Elephant Appoints Its First Ever Chief Creative Officer, Chris May

IPG creative agency Elephant has promoted Chris May to the newly created position of chief creative officer. May, one of Elephant’s founding members, was previously executive creative director. In his new role he will be tasked with establishing the creative vision for Elephant, as well as attracting and retaining top creatives and diverse talent. He will report directly to Elephant CEO Eric Moore. 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, helping define the creative vision for the agency. He will remain based in San Francisco. Moore told Adweek that the new CCO role was created because clients are looking to find new areas of growth and that creativity can be used to unlock them. “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 [with Apple], to the creative company we are today. So, it’s a natural evolution all around.” Since joining Elephant in 2016, May has helped expand Elephant’s creative offering with Apple, from design-focused experiences to campaigns featuring the brand’s various digital services. In addition, May has grown Elephant’s client portfolio with notable wins including Beats by Dre, Kia Motors, Twitch and Electronic Arts. Prior to Elephant, May held creative leadership roles at Razorfish and AKQA. Throughout his career, he has worked with major global brands including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Adidas, Channel 4, Montblanc, MTV and Sainsbury’s. His multiple awards include those from Cannes Lions, Epica, Clio, One Show and the FWA. May said that in his new role he looks forward to championing Elephant’s position as a creative company, and “championing our talent, to move ambitious brands into new worlds … I look forward to fostering a diverse team of creative talent, unifying our vision and creating work that makes an impact.” Grooming the next generation May has also been instrumental outside the client world, leading the Elephant XD Academy, a creative boot camp for BIPOC students, and the rebrand of Fulfillment Fund, a Los Angeles-based organization making college a reality for students growing up in under-resourced communities. The XD Academy, which is in its second year, is focused on BIPOC talent that have an interest in experience design (XD) but limited exposure to it. Participants must apply to the program and are generally sourced through Elephant’s partnership with the 4A’s MAIP. “Every brand today is creating experiences for their customers, regardless of the type of business they are in. As expectations of brands continue to increase, understanding the fundamentals of XD will give our new talent a foundation on which to build successful careers, whether as XD subject manager experts, creative industry generalists or simply employees for today’s modern businesses,” said Moore. Elephant started out as an offshoot of IPG agency Huge to be embedded as a creative unit for Apple. It has since grown to encompass four offices, in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and London. As Agencies Grapple With DEI, Some Lean Into Learning and Mentoring Initiatives