Wieden+Kennedy global executive creative director Susan Hoffman has taken over from British advertising legend John Hegarty as honorary president of the Kinsale Shark Awards and chair of this year’s jury panels. Hoffman, based at HQ in Portland Oregon, will be in Kinsale in September. W+K co-founder Dan Wieden chaired the Sharks in 2005.
Hoffman has been with the agency for 30 years. Since David Kennedy’s ‘retirement’ in 1993, she has provided the visual yin to Dan Wieden’s storytelling yang. She worked as a creative director, opened both W+K Amsterdam and London offices, serving both as executive creative director and ran W+K 12, their experimental ad school.
Under her leadership as executive creative director, the Portland agency has grown to over 600 people and has won a number of agency of the year awards.
She has been one of the top winners in Creativity awards in recent years.
