Landor Promotes James Withey to Global EVP, Strategy

Oct. 08, 2026

Global brand and design consultancy Landor, part of WPP, has promoted James Withey to the newly created role of Global EVP, Strategy, giving him global leadership of its strategy offer as it sharpens its strategic capabilities to help brands differentiate, resonate and grow in an increasingly agentic world.

Withey will lead Landor’s global team of strategists and oversee the continued evolution of its strategy offer across three core specialisms: corporate, consumer and experience. The role is designed to give clients greater depth of expertise within each discipline, while connecting them through common standards, tools and ways of working.

The move builds on a wider evolution across Landor and WPP’s brand and design collective. Earlier this year, WPP introduced a new global leadership model for its brand and design businesses under Jane Geraghty to connect specialist capabilities across brand, design, experience and performance. Withey’s promotion further strengthens that model as clients seek deeper specialist expertise to solve increasingly complex brand and business challenges. He will also oversee the collective’s agentic strategy roadmap, helping brands differentiate and build equity with people and AI simultaneously.

Jane Geraghty, Global CEO, WPP Brand & Design and Landor, said:

“I couldn’t be more pleased; this is a very well earned promotion. James is a trusted, forward-thinking strategic advisor to our clients and is already shaping how we help brands win as AI increasingly influences the choices people make. His unusually diverse background gives him the breadth to see where the industry is heading and the opportunities it creates. At a moment of such significant change, he's exactly the right person to lead our global strategy."

 

Withey brings more than 25 years’ experience spanning brand strategy, digital, research, innovation and consultancy leadership. Alongside senior leadership roles at FutureBrand and Siegel+Gale, he has run three consultancies spanning private equity-backed and founder-led businesses, as well as his own brand consulting business – giving him a broad perspective across strategy, clients and the business of branding.

He first joined Landor in 2001, spending almost ten years there and ultimately becoming Head of Strategy, Consumer Brands, before returning to the business in 2021.

Since returning, Withey has played a central strategic role in some of Landor’s most significant transformation programmes, including A&O Shearman and LeShuttle. He has also helped lead a number of Landor’s major new business wins this year. Landor was named Campaign’s Global Branding Agency of the Year 2025.

James Withey, Global EVP, Strategy at Landor, said:

“Brand strategy is becoming more important than ever. As AI makes it easier to create, replicate and optimise, the challenge for brands is to have a genuinely differentiated idea at their core – one that can guide and connect what they say, what they do and the experiences they create. The opportunity now is to bring greater specialist depth to the different strategic challenges our clients face, while making sure those capabilities work together. Corporate, consumer and experience strategy each demand different expertise, but ultimately they need to add up to one coherent brand. I’m incredibly excited to work with our strategy leaders and teams around the world to build on the strength we already have and shape what comes next.”

 

Withey reports to Jane Geraghty, Global CEO of WPP Brand & Design and Landor, and Amal Atallah, European President, WPP Brand & Design.