Rodrigo Jatene, Chief Creative Officer at DDB Chicago, will be leaving the Omnicom agency to join Wieden+Kennedy as the Chief Creative Officer for its Latin America region.
AdAge reports his role will encompass overseeing creative work in locations such as Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Sao Paulo, and he will assume this position at the beginning of 2024, working from the Sao Paulo office.
This move is a homecoming for Jatene, who is a native of Sao Paulo. He previously worked for Grey Brazil as Co-President and Chief Creative.
Jatene joined DDB Chicago in December 2021 and is making this career transition to Wieden+Kennedy after the departure of the former CEO of DDB Chicago, Andrea Diquez. Wieden+Kennedy had earlier announced that Felipe Ribeiro would be transferring to Portland to serve as co-chief creative officer with Azsa West in January.
“Rodrigo is such a massive talent and has such an impressive track record of doing great work across different agencies, different types of clients and different continents,” Wieden+Kennedy Global Chief Creative Officer Karl Lieberman said in a statement. “That’s hard to do in any business, but especially when it comes to creativity. We’re excited to help Rodrigo come home to Brazil to take the reins of an office that’s got so much momentum right now.”
Jatene in a statement said he is “excited with the idea of returning home with my family, after 6 long and happy years in the U.S.”
At Wieden+Kennedy, Jatene will work closely with André Gustavo, the agency’s president for the Latin American region. W+K’s Latin America revenue has shown significant growth, with recent client wins including Ford, Google, Pepsi, Nike, Uber, and Amazon Prime, among others.
In response to this news, Emma Montgomery, CEO of DDB Chicago, expressed appreciation for Jatene’s contributions and shared that the agency is actively recruiting for his replacement. Wieden+Kennedy’s Global Chief Creative Officer, Karl Lieberman, welcomed Rodrigo Jatene and praised his track record of great work in different agencies and regions.
Jatene expressed his excitement about returning home with his family after six years in the United States, thanking DDB Chicago and its team for the fruitful collaboration and achievements.
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