Pitch Marketing Group Appoints Ian Priest

Pitch Marketing Group has appointed Ian Priest, co-founder of VCCP, as non-executive chairman.

Priest’s appointment follows the recent rebranding of Pitch Marketing Group as a creative marketing agency. The agency has three divisions across PR, sponsorship and content production, delivering integrated solutions for brands, rights holders and media clients.

Priest’s role will be to work with Pitch’s senior management team, led by CEO Henry Chappell, to implement the strategic business progression from sports and entertainment marketing into the creation of mainstream consumer campaigns.

Priest is currently chief executive of Grace Blue, the global marketing executive search firm. He co-founded integrated communications agency, VCCP, in 2002, which was acquired by Chime Communications in 2005 when he was made an executive board member and worked across the group including Chime sports marketing division CSM. Priest was also president of the industry body, IPA, from 2013-2015.

Henry Chappell, founder and chief executive of Pitch Marketing Group, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have someone of Ian’s reputation and experience join us as non-executive Chairman. We believe that he will greatly help us to develop our proposition as an integrated marketing agency, particularly in regards to wider consumer work beyond sport & entertainment. We are very much looking forward to his positive contribution to the next stage of growth for Pitch, both commercially and culturally.”

Ian Priest said: “I am delighted to be working with Henry and his leadership team to build on their impressive sports marketing heritage and help develop broader skills and perspectives across the marketing services spectrum.”