Well, WPP-owned Y&R New York has stuck to its guns and as noted back at the end of 2011, the agency is officially making its move to Columbus Circle on Monday, thus saying goodbye to Madison Ave, where it’s resided for the last 87 (!) years.

The agency’s global CEO David Sable (who you see above christening Y&R Way) has this to say in a statement: “This is a historic day. But Madison Avenue is a state of mind, not a state of place. Today, the Northeast corner of 40^th street and Madison Avenue is Young & Rubicam Way. And the 285 Marquee is coming with us and will adorn the café in our new space. Since 1926, we have been definers of the best of the innovation of Madison Avenue – creative leaders, business shapers, inventors, innovators. We look forward to continuing that innovative, entrepreneurial spirit by creating Madison Avenue West in a new state-of-the art work environment that has been designed to accommodate who we are and how we work in the epicenter of New York City, the greatest media town in the world.”

As mentioned previously, the Y&R space at 3 Columbus Circle will not only occupy said agency, but WPP siblings including Wunderman, VML, Blast Radius, BrandBuzz, Bravo, Kang & Lee, KBM Group and ZAAZ.

David Sable & Co. have welcomed former Roth Associates EVP/lead consultant Cathy Cohan aboard to assume the new title of global chief growth officer at Y&R, a role which calls for her to drive new biz growth across the global agency network . Cohan, who spent five years in all at Roth, now essentially fills the new business executive vacancy left by Chris Hayes, who left Y&R to join Brooklyn-based Huge back in July.

Regarding Cohan’s return to the agency side, Y&R global CEO Sable says in a statement, “She has great intellect and instincts, as well as an enormous capacity for understanding an advertiser’s marketing needs and the right mix of resources that will meet them. It is a huge competitive advantage for us that she has experience as a consultant and as a client leader, as she helps us hone our marketing skills.”

Cohan’s first trek through the agency world including four-year stint as CMO at BBDO Atlanta and a lengthy gig as director of business development at JWT.

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After spending 85 years at 285 Madison Avenue, Y&R New York is ready to make a move as the agency’s signed a deal to shift staff to 3 Columbus Circle, where they will occupy 10 floors (more than Grey NY?). The move won’t officially take place until 2013, but once completed, the new digs will house not only Y&R, but several of its WPP siblings including Wunderman, VML, Blast Radius, BrandBuzz, Bravo, Kang & Lee, KBM Group and ZAAZ. We’ve been told that Y&R’s been looking for space that “makes it much easier to collaborate.”

In a statement, Y&R global CEO David Sable says, “It’s exciting, and totally relevant to what we do, to be thrust into one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the city, with great art, music, theater, shopping and food within walking distance, not to mention all of Central Park at our disposal.  As thrilling is starting with clean space–we are designing space that is optimal for absolutely every aspect of what we do and who we are.”

Update: Well, figured it’s more fitting to post the actual image of the 3 Columbus Circle office.

The dapper, smiling man you see to your left is one Carter Murray, who, at the and of October, will take on the dual role of president and CEO of Y&R’s North American operations, which entitles him to oversee all advertising and pursue new business in said region.

Murray arrives in the States from Publicis Worldwide’s Paris branch, where he spent the last four years as CMO, worldwide account director and was a global lead on the Nestle business. Prior to Publicis, Murray spent nine years at Leo Burnett, first starting out in Frankfurt as regional account director for Philip Morris across Europe, then spending the last three years of his time at Leo as regional new business director, EMEA. In a statement, Murray says, “I’m delighted to join the Y&R family.  Y&R Advertising’s North America network has made great progress this past year.  All the ingredients are there — Great people and a lot of fantastic new talent that came on board this year, a great roster of clients, and some really fine and innovative work. It’s an exciting time to join.” Alright David Sable, there’s a little less weight on your shoulders.

After spending nearly 18 months as president of Y&R New York, Jane Barratt is leaving the agency to “pursue other opportunities.” As a result of her departure, Tom Sebok, current president/CEO of Y&R North America, will be stepping in to fill the role.

With Sebok taking over for Barratt, Y&R global CEO David Sable will assume responsibility for the North American region for the time being. In a statement, the chief exec says, “We have an absolutely fantastic new Chief Creative Officer in Jim Elliott.  We have brought back Channel Planning with the appointment of Sue Kaufman, fine-tuned our approach to Brand Planning with the addition of Chip Walker, and built a competitive new business machine under Chris Hayes.  The tough news is behind us. We need to invest in this moment with the most experienced leadership and support.”

Former Cutwater ECD/GCD Joe Kayser is stepping in to take the CCO post at Y&R West Coast, where he will now lead creative in the San Francisco and LA offices across all clients including Chevron, Citrix, Jenny Craig, Mattel, NCAA and Roundtable Pizza.

While at the now-defunct Cutwater (ed- it closed in January), Kayser (pictured) handled day-to-day creative work for the likes of Jeep, Adidas, LensCrafters, Persol and Google among others. As Kayser joins the Y&R fold, the agency’s West Coast president John Berg is stepping down and its North American president/CEO Tom Sebok will assume his responsibilities for the time being until a permanent successor is found.

According to the Y&R camp, Kayser’s hire is just one of “many” changes under the watch of newly installed global CEO David Sable. We’ve been told the agency will be hiring more staff in the days ahead. As for Kayser’s background, prior to Y&R, he held creative posts at TBWA\Chiat\Day SF, Hill Holliday, Hal Riney & Partners and Saatchi & Saatchi.

As Y&R’s fourth global CEO in eight years, the newly appointed David Sable has some motivational words for his company. But, it’s hard to get behind someone who’s supposed to lead you into the digital age when he uploads his message in a huge Quicktime file to the agency’s website as opposed to using a video hosting site. The result is one of the graphically choppiest streaming clips you’ve seen uploaded to the internet in the past decade (check out the screen grab to get an idea of the stream buffering fail).

Anyhow, Sable has big plans for his agency, as an interview with Adweek posted to the magazine’s site earlier today will tell you (for the record, he’s not combining Y&R with his old agency, Wunderman, anytime soon). The video touches on Sable’s idea of Y&R being treated as a “home” of sorts for employees, and near the end he repeats his mantra, “Do it big, or stay in bed.” Honestly, Sable comes across as a sincere, enthusiastic and genial guy, and we wonder if his motivational speech would resonate deeper if it wasn’t for its unfortunate formatting.

Sorry we can’t embed, but you can view Sable’s full message, “A Few Words from David,” in all its glitchy glory here.

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