FCB West Hires Group Creative Director Mike Long and New Account Leads Following Clorox Win

By Erik Oster 

FCB West has hired Mike Long as group creative director. Long will work across the agency’s client roster and report directly to CCO Karin Onsager-Birch.

“Mike is an incredibly exciting talent who has done delightful work I’ve admired in the industry, and a wonderful human being. We’re thrilled to have him join our team and help us to continue to the raise the bar for our clients’ business,” Onsager-Birch said in a statement. 

The news follows the agency winning the Clorox account last April and subsequently promoting Chris Schumaker to global CMO.

Advertisement

Long joins FCB West from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, where he has served as creative director and creative lead on the agency’s Comcast/XFINITY account since joining GS&P from Droga5 in November of 2015. He joined Droga5 as a group creative director in the summer of 2012 and subsequently also served as a content creative director. During his time with Droga5 he worked with clients including Newcastle, Diet Coke and Johnsonville. He joined Droga5 following a little over a year as an executive creative director/group creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, working with clients such as Sony, Coca-Cola, MTV and Heineken. Prior to that he served as a senior art director with Saatchi & Saatchi London and a creative director with Publicis New York.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners has not commented on anything related to the Clorox account. But around the time the review wrapped up, we heard from one reliable source that the client wanted to give the business to GS&P before the agency (allegedly) declined.

Also joining FCB West is senior vice president, group management director Arlene Bae and vice president, account director Sara Wallace, who will focus on the Clorox account.

Bae will be tasked with leading FCB West’s Levi’s and Ghirardelli accounts, while also supporting new business efforts. She joins the agency following over two years as a group account director at Designkitchen in San Francisco. Before that she spent time in that position at agencies including Carat, Real Branding, Organic and R/GA. Over the course of her career she has worked with clients including The North Face, Microsoft, adidas, Google, Netflix, Banana Republic, GM and Unilever.

Wallace joins the agency from Leo Burnett, where she has spent the past seven years working with clients including P&G and Kellogg’s, most recently serving as global brand account director for Leo Burnett London. 

“We are building something special here at FCB West,” FCB West CEO Joe Oh said in a statement. “Agencies are defined by the talent we have, the work we create and the clients we draw. With the hire of Arlene, Sara and Mike we are adding even more world-class talent to this amazing culture.”

Advertisement