Wieden & Kennedy hires WCRS marketer

Wieden & Kennedy has hired its third UK managing director in two years, with the appointment of WCRS marketing director Amy Lawson to the role.

Wieden & Kennedy has hired its third UK managing director in two years, with the appointment of WCRS marketing director Amy Lawson to the role.

She succeeds Hugh Derrick, the former Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO board account director, who was axed after less than a year (MW July 6).

Lawson is believed to have resigned last week, and will start at the London agency on August 7. She joined WCRS three years ago from McCann-Erickson, where she was in charge of new business.

W&K New York chief operating officer Dave Luhr led the search for Derrick’s replacement, while planning director John Shaw and head of account management Danielle Crooke ran the agency in the interim.

Derrick’s exit was the latest in a long line of senior departures from W&K since it opened in the UK. They include Mike Perry, Derrick’s predecessor, joint creative directors Nick Gill and Susan Hoffman, planning director Alison Toad, and new creative director Adam Kean.

The agency has only won two significant accounts since its launch – the &£2m Cartoon Network business and the &£5m Virgin Interactive brief – although it has been shortlisted more often and is awaiting the result of a pitch for Time magazine.