VMLY&R Chicago has brought Aaron Evanson on board as executive creative director. The move marks his return to the Windy City--where his career began--after working at VMLY&R Kansas City, one of the agency’s principal offices.

Evanson will focus on the Chicago shop’s lead campaign work for clients, including Kraft Heinz, Panama Tourism and Wells. He will work alongside VMLY&R Chicago ECD Jeremy Schutte, who oversees platform work for clients, such as Northern Trust, and group creative director Mariana Costa. Evanson’s work has been recognized with industry awards, including Cannes Lions, the One Show and London International Awards.

While at VMLY&R Kansas City, Evanson led creative teams to multiple new business wins and buzzworthy campaigns, such as “Wendy’s Pretzel Love Songs,” which garnered more than 2 billion earned media impressions.

Evanson has nearly 25 years of brand-building expertise. He started his career at FCB Chicago, where his Kraft campaigns created pop culture buzz and record sales. His work on the “It’s Not Delivery, It’s DiGiorno” campaign is still going strong today, and because of Evanson’s winning work, he was the youngest FCB creative to ever earn the title of VP.