IPG creative company Elephant announced today that Chris May has been promoted to the newly created position of Chief Creative Officer, effective immediately.
May, previously Executive Creative Director and one of Elephant’s founding members, will be tasked with establishing the creative vision for Elephant, as well as attracting and retaining the best creatives and most diverse talent, both inside and outside of the industry. He will report directly to Elephant CEO, Eric Moore.
“Our clients are increasingly looking for new worlds of growth and understand the power of creativity to unlock them, hence our decision to create this role.” said Moore. “We’ve worked hard at Elephant to grow and promote our talent from within. Chris is one of our original team members, and has driven our evolution from an embedded team in Cupertino to the creative company we are today. So it’s a natural evolution all around.”
As CCO, May will oversee creative for Elephant’s founding client, Apple, as well as clients across regions, including Comcast, Electronic Arts, Marc Jacobs, and Realtor.com. The creative department will continue to be structured with ECDs running each region, East and West, with May managing creative across both coasts. He will remain based in San Francisco.
Since joining Elephant in 2016, May has been pivotal in expanding Elephant’s creative offering with Apple, from design-focused experiences to campaigns driving usage and adoption of the brand’s various digital services. In addition, May has been instrumental in growing Elephant’s client portfolio with notable wins including Beats by Dre, Kia Motors, Twitch, and Electronic Arts.
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His impact also extends to initiatives in support of Elephant’s ongoing commitment to change; leading the Elephant XD Academy, a creative boot camp for BIPOC students, and the rebrand of Fulfillment Fund, an LA-based mission-driven organization making college a reality for students growing up in educationally and economically under-resourced communities.
Prior to Elephant, May held creative leadership roles at Razorfish (Berlin) and AKQA (London and Berlin). Throughout his career, he has delivered cutting-edge solutions for major global brands including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Adidas, Channel 4, Montblanc, MTV and Sainsbury’s. His work has won recognition at Cannes, Epica, Clio, One Show and the FWA, and has been featured in AdAge, Creative Review and Google Creative Sandbox, among others.
“I am honored to take on this new challenge as Elephant continues to evolve its positioning as a creative company moving ambitious brands into new worlds,” said May. “While my direct responsibilities are a leadership of creative, our philosophy extends to the way we approach the world, independent of any single discipline. I look forward to fostering a diverse team of creative talent, unifying our vision and creating work that makes an impact.”
Reel 360 wishes Chris the best of luck at Elephant.
