Sid Lee promoted Will Travis, who has served as senior partner and CEO of its New York and Los Angeles offices for the past four years, as U.S. executive chairman and global head growth officer, The Drum reports. In the role, Travis will be tasked with formulating the agency’s expansion strategy while collaborating with other members of kyu, the “strategic operating unit” of Japan’s Hakuhodo DY Holdings, which purchased Sid Lee last July.
“The expansion that we have requires somebody to oversee at the high level internationally, because the brands are more international. It’s a good role for me to be able to help elevate our larger global client base,” Travis told The Drum, adding the agency is looking at Seoul, South Korea and Shanghai, China as possible locations for expansions into the Asian market.
Before joining Sid Lee in 2012 following a sabbatical, Travis spent nearly a year and a half as CEO of Dentsu America, leading the agency whose accounts included Toyota, Canon and Philips. Before that he spent over a year and a half in a senior vice president position with the agency, leading all new business and marketing activities in New York and San Francisco. Before joining Dentsu he spent over a decade with ATTIK, serving as president.
Travis’ appointment follows Sid Lee’s announcement last week that it would close its Amsterdam office to consolidate its European operations at Sid Lee Paris. At the time we posted that story, agency reps told us they hadn’t determined what to do with the employees of that office. Multiple sources now claim that they’ve all lost their jobs.