Ana and Hermeti Balarin are returning to the UK to become chief creative officers at Wieden+Kennedy London. The married pair have been executive creative directors at Wieden+Kennedy Portland office since June 2021, when they left Mother London, where they had been executive creative directors and partners since 2015. (They also began their careers there as interns in 2007.)
Susan Hoffman has been interim chief creative officer at W+K London since 2021, following the departures of executive creative directors, Tony Davidson and Iain Tait. Now that the agency has found permanent creative leaders, she will return to the agency’s Portland headquarters, where she will work with global chief creative officer, Karl Lieberman, and global chief executive officer, Neal Arthur.
The Balarins will lead W+K London alongside president, Ryan Fisher, and chief strategy officer, Dan Hill.
“We are hugely excited to welcome Ana and Hermeti to W+K London. Their creative excellence and passion for transformative work that give brands a place in culture and creates business impact are a huge asset,” Fisher said in a statement.
“They also care deeply about people. They are generous and inspiring humans who have a passion for leading with optimism and helping people to find their voice,” Fisher added. “W+K was founded to use creativity and our influence to change the world, and that is what they are all about. The evolution of W+K London is going to be very exciting with these two at the helm.”
The Balarins added, “We had an incredible American adventure and learned Wieden+Kennedy from the source. We are beyond excited to come back home and team up with Ryan and Dan to help build the next era of W+K London. There’s so much happening there, from the launch of Bodega, the agency’s social-first creative studio to the evolution of their brand design offering, to key new-business wins and some great work. We can’t wait to get started.”
Meanwhile, creative, director and artist, Azsa West, is returning to Wieden + Kennedy as chief creative officer in the Portland office. West has spent most of her career at Wieden + Kennedy, albeit in bursts. She first joined Wieden + Kennedy in 2006 in the Portland office. She returned in 2008 and moved to W+K New York three years later. After a stint at CAA, West returned again to W+K in 2015, as creative director in Shanghai, moved to Tokyo in 2016 and Portland in 2018. She rejoins in 2023 from Anomaly, where she has been executive creative director since October 2021.
