The vice chairman of creative agency VCCP, Julian Douglas, has been nominated as the IPA president-elect to succeed current president Nigel Vaz, global CEO of Publicis Sapient.
He was chosen following a formal three-month selection process led by former president Sarah Golding, CEO of The&Partnership, who headed up the Presidential Nominating Committee.
Douglas, who is also VCCP’s APAC CEO, joined the agency in 2008. He has over twenty years’ industry experience, having worked at agencies including WCRS, BBH, TBWA and Grey London, across brands including Audi, Lynx, O2, Domino’s, Nationwide and Shell.
He has been a Fellow and active Council member of the IPA since 2017, and helped launch Advertising Unlocked and The iList as chair of the talent group.
He is also a member of Facebook’s UK client council, the chair of Black Representation in Marketing and a frequent mentor through the NABS 100 Club.
“I am truly honoured to have been chosen as the next President of the IPA,” Douglas said.
“I look forward to building on the outstanding work of my predecessors in championing our industry, its creativity and its impact in the world. We are living through a massive reshaping of the economic, social and natural environment. How we adapt as an industry will dictate how we, and our clients, survive and prosper in the years ahead.”
Sarah Golding added that Douglas is the “perfect person to lead our industry at this time of tumultuous change”.
The election will take place as part of the IPA AGM proceedings on Thursday 18 March 2021, with the new president to take over officially after.
The IPA Council is the elected governing body of the IPA with responsibility for overseeing its membership, strategic focus and management. It is chaired by the IPA president, who is supported by the honorary secretary and honorary treasurer
Paul Bainsfair, the IPA’s director general, added: “I am very much looking forward to working with Julian to ensure the IPA remains the power behind the practitioners. He is smart, energetic and hugely popular. He has already made a great contribution to the IPA through his work on the IPA Council.
“I can’t think of anyone better to help us all navigate our way in a post-Covid world.”
