André Gustavo Appointed Global Chief Operating Officer for Wieden+Kennedy
André Gustavo, currently the president of LATAM for W+K (overseeing the agency’s operations and offices in São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Mexico City), has been elevated to the role of global chief operating officer for the independent agency.
André, a 14 year veteran of Wieden+Kennedy, has held leadership positions across accounts and geographic regions over the years. He opened the Sao Paulo, Mexico and Buenos Aires offices, and led the global Nike team in Portland for four years.
The global chief operating officer role is not currently held by anyone at the agency, and is a newly created position intended to further implement W+K’s global growth strategy. This includes identifying and opening new W+K offices or hubs across the world, improving processes to foster more collaboration globally among teams and offices.
André, who is the first Brazilian/Latin American located outside of the states to be part of the agency’s global leadership team, reports to Neal Arthur, global CEO and Karl Lieberman, global CCO, and will carry out his new responsibilities from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“W+K today operates as more of a network vs individual offices. One W+K, with a wider more connected global approach and global clients. We’ve gone from offices that function independently of each other to a network that works together, sharing and growing clients and building modern, global brands. This requires more streamlined operations and someone who knows how to scale things our way. Andre has been really successful doing this in LATAM - we are excited for him to bring his unique value and perspective to W+K globally.” said Neal Arthur, Global CEO.
After living in Portland, Oregon for four years as the global leader for the agency’s Nike account, André moved back to Sao Paulo in 2022 to lead the office once again. In 2023, his responsibilities grew - he helped open the agency’s first Spanish speaking office, in Mexico City - and he was named President of LATAM. As part of this transition, he appointed Camila Hamaoui to succeed him in the role of president of the São Paulo office. Andre will continue to oversee LATAM growth and operations regionally.
In the past two years Wieden+Kennedy Sao Paulo has won new business from Google, Ford, Pepsi and Betano while continuing to work with Nubank, Nike, Uber, Budweiser and others. Since opening in 2023, Wieden+Kennedy Mexico City has won business from Aeromexico, ABI (Victoria Beer), Ford, Uber and Nike.
André commented, "I am very honoured to step into an expanded role here. W+K is a special place, truly unique. Being part of this agency has always been a dream, one that I've been living intensely over the last 14 years. Knowing that I have the trust of Karl and Neal to help put in practice our plans for the next few years around the world is incredible. I couldn't be more proud and full of energy."
