White said that having diversity in the client roster is a good thing for Wieden+Kennedy.

“It’s transferable knowledge that you can take from one industry to the other … a problem that you solve on Visa may reveal something that you solve on Nike, or may reveal something that you’ve solved on some other business or some other category,” said White.

He sees the chance to do more with the current client roster, building and expanding relationships, and from there he sees the agency finding new clients that want to drive the emotions of their customer and push the limits of creativity.

Solidified creative leadership

White will have help in West and Ribeiro. West is another recent boomerang, returning to W+K from Anomaly Berlin. She will be joined by Ribeiro, who recently headed up the Brazilian office, as a co-CCO team.

White worked briefly with West in Shanghai, but he said the three have talked about their shared vision for the Portland office and are aligned on bringing success to the main office.

In New York, Choi will be joined by creative partners Henderson and Gartrell, who have been in charge of the McDonald’s account and will now level up to all the clients in the New York office while continuing to work on McDonald’s.

Henderson has been with Wieden since 2010 and has worked with clients ranging from ESPN to Spotify and Dos Equis, and Lieberman sees him as a leader who is good for morale.

“He understands what creatives need, and what kind environment they need to do great work,” said Lieberman, adding that Henderson and Gartrell have great chemistry to help lead the New York office with Choi.