In another example of an agency veteran going client-side, Wayfair recently hired Katie O’Brien as lead creative, lifestyle brands.
O’Brien is tasked with leading creative across Wayfair’s Birch Lane, Joss & Main, AllModern and Perigold brands.
“Katie is joining Wayfair at an exciting time for the company, as we continue to deliver exceptional, memorable experiences across our family of brands,” Wayfair head of brand, creative and curated experiences Liza Lefkowski said in a statement. “Katie’s expertise in design thinking and brand experience will be valuable as we work to further engage with our customers in new and compelling ways.”
O’Brien spent over six years at FreemanXP as vice president, group creative leading branding experience, following around five and a half years as vice president, creative with FleishmanHillard.
“In my experience at agencies we got really deep in with our clients, but being [at Wayfair] behind the scenes has been amazing,” O’Brien told AgencySpy, explaining that she’s already learned so much about the brand culture. “There’s no time lost, because we’re all here together. I can go from research into a meeting with the general manger of a brand, into a meeting with my creative team and the next thing I know it’s been uploaded and good to go.”
“It just moves so much faster than my perception of in-house has been,” she added.
O’Brien explained that Wayfair’s “collaborative work environment” and “data-driven approach” means “there’s always time for brainstorming” to “take that real-time data … and turn it into something really powerful.”
“That was a little bit of a surprise for me, but it was what I was looking for, so it’s been the perfect match,” she added.