R/GA global media head Ellie Bamford departs

R/GA’s Global Head of Media and Connections Ellie Bamford is departing the agency, Ad Age has learned. Bamford, who was named Ad Age's Creativity Awards Media Planner of the Year in 2022, had been with R/GA for four years.

While she declined to disclose her next role, Bamford said she will be staying on the agency side and taking on a position that isn’t “solely in media.”

The new post “was something that was brought to me and was such an interesting opportunity and in a broader space,” said Bamford. “It’s a really very tough decision, but this just feels like something I have to go and push myself to do.”

Bamford said she will remain with R/GA for the next “couple of months” to help with a succession plan. R/GA declined to comment on its plans for the role.

Bamford has been a key leader for the Interpublic Group of Cos. agency. During her tenure, the media practice’s revenue grew by 50% as it put a focus on combining creative and media.

Most notably, Bamford helped lead the media effort for Reddit's five-second Super Bowl ad in 2021 that was created within four business days of the Big Game.

Bamford also worked on R/GA’s “Black Beauty is Beauty” campaign for Sephora that helped Black beauty products break through search results on Google and YouTube.

“Ellie has built a media practice at R/GA that unlocked some of our most iconic work and some of our best business relationships,” Tom Morton, global chief strategy officer at R/GA, said in a statement. 

“Her impact will be felt for years to come,” said Sean Lyons, global CEO of R/GA.

Bamford is the latest R/GA executive to depart the agency. Former Chief Marketing Officer Ashish Prashar left earlier this month after two years with the shop. Nichelle Sanders, who served as a managing director for R/GA’s New York office, left to become Mojo Supermarket’s managing director earlier this month.