NEW YORK McCann Erickson has confirmed that New York chairman Nina DiSesa, who has been semi-retired for the last three years while writing a book about her experiences in the ad business, has been named worldwide creative director on its Johnson & Johnson business, a new position.

DiSesa had been chief creative officer of the agency's flagship office until she passed the torch in 2004 to Joyce King-Thomas, who said in a statement, "For both Nina and McCann the timing of this new responsibility is perfect. Nina's book has been turned in to Random House, allowing her to devote her considerable energies to J&J, and we get to deploy one of the best creative talents in the business against this important client's expanding businesses."

The move comes just after executive creative director Irwin Warren, who has worked on the J&J account in a lead role, retired. The agency said Warren would remain a consultant to McCann, which he joined in 1988.

McCann handles about $200 million in worldwide advertising billings for J&J brands such as Monostat, K-Y, Stayfree, Reach, Band-Aid and Acuvue. Those billings do not include J&J work from its McCann Worldgroup siblings MRM and Momentum.

"Although I like the chairman job and being an author has its moments, my heart is with the creative department," DiSesa said in a statement. "When Joyce asked me to think about taking on this responsibility, the opportunity to partner with her on J&J was too wonderful to resist."

Before rejoining McCann in 1994, DiSesa had been executive creative director at JWT in Chicago. Her first stint at McCann was in 1987 as a group creative director.

McCann's other clients include L'Oreal, Microsoft, General Motors, MasterCard, Intel, Staples and Kohl's.