-By Eleftheria Parpis

NEW YORK Dan Fietsam, evp, ecd at Publicis West, is leaving the Seattle agency to join Energy BBDO in Chicago as chief creative officer.

Fietsam, 42, who is expected to start at the Omnicom shop at the end of July, fills the top creative role, which has been vacant since former CCO Marty Orzio left in April to relocate to New York.

The new position marks a return to Chicago for the copywriter. Prior to joining Publicis West in February 2007, where he worked on T-Mobile and the Washington Lottery, Fietsam was a creative director at DDB Chicago on Bud Light, helping to shape Super Bowl spots such as last year's "Hitchhiker" and "Wedding Auctioneers," among many others.

This year, while at Publicis, Fietsam was ecd on the T-Mobile Super Bowl spot starring Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley.

Bob Moore, creative chief at Publicis USA, said: "We're going to miss his talents but we're excited for him and his opportunity."

Fietsam said he chose to leave for Energy BBDO because the creative opportunity there is "one of the best in the U.S. And the fact that it happens to be happening in Chicago is an added bonus for me since it's my professional hometown." He added: "The client base is very attractive to me. All these things are a perfect storm of positive momentum that made it irresistible."

Tonise Paul, president and CEO of Energy BBDO, said she was looking for a combination of talents: "Finding a CCO is a challenge. You need a creative leader, but that leader also has to be craftsmen themselves. They have to have award winning work and leading edge thinking, and the ability to get charged up and win new business. Our culture is also very important. We wanted someone who is respected and respectful. We found it in Dan."

Fietsam cited not only the creative reputation of the agency, which recently won a Cannes bronze lion in Film for Lifesavers and a bronze in Press for Jim Beam, but also management's commitment to attracting and nurturing talent. "They are hiring some really smart people," he said. In May, Andrew Kasprzycki, previously a group account director at Tribal DDB, joined as svp, managing director to lead the agency's digital offering, rebranded Proximity to align the division with BBDO's Proximity global network.

"This is the right time for an infusion of this kind of talent and leadership," said Paul. "To me, [Dan] is adding more firepower to what is already a great, solid, well-performing team."

Prior to joining DDB, where he also worked on Dell, Fietsam was a creative director at Young & Rubicam from 2000-04, working on Sears and Jim Beam, and a copywriter at Leo Burnett from 1995-2000, where he worked on Coca-Cola, Dewars, Nintendo and True Value.