IPA Nominates Julian Douglas as President-elect

Julian Douglas, vice chairman of VCCP, has been nominated as IPA President-elect to succeed Nigel Vaz, global CEO of Publicis Sapient. The election will take place as part of the IPA AGM proceedings on Thursday 18 March 2021.

Douglas 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.

Says Sarah Golding: “I could not be more delighted that Julian has agreed to take on this role. He is the perfect person to lead our industry at this time of tumultuous change. Julian’s energy and opinion will be invaluable in helping us all make the most of the opportunities that 2021 will bring and I'm sure he will be an outstanding President.”

Says Paul Bainsfair, IPA director general: “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.”

Says Julian Douglas: “I am truly honoured to have been chosen as the next President of the IPA. 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.”

Julian Douglas (or Dougie as he is better known) is the vice chairman of the VCCP Partnership and APAC CEO. He joined the agency in 2008 having previously worked at WCRS, BBH, TBWA and Grey London (twice). With over twenty years’ experience he has created some of the world's most successful campaigns for brands including Audi, Lynx, O2, Domino's, Nationwide and Shell. He was awarded Account Person of the Year in 2018 by Campaign Magazine.  

In recent years he has led VCCP's expansion into Asia. In 2018 he opened VCCP Singapore, which has just won Campaign's Agency of the Year in its second year of trading, and earlier this year opened VCCP Shanghai.

He is a Fellow and active Council member of the IPA (since 2017). As the Chair of the Talent Group (2016-2020), he helped launch Advertising Unlocked and The iList. Advertising Unlocked is the annual cross-industry open day welcoming thousands of young people into the industry from across the UK. The iList is a celebration of champions and role models helping to make the industry more inclusive, sponsored by Campaign and Unilever.

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.

A firm believer in lifelong learning, he holds a BA and MA from Jesus College, Oxford, an MBA from Warwick Business School and has just completed a course in business sustainability at Cambridge University's Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Outside of advertising, he is a Founder of Lucky Voice, the UK's premier chain of karaoke bars and online karaoke. 

IPA election procedure

The new President will take over officially at a short Special Council meeting, which will follow on from the quarterly Council meeting and AGM, on Thursday 18th March 2021.

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.