Finding great ideas

Rick Webb is a co-founder and COO of The Barbarian Group, and has served as the COO of the
company since its inception in 2001. Since the company’s founding, Rick has been instrumental in
building the organization from a few nerds working out of partner Benjamin Palmer’s apartment to a
multi-city, internationally recognized full-service digital marketing services firm. In addition to being
one of the creative shepherds of the company, Rick has primarily been responsible for developing the
celebrated “secret-sauce” of The Barbarian Group: its consistent ability to deliver uncompromising
creative work, and undisputedly brilliant interactive marketing, over and over, even as the company
grows. As COO, Rick oversees the integration of the Client Service, Production, Operations, and
Marketing of the company. Additionally, as a co-founder, he acts as a new business and client service
executive for several clients.
Rick has over fifteen years of experience in design, advertising and “The Internet.” Prior to co-
founding The Barbarian Group, he served at Arnold Worldwide during their celebrated Volkswagen
days, working with fellow co-founder partner Keith Butters on a variety of award-winning campaigns.
Rick has also worked at Philip Johnson Associates, a Cambridge-based technology-focused
advertising agency, and at Ernst & Young LLP, where he worked when the Web was born. Rick has a
degree in international economics and art history from Boston University, and was born and raised in
Fairbanks, Alaska.
The Barbarian Group is an award-winning digital marketing services company. Founded in 2001,
The Barbarian Group is run by its founding partners Benjamin Palmer, Rick Webb and Keith Butters
and is a subsidiary of Cheil Worldwide. They partner with the best brands, technology companies
and content creators to help navigate the treacherous waters where advertising, user experience,
technology and marketing merge to create some of the most successful work on the web.