Wieden + Kennedy’s New York office is on the hunt both internally and externally for a new managing director after current MD Buz Sawyer announced that he’s leaving the agency on March 31. By today’s agency standards, Sawyer’s tenure in the Big Apple branch was a fairly long one as he replaced then-managing director Matt Seiler back in 2001.
Of course, this was just one of a few W+K stints for the 56-year-old Sawyer, who originally joined the agency’s Portland HQ as a management supervisor on Nike in 1990 after spending several years at BBDO. He then helped establish Wieden’s first international office in Amsterdam in 1992 and served as MD there for the next six years before leaving to head up Lowe Lintas & Partners in San Francisco. According to Adweek, Sawyer–who’s been called a “true pillar” of W+K by its global COO Dave Luhr–is leaving without another job and is taking some time off to refresh and refocus. He tells the trade, “I’m going to take some time off [but] I fully plan to reengage.”
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