The In-House Life: Ed Morris, AB InBev

In the latest article in our series exploring how working life differs for creatives at in-house agencies, we hear from Ed Morris, ECD at draftLine Europe, the in-house agency for brewer AB InBev

Ed Morris began his advertising career with spells at GGT, HHCL and St Luke’s in London. Indeed, his early promise was spotted by CR when we selected him as one of our Creative Futures in 1996. Morris spent 12 years at Leo Burnett in London, followed by a spell as creative head of McDonald’s Canada for Cossette. After freelance stints at Accenture, Karmarama and The&Partnership, he joined draftLine in September 2019, where he works on brands including Stella Artois, Budweiser, BudLight, Corona, and Leffe.

This interview forms part of a series from the In-House Agency Leaders Club, created by consultancy WDC and ex-CR editor Patrick Burgoyne, which will explore the unique opportunities and complications of working in-house.

IHALC: Tell us about draftLine and how you came to make the switch to an in-house agency.
Ed Morris: draftLine is the in-house agency for AB InBev – they make Corona, Stella Artois, Budweiser, Bud Light and more. We were ten people when I started in 2019, we’re now 50. As well as recruiting creatives from adam&eveDDB, LadBible and Copa90, I’ve helped build the agency and establish draftLine to be as good a partner to my brands as the amazing ad agencies they work with.

Top and above: Save Pub Life is AB InBev’s programme to support pubs in lockdown. More than 1,500 pubs signed up to the scheme, 17,000 gift cards were bought and over £1 million was donated in financial support