Dick Powell named as group creative director of Loewy

Seymour Powell founder Dick Powell has been named as group creative director of his consultancy’s parent company, Loewy.

Powell has been appointed to the newly created role, which will not affect his position at Seymour Powell, on a rolling contract. He will be in the post for a minimum of six months before being replaced by another creative director from one of the other group consultancies, which include Williams Murray Hamm and The Team. Powell tells Design Week he sees his role as three-fold/ representing creativity at board level at Loewy; nurturing creativity across the group, including in PR, marketing services and other activities; and playing a hand in the future acquisitions strategy.

He says, ‘I will consider the wider picture and will be mentoring creative teams around the group. There may be some harmonising of processes.

‘When Seymour Powell joined Loewy [in 2007], the promise was of a different sort of group – and this is about that. It needs someone who holds the creative ropes at board level.’

He adds, ‘We have some world-class creative businesses with the group, but there is no doubt we could do better. We have some great brands, some unbelievable people, a terrific track record, a lot of self-belief and the creative credentials and intelligence to support our growth.’

Powell says his role will be ‘strictly part-time’ and will not affect his position at Seymour Powell. He also says that his appointment is ‘not a declaration of seniority’, and cites fellow Seymour Powell partner Richard Seymour, Richard Williams of WMH and Julian Grice of The Team as his possible successors in six months’ time.

Iain Johnston, chief executive of Loewy, says, ‘Dick Powell is one of Europe’s most influential product designers, and we are privileged to have him on board to share his expertise and strengthen the creative capital of our “star” brands.

‘Loewy has seen spectacular growth over the past four years and we are continuing to invest heavily in our business to bolster capabilities, add value to our clients and ensure that we maintain our creative edge over our competitors.’

A short history of Loewy

• The company was founded in 1929 by US industrial designer Raymond Loewy

• It comprises 13 branding, design and communication groups, including Seymour Powell, Williams Murray Hamm, The Team and Epoch Design

• Iain Johnston was appointed chief executive of Loewy in October, replacing Charlie Hoult

• At the beginning of the month, Loewy consultancy The Team set up two new divisions, in media planning and live events

Start the discussionStart the discussion
  • Post a comment

Latest articles