will report directly to worldwide chief creative officer Matt Eastwood.
In a release, Eastwood said he is committed to identifying and promoting talent from within and has wanted Choi to take on a larger role in the network for “some time.”
He described Choi as a “brilliant creative, a leader and consummate professional,” noting his record of transforming businesses and solving business problems through creativity.
Choi told Marketing that being awarded a senior leadership position in an advertising Mecca like New York is personally gratifying after growing up as the son of a immigrant variety store owner who worked 16 hours a day.
“That, combined with the fact I failed so often early in my career, tells a great story to young people in our business that anything is possible if you work hard at it,” he said.
Choi will work at both shops – “A flight to New York is shorter than a drive to London, Ont.,” he said – but noted that he and J. Walter Thompson Canada president and CEO Susan Kim-Kirkland have spent the past three years building a Canadian team capable of performing at an “exceptionally high level.”
He said vice-president, executive creative director Ryan Spelliscy will lead the Toronto office creatively in his absence.
Choi and Kim-Kirkland have led what the company called a “remarkable turnaround” of J. Walter Thompson’s Canadian office since his arrival from Cundari in 2013.
It is now among the storied network’s best performing agencies globally, with several new business wins including Air Canada, Grand Marnier U.S. and Burger King, as well as awards show success including more than 100 international and national awards this year.
The wins have come as J. Walter Thompson has transformed from what it called a “TV-centric” agency into a multi-discipline specialist with an impressive digital pedigree.
The past two years have seen the agency add Canada Bread’s digital business to an existing mass-media AOR relationship, as well as projects for Toronto Tourism and extensive digital work for Walmart Canada.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Choi of the office’s transformation into a multi-discipline shop. “A TV-centric approach is proven, relatively effective [and] easier to create, [provide] account service and develop strategies for, and clients can test it before they produce it. Innovative approaches are none of those things.”
He called it the “right thing to do,” but said there is no finish line in sight for the transformation. “In fact, it’s speeding up,” he said. “That’s what makes this business more exciting than ever.”
In New York, Choi will add responsibility for Macy’s, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s Special K and Puma to his creative portfolio.
He said his appointment is further validation of the extraordinary advertising talent produced by Canada, pointing to former Zig (now CP+B) owner Elspeth Lynn, who went to become executive creative director with M&C Saatchi in London, and former Cossette/Y&R Toronto group creative leader Wain Choi, who is now global VP, ECD at Cheil Worldwide, as Canadians who have made a mark globally.
“Canada has so many great talents, yet I don’t think we get enough worldwide recognition as a whole,” he said. “Hopefully we can see more Canadians take on executive roles at head offices.”
