TBWA\Chiat\Day ad agency ousts president in management shake-up

Los Angeles’ largest advertising agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, has shaken up its top management, ousting its longtime president, Carisa Bianchi, and installing a new leader.

Luis DeAnda, who joined the 500-person agency in January as general manager, was elevated to president, the company said in a statement Friday.

DeAnda replaces Bianchi, who is leaving the agency.

DeAnda previously was managing director of the TBWA\Media Arts Lab. Before that, he served as chief operating officer of the TBWA\Hakuhodo branch in Tokyo. He has been with the company 12 years.

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“Luis has fast proven he has what it takes to lead our L.A. office in to the future,” Tom Carroll, chief executive of TBWA Worldwide, said in a statement. “His global experience, and past success at growing the businesses he has been attached to, speak for themselves.”

The move comes a month after TBWA\Chiat\Day failed to land a prestigious new creative account, that of banking giant Wells Fargo, which is based in San Francisco.

TBWA\Chiat\Day, located near Playa del Rey, was trying to win the bank’s business. Members of the agency’s creative team had made it to the final round of the pitch process. However, the L.A. firm was edged out by BBDO, which has a San Francisco office. That firm has done work with AT&T and Starbucks.

The advertising industry is notoriously brutal, chewing up executives who work long hours to create ads that will satisfy their clients while also keeping up with dramatic changes in the media landscape.

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Los Angeles’ advertising scene has become more dynamic in recent years as upstarts, such as 72andSunny, and East Coast agencies open branches to serve California clients.

TBWA\Chiat\Day represents such marquee clients as Pepsi, Gatorade, Southwest Airlines, Adidas, Nissan, Jimmy Dean and Crate & Barrel.

Bianchi, a native of Los Angeles, had worked at the agency 24 years. She had served as president since 2005 after running the firm’s San Francisco office, which was dramatically scaled back after the dot-com bubble burst more than a decade ago.

“A big part of my life’s journey has been with TBWA\Chiat\Day,” Bianchi said in the statement. “Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with extremely talented people, develop powerful work on behalf of iconic brands, and develop meaningful client relationships.”

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Twitter: @MegJamesLAT