Above+Beyond has appointed former Wieden+Kennedy London creative director Joe Bruce as its new executive creative director.
Bruce’s hiring completes the agency management team and sees him working alongside Jonny Ray, managing director, Dena Walker, chief strategy officer, and Laura Graham, chief production officer. Bruce will also serve as part of the management team of independent group The Beyond Collective, which counts Above+Beyond, Yonder Media, Frontier Strategy & Collective Studios among its agencies.
During his time at Wieden+Kennedy London, Bruce has led some of Nike’s most standout work–from running multiple Women’s World Cup, Euros and Berlin marathon campaigns, to launching the brand’s first ever global dance platform and winning a Cannes Titanium and Grand Prix for his social and influencer work on “Nothing Beats a Londoner.”
Prior to leading Nike, he served as creative director on Wieden+Kennedy’s Camden Town Brewery and Formula One accounts and, during his seven-year tenure at the agency, created campaigns for clients including Sainsbury’s (Christmas 2020), Bud Light (“Box Heads”) and McDonald’s Canada.
For the last few years, Bruce has also been course director of The Kennedys, an annual fully-paid, five-month creative crash course, designed to give those a chance to get into advertising who may not have otherwise had the opportunity.
Bruce’s career started at BMB, where he worked on brands such as Ikea, Yorkshire Tea and Carling. He was also responsible for helping launch the suicide prevention charity, C.A.L.M , in London. He went on to become creative director at agencies including 101 and Crispin Porter + Bogusky London, leading creative for clients including Paddy Power, Britvic, National Art Fund, Turkish Airlines and Milka.
Beyond advertising, Bruce is the co-founder of Bubble Bros Ltd, an events and wine wholesale business.
Above+Beyond’s Ray said, “Joe is a world-class creative, creative leader and team player in equal measure, and we can’t wait to work with him to grow Above+Beyond and our client brands, via the power of his creativity and our wider collective capabilities.”
Bruce stated, “This is a fun one. Above+Beyond has proper creative ambition and it has the power of the collective behind it too. Whilst bigger agencies try to catch up and reshape to replicate this model, experienced groups like The Beyond Collective are already years ahead and primed for success. They’re also a lovely bunch of human beings, with huge brains and gentle souls. Which helps.”
