The&Partnership Bolsters North American Leadership with Two Key Hires

The&Partnership North America has grown its leadership team with two major new hires, appointing BBDO’s Wilfrid Boudreau as Chief Creative Officer and Spring Studios’ Richard Welch as Chief Strategy Officer. 

Effective immediately, Boudreau and Welch will begin working with The&Partnership, helping drive the agency’s continued growth in New York and working on key clients including The Wall Street Journal, Alcoa, Pernod Ricard and Credit Suisse. 

“This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for The&Partnership,” said Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive Officer of The&Partnership North America. “Wil and Richard are two brilliantly talented individuals, and each has a track record for creating inspiring, groundbreaking work which is as impressive as the other’s. I’m very proud they have chosen us as the agency to take their careers forward – and together I know we can take the agency to great places, from work to wins to culture.”

Boudreau joins The&Partnership with more than two decades’ experience in creative copywriting for multiple channels. He was previously Chief Creative Officer at BBDO Atlanta, where he created breakthrough work including Carnival Corporation’s 2015 Super Bowl campaign ‘Come Back to the Sea,’ featuring the voice of John F Kennedy, as well as the multi-award-winning ‘Fix in Six’ Vines campaign for Lowe’s, which received accolades including a Cannes Lion, a D&AD Pencil and the Best in Show Award at the first ever ‘Mashies’ Awards.

During his time at BBDO Atlanta, he was also instrumental in winning new business such as Novant Health, Toys“R”Us, Norwegian Cruise Line and Sanderson Farms Chicken. Prior to joining BBDO Atlanta, Boudreau worked at BBDO New York, helping create famous work including Guinness’ viral sensation ‘Basketball’ as well as helping the agency secure key accounts including Lowe’s, Red Stripe and Arby’s.

“The&Partnership is a brilliantly entrepreneurial group with an unrivalled grasp of what the future of advertising looks like,” said Boudreau. “I look forward to helping this unique agency go from strength to strength, drawing on my new business experience to help bring in new clients as well as creating famous work across multiple channels.”

Welch was previously Global Head of Strategy at Spring Studios, where he worked on clients including Diesel, Target, Unilever, Tom Ford and Mulberry. He had previously held roles at Gap Global, Ogilvy and Lowe – where he was responsible for creating and leading Lowe Counsel, a foresights and strategy group working across the global network. Originally from a music and entertainment background, Welch has more than 16 years’ experience in brand marketing, during which time he has worked with clients including Axe, Stella Artois, Unilever, Amex, Beck’s, Nokia, AT&T, Jack Daniel’s and GM.

“I joined The&Partnership for two reasons,” said Welch. “Firstly, its model allows me to be part of a nimble, creative shop that can simultaneously provide reach and scale, setting us apart and fast-tracking us for continued growth and success. Secondly, I’m joining because of the people. The agency is blessed with an incredibly diverse, talented and ambitious team, which makes for dynamic, exciting work – and a dynamic, exciting workplace.”