- Andrew McMains

NEW YORK Esther Lee, the former worldwide chief creative officer at Coca-Cola who last year became North American CEO at Euro RSCG, is expected to leave the agency, sources said.

Lee, who also served as president of global brands, joined the Havas agency in June 2007 after five years at Coca-Cola. She is said to be in negotiations to exit by year's end and her position is not expected to be filled.

Lee could not immediately be reached and Euro RSCG declined comment.

On Lee's watch, the agency combined the New York operations of Euro RSCG and its digital and direct marketing arm, Euro RSCG 4D, under a single management team and profit-and-loss center. Andrew Bennett and Jeff Brooks are co-presidents of the combined operation, which came together in November 2007.

In April, Lee recruited Wieden + Kennedy cd Jose Cabaco to assume the new position of chief creative officer for North America. Cabaco is based in New York, as is Lee.

On the new business front, Euro won domestic creative duties on LendingTree in February and global creative duties on Chivas Regal in May, but last month came up short in a pitch for Kraft Foods' Philadelphia Cream Cheese. In April, the agency failed to reach the final round of Carnival Cruise Lines' $70-80 million marketing services review.

Before Coke, Lee launched a New York creative agency known as DiNoto Lee with Greg DiNoto, a creative director and former colleague at Deutsch here.