Well, perhaps this is old news by now, but it does appear that John Norman is leaving his chief creative office position at TBWA\Chiat\Day LA after barely 18 months at the helm. Here’s one tip we received a few hours ago that may provide some clarification (and according to sources in the know, is legit): “John Norman will be leaving his post as Chief Creative Officer of TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles. John’s last day with the agency will be March 31 and until then he will be working with our Executive Creative Directors, Brent Anderson, Stephen Butler and Fabio Costa, to transition leadership across all our accounts.”
According to Adweek, BBH London partner/deputy ECD David Kobulsz is in talks to co-lead Chiat LA with Butler following Norman’s official departure. Speaking of Norman, the departing CCO joined TBWA\Chiat\Day LA after serving in the same role for two-and-a-half years at The Martin Agency. Prior to Martin, he held senior creative positions at the likes of W+K and Goodby.
As for the Chiat LA ECD team, Anderson has been with the agency for nearly nine years, Butler joined last summer after serving as creative partner at Mother while Costa worked with Norman at Martin before joining up with TBWA C\D LA as global GCD just after the CCO’s arrival.
Update: After the jump, you can read the brief note Norman sent to his TBWA\Chiat\Day LA colleagues earlier this afternoon that somewhat reveals his future plans, which have something to do with a certain founder of Translation.
Update 2: Yes, as has been reported, Norman will assume the role of CCO at Translation, a role we recall was last occupied by Chris Cereda, who eventually joined up with Scratch/Viacom Media Networks.
“Pirates,
To follow up on Carisa’s email, it’s been quite a journey and I will be sad to leave the ship in March. I am proud of our work and what we have accomplished in our time together. I am proud of the Pepsi Test Drive work, the Grammy’s work, Gatorade, our Wells Fargo pitch work, and of course the work we are doing with Adidas for the 2014 World Cup. Above all else I am proud of all of you, there are a lot of talented people that work here.
Getting to work for Lee Clow has been a dream come true. To say that the man surpasses the myth is an understatement.
I am moving to a little town called New York City to partner up with an independent company run by a entrepreneur and an iconoclast named Steve Stoute, and I am energized and excited about this new project.
That said, I will miss all of you. I hope that if and when your ships sail eastward, you will consider looking me up and sleeping on my couch.
Best,
Jno”