Davies posted his decision to leave the company in an interview with advertising site psfk.com, saying: "After spending a year as global consumer planning director at Nike, Russell Davies has quit to pursue book writing, a nice up of tea and the odd piece of consultancy." He is due to leave today after just over a year in the role.
Davies said that he had been given the chance to write another book and that he wanted to settle in the UK. He had been due to move to the US as part of the Nike global planning role. His first book 'Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff that Makes Them Great' a guide to greasy spoons and cafes was well received.
"There's never felt like a better chance to try all sorts of new things, so I'm going to try and make a living out of freelancing, writing and ill-conceived experiments," he said.
Davies left Wieden & Kennedy in February 2005 where he was planning director to take up the global role at Nike.
He was also the chairman of W&K's account planning group and had worked at the independent agency for seven years, four of which were spent at W&K's head office in Portland, Oregon, in the US.
Davies had previously worked on various Nike campaigns including "freestyle" and "run London", and was also part of the team which won the Honda account in 2001. He was replaced by Stuart Smith and account planner at the agency.
"I've learned more in the last year than in the previous 20. Nike is full of incredibly interesting people, and being that side of the fence shows you all the dumb things you've been doing during your career."
As a parting shot to agencies he said: "You learn that outside agencies, however close they 'partner' can never know as much as the people inside the business."
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