Since July 24, we’ve been receiving items like this: “Word on the street is Harvey Marco, chief creative officer at JWT, New York is headed home to the West Coast.”

Now, Adweek confirms what we’ve been hearing, that Marco is not only moving back home to LA, where he was ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi, but that he’s heading up creative at the new WPP unit, Team Mazda. The new shop’s office will be based in Irvine, CA, near the automaker’s North American headquarters.

Does one care to wager how much impact the departure of Marco’s buddy Ty Montague had on his decision to leave JWT.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Marco has “had issues with being [in New York]” and since he worked on Toyota at Saatchi, the opportunity to take the lead on another major car brand “jived with him and it’s a good opportunity.” Our source adds that Marco will be transitioning out of JWT next month.

More: “ECD Kash Sree Leaves JWT After His Team”