Wunderman Cato Johnson is looking for its third creative director
in under a year.
The agency is seeking a replacement for Charles Webre, who was brought
in from WCJ in New York in January as creative partner. However, it is
understood that Webre will not be leaving the WCJ group.
Webre’s appointment filled the gap left by Steve Aldridge, who resigned
after four years as creative director, citing differences with the then
European boss, Helmut Matthies.
The departure of Aldridge, alongside that of the managing director, John
Shaw, in the same month, sparked a reshuffle in the UK, partly
engineered by Matthies, who personally appointed Webre. However,
Matthies resigned last month after 18 years with the agency.
Richard Bagnall-Smith, the general manager of WCJ, denied Webre would be
leaving the agency. He said: ’We are completely happy with the way
things are going. We are not going to discuss bits and pieces at the
moment, but we are committed to Charles.’
Webre confirmed that he would be staying with the WCJ group.
The news comes in the same week that the head of copy at WCJ, Shaun
Moran, resigned to join his former boss, Aldridge, at Partners Andrews
Aldridge (Direct News, page 9). Additionally, the associate creative
director, Paddy Hall, has resigned.
The series of resignations this year - which have also included that of
the new-business director, Nina Jasinski, the board director, Peter
Flett, the associate creative director, Ken Muir, the previous head of
copy, Ed Fawcett, and around ten creatives - are all attributed to the
network’s change of direction.
Following parent company Young & Rubicam’s initial public offering on
the stock market, and under the new worldwide chairman, Jay Bingle, WCJ
is on the acquisition trail, focusing on emerging technologies. Bingle’s
background in consultancy will play an important part in defining the
shop’s direction.
