Rich Elwell
IPA City Head for Birmingham and the Midlands | Owner and Creative Partner, One Black Bear
Rich has based his entire advertising career in Birmingham, working alongside his longstanding art director and business partner, Jon Harrison, for 35 years. Now, that must be a contender for longest creative partnership still working in the UK, right?
Starting out as a junior copywriter at Wallis Tomlinson in 1994, within five years Rich & Jon were appointed Creative Directors and presided over an awards laden period that culminated in WT being awarded agency of the decade by The Drum. When WT was purchased by a rival agency in the early 2000's , Rich helped to create One Black Bear - a proudly creative-led agency that carried on where WT left off.
Today, One Black Bear prides itself on producing the very best strategic and creative work outside of London, often working with large, European and global brands who favour a boutique approach rather than a large, fragmented network.
The OBB mantra of 'Be Fierce' summarises the agency's approach to creating stand out, impactful work that makes our clients all the more successful.