Rich Elwell, owner and creative partner of One Black Bear, succeeds Penny Took in the role and will use his 35 years’ experience in the sector to champion the talent in the advertising community and increase greater collaboration, thought leadership and engagement across agencies.
As City Head, the Sedgley-born leader will serve as a figurehead and voice for the industry in the area, working closely with the other IPA City Heads and the Chairs for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on wider industry issues and IPA initiatives.
This will include IPA President Karen Martin’s agenda to celebrate the contribution creativity makes to business success, the economy and UK culture.
Rich Elwell, who runs One Black Bear with long-term friend and business partner Jon Harrison, said: “In recent years, I’ve been concerned that advertising is losing its way, and believe that putting creativity front and centre is the only way our industry can prosper in a cluttered landscape.
“With this in mind, I’m thrilled to be the new IPA City Head for Birmingham and the Midlands and to be able to support Karen’s agenda to celebrate creativity and help us regain our collective swagger.
“Over the past 35 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with many fantastically talented people in the area and can’t wait to help champion their brilliant creativity and incredible work.
“Great campaigns can be, and are, available outside of London and I’m excited to be working with the IPA and our community in the Midlands to showcase the game changing excellence we produce for clients on a daily basis.”
Rich started his creative career as a junior copywriter at Wallis Tomlinson in 1994 and within five years he and Jon Harrison were appointed creative directors, presiding over an awards laden period that culminated in WT being awarded agency of the decade by The Drum.
When the company was purchased by a rival agency in the early 2000s, the Black Country entrepreneur decided to go on his own with his friend, together creating One Black Bear (OBB) - a creative-led agency that employs 14 people at its offices in George Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
The OBB mantra of 'Be Fierce' summarises the agency's approach to creating stand out, impactful work that makes their clients, including Mitsubishi, Triton Showers, ZEISS, Flixbus, West Brom Building Society and Warwickshire Cricket more successful.
Tom Mott, director of membership at IPA, said:“I’m delighted to welcome Rich as our new City Head for Birmingham and the Midlands.
“We strive to put our members at the heart of everything we do, and I am looking forward to working with him over the coming weeks and months to ensure we are supporting, celebrating and elevating our thriving agency community in and around Birmingham and the Midlands.”
Based in the United Kingdom for over 100 years, The IPA’s membership base is predominantly made up of corporate members who employ 25,000 staff.
