Wieden+Kennedy London Announces Two New Strategic Promotions

Left, Lucy Murray and right, Anjali Patel.

Today, global creative agency Wieden+Kennedy announced the appointment of two key leaders within its London office. Lucy Murray has been elevated to head of growth, while Anjali Patel has been promoted to head of communications planning. The appointments follow remarkable business growth for the agency, marked by the expansion of its client roster and the introduction of three new revenue streams and creative offerings—NOT W+K (design and branding studio), Bodega (social-first creative studio), and WRACK (production studio).

In her new role as head of growth, Lucy Murray will be a key driver in evolving W+K London's creative offerings, business modeling, and future-proofing of the agency. Working closely with the agency's leadership team, Lucy will lead the charge on how W+K London is extending its creative reach through new and existing clients, developing the business across several offers to thrive both now and in the future. She initially joined the agency as group account director in 2019, working on some of the agency's biggest clients, such as Visa, Sainsbury's, Honda, and Facebook, among others. Most recently, she has led and grown the agency's relationship with Amazon globally, resulting in Amazon Prime's award-winning brand platform "It's On Prime." Prior to joining W+K, Lucy cut her teeth in Account Management at creative shops, including Droga5, Karmarama, Beattie McGuinness Bungay, and Albion. 

"As new and existing clients increasingly seek W+K's expertise, having a leader like Lucy help define and champion our true value as a creative company is critical to success," said Ryan Fisher, president of W+K London. "She's been a key player in expanding and propelling the creative opportunities that come our way, opening more avenues for us to use our creativity to deeply impact clients' businesses and bringing the people around her on that journey. I couldn't be more excited to partner with Lucy in this new capacity."

Commenting on her new role, Lucy Murray said, "It’s really exciting to take on this role. Throughout my time at W+K, there’s been an incredible push to create ideas with insight at their heart that make a splash in culture and add value to our clients’ businesses. Working with the agency to find more opportunities to do such work is one of the most rewarding parts of the process, especially as our influence expands across new markets and mediums."

In her new role as head of communications planning, Anjali Patel is continuing to push the boundaries of how and where brands connect with audiences, ensuring that the agency’s creativity continues to make an impact on culture. Just recently, she played an integral role in orchestrating Kahlúa's "Feliz St. Patrick's Day" campaign, helping the brand take over a stout-heavy holiday to drive consideration for its product. Throughout her career, she has risen through the ranks at W+K, starting in the New York office in 2013 as a digital media planner before transitioning into comms planning at the agency's Portland headquarters, where she contributed significantly to clients like KFC and the American Indian College Fund (AICF). In 2019, her creative thinking and strategic chops led to her being named Ad Age's Media Planner of the Year. A year later, Anjali took on the role of communications planning director at W+K London, working on brands such as Nike, TK Maxx, Homesense, Marshalls, Malibu Rum, Kahlua, and Camden Town Brewery. Apart from her clients' business success, her work has been recognized by top-tier award shows such as the One Show and the Effie Awards.

“Rigor and playfulness have categorized Anjali's work across three W+K offices. She has a proven ability to connect brands with audiences in incredibly innovative and effective ways; ultimately, she makes our people and ideas better," said Dan Hill, global & London chief strategy officer, Wieden+Kennedy.

"It is harder than ever for brands to connect with consumers. We aren't just competing against other brands, we're competing against anyone or anything that's vying for attention. Helping our teams and clients understand the landscape and, in turn, the opportunity to connect in new, creative ways is something I'm really passionate about. And it's especially fulfilling when you're working with the most brilliant creative minds in the business," said Anjali Patel, head of communications planning.

Last year, W+K London launched two new revenue streams and creative offerings – NOT W&K and Bodega–and formalised its in-house production studio, WRACK. With the global expansion of accounts like Amazon, Ford, and Kraft Heinz and a growing client roster, Wieden+Kennedy London continues to provide more creativity across larger canvases, more local and global talent leading the charge, and new ways to collaborate that reflect the future of work.