Richard Brim, former CCO of adam&eveDDB has teamed up with former adam&eveDDB CSO, Martin Beverley, and former McCann London CEO, Polly McMorrow to launch Ace of Hearts, backed by Germany’s Serviceplan, Europe’s largest independent creative group.
Ace of Hearts has launched globally with headquarters in Soho, London and the intention to give leaders across every corner of a business access to world-class creativity, and help recapture its value.
Richard Brim and Martin Beverley led a decade of industry-leading work for adam&eveDDB. Under their leadership, the agency was Cannes Lions European Agency of the Decade, and Campaign’s Agency of the Decade – winning IPA Effectiveness Company Of the Year three times along the way. They left the agency in November last year to form Ace of Hearts.
Brim had been chief creative officer at adam&eveDDB for more than 11 years. Before joining adam&eve, he was creative director and partner at CHI & Partners for 13 years, creative director at Leo Burnett, and he began his career with a five year stint at Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe. Beverley led the strategy department at adam&eveDDB for nine years and has also worked at Wieden + Kennedy London and AMV BBDO.
Polly McMorrow led McCann Lonodn to be named Cannes Lions UK Agency of the Year in 2024. Before joining McCann is 2022 she spent 14 years at BBH, two as managing director, overseeing work for global brands such as Audi, Johnnie Walker, and The Guardian.
Richard Brim stated, “We’ve come from brilliant places and we’ve had the fortune to work with some brilliant people, but now we want to see how creativity can play a bigger role for our partners. We’re building a company at a time when the world is changing which means that we can change with it, which couldn’t be more exciting. No retrofitting, no restrictions, just the ability to evolve with the change of our industry.”
Ace of Hearts will partner with brands, legacy organisations, and emerging start-ups, working directly with executives across the entirety of a business to give them a broader canvas for commercial creativity. It aims to reimagine how agencies are paid, aligning agency remuneration with the value created for clients and ensuring that interests are tied to meaningful business outcomes.
Polly McMorrow commented, “We love this industry, we love what we do and we love watching the impact that creativity has, but we’re at an inflection point and that means we need to radically evolve how we value creativity itself. Shedding some of those legacies, models and structures, and being able to play across the full spectrum of our partners’ business is critical. In my experience, the very best partners I’ve ever worked with will actively encourage you to do that. That’s the level of ambition I’m most excited about, and it’s exactly why we’re building Ace of Hearts.”
Ace of Hearts launches with a team of seven, including chief commercial officer, John Cornwell, previously from Ogilvy, with more senior creative appointments to be announced in September. The founders are recruiting for “lovely, fun, creatively rebellious” people. There will be fractional roles, flexible working structures, recruitment outside of the industry, and talent will be rewarded through shared commercial success.
Martin Beverley stated, “People will always be the most important part of our business. We are looking for talented people who challenge us, want to build the future with us and want to have fun along the way. It’s not just about us, it will be about the whole gang.”
Cover image l-r: Martin Beverley, Polly McMorrow, Richard Brim
