BBDO Hires New CEO Jiah Choi to Lead Chicago and NY Offices

There are more changes afoot at a cornerstone Chicago agency. BBDO is hiring its first CEO to lead both its New York and Chicago offices. Jiah Choi will be leaving her post as president of Wieden+Kennedy New York to take on the role effective September 9, according to AdAge.

Before her role at Wieden, Choi helped start Anomaly’s Los Angeles office, where she eventually became CEO and established relationships with clients such as Uber Eats, Facebook, Diet Coke and the Los Angeles Rams.

A More “Team-Focused” BBDO

The move marks a significant shift for the Omnicom agency network and is “intentional” to make BBDO more collaborative and “team-focused” within the two offices, BBDO’s Americas CEO Nancy Reyes told AdAge.

“I’m really into this notion of moving away from a network and more into a community,” Reyes said. “Not to deprive any office or any country of their individual brand, but rather, because, in today’s world, it is more modern to work together as teams and as a community than it is to work separately. We just do much better when we’re together, and we’ll move faster when we’re together.”

Keeping the offices siloed is a “little bit archaic,” added Choi, who said she will look to split her time equally between the two offices. “You share offices when it’s global, but you should be able to share offices just based on the needs of the client. … It makes it much more valuable for clients that we have this flexibility to bring in people and out regardless of what city the lead agency is in.”

Season of Change for BBDO

Choi’s hire arrives on the heels of several significant executive changes over the past year at BBDO. Early this year, Chris Beresford-Hill took on the role of BBDO’s Americas chief creative officer shortly after Reyes assumed her Americas CEO role. The pair had worked together at TBWA before Beresford-Hill’s stint at Ogilvy.

Meanwhile, longtime BBDO execs Jeff Adkins and Kirsten Flanik, who led Energy BBDO and BBDO New York, respectively, have departed.

“It is a time of change, of growth and figuring out what the future state of BBDO is,” Reyes shared with AdAge. “When I joined, I felt like it was a tremendous opportunity to bring this incredible agency with this incredible reputation into the next five, 10, 15 years and the only way to really do that is to surround yourself with people who who represent what has been great and wonderful about BBDO, with some people who bring in a fresh new perspective, people who love the industry, who drive change, and who believe in innovation.”

What’s Next for Wieden+Kennedy

Wieden+Kennedy has yet to announce a replacement for Choi.

“We’re grateful for all the energy Jiah has brought to this place, and we wish her all the best as she takes on this new role,” a Wieden spokeswoman said in a statement.

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