• by Laurie Sullivan , August 30, 2017

As Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) announced the departure of W+K Portland managing director Tom Blessington to YouTube, a longtime colleague at the agency wishing to remain anonymous said: "Tom is wonderful, and I'm going to miss him."

Blessington brings years of experience to YouTube, working with some of the world's largest and well-known brands. 

"I've had the privilege of working on some of the most iconic brands in the world, so I've had firsthand experience as to what works well and what works less well when it comes to brand building and driving business growth," Blessing said in an email to MediaPost's Agency Daily.

"Brands that are honest, human, self-aware, provocative and inventive win. Long gone are the days when you could simply buy your way into a consumer's consideration."

Blessington will work with marketing campaigns, not just advertising campaigns, for all lines of YouTube's business. Just to name a few, he will integrate marketing for YouTube Red, YouTube Music, YouTube Originals, and social and experiential work across the company's ecosystem.

With Blessington's departure from W+K, Karrelle Dixon moves into the role and partners with executive creative directors Eric Baldwin and Jason Bagley to run the agency's largest office.

Blessington began working at W+K in 1990. Under his leadership, the Portland office doubled the staff to more than 600 people, created some of the industry’s most celebrated creative work, and earned a number of distinguished accolades.

Prior to managing Portland, he held a variety of key roles at the agency, including leading the Nike business for W+K, both in the US and Europe, helping to open and establish W+K Amsterdam and later opening W+K New York, where he served as its first managing director. Blessington also serves as a member of the agency’s stakeholder/partner group.