5 Minutes with… Ben Shaw
In February, Ben Shaw returned to the fold of agency life, having spent three years as a client, to take up the role of MullenLowe UK chief strategy officer.
He joined the agency from workplace wellbeing platform Unmind, where he was vice-president of marketing. Previously he was director of brand and comms at ride-hailing service Wheely.
Before that he’d spent nearly 12 years at Bartle Bogle Hegarty; as chief strategy officer of BBH Los Angeles, as head of strategy between 2018 and 2020 and before that as head of BBH Live.
To find out what his ambitions are as he comes back to adland, LBB’s Alex Reeves catches up with Ben.
LBB> Congratulations on your new role at MullenLowe UK. What drew you to the agency?
Ben> MullenLowe is on that fun part of the rollercoaster when it’s cranking up to that first big loop the loop and you turn to your mate next to you and they tell you it’s going to be AMAZING, everyone is strapped in and ready to scream oh my god look at what’s coming up… but you struggle to hear them over the weirdo behind you who is infectiously laughing hysterically. That’s Nicky [Bullard, group chief creative officer] and Claire [Hollands, chief executive officer]. I won’t say who is who.
LBB> How are you feeling about returning to ad agency life having been brand side since 2021?
Ben> It feels like I’ve been on a field trip for three years to study the future and experience client life. I now understand clients' worlds, but I’m beyond excited to spend my days talking about solving creative problems again.
LBB> What will you take from your non-agency roles into your new job?
Ben> Bad cultures destroy great businesses. Clients care more than you do. Only 10% of the job is the idea, 90% of it is selling it. Non-creative people have very valuable opinions on the work. Brand is more than marketing. Marketing is more than brand. Short-termism keeps the lights on. Outside thinking is worth paying for. The bottom line is truth. There isn’t a perfect answer to anything.
LBB> How did you become a strategist? What did you love about it then and what's kept you in it?
Ben> I applied for six grad schemes and got one interview. I was lucky enough that it was BBH and joined the grad scheme after telling them the internet was going to be a “big deal”. I was forced to be an account person for six months and was the very worst I could possibly be.
I have always loved this thing that we call strategy because it’s really simple really. Identify the problem. Simplify the problem. Inspire a solution. That sounds interesting, difficult and fun. I feel lucky I get to do that every day.
LBB> We’re used to hearing about the best creative advertising campaigns, but what’s your favourite historic campaign from a strategic perspective? One that you feel demonstrates great strategy?
Ben> The reframing of problems as benefits, in a commoditised category is the most simple, most genius and most commercially beneficial strategy there is. ‘Good Things Come To Those Who Wait’ and ‘Reassuringly Expensive’ stand out as outrageous strategies compared to a lot of the dross we see today.
LBB> When you’re turning a business brief into something that can inform an inspiring creative campaign, do you find the most useful resource to draw on?
Ben> There is nothing as validating as social proof. Someone in your target audience has probably already said the answer somewhere, they just haven’t been listened to.
LBB> What sort of creatives do you like to work with? As a strategist, what do you want them to do with the information you give them?
Ben> Selfishly, I want them to not stop thinking about it. I want to give them a problem, a thought, a proposition that itches their brain, that bubbles in their head and makes them excited about what it could become. I love to work with creatives who care about ideas that people want to spend time with, that obsess over craft, and read enough of the brief to challenge it.
LBB> What are you most proud of in your career so far and why was that the project that ticks all the boxes for you?
Ben> Taking everything I have learnt from all the amazing people I have worked with and creating a campaign to raise research funds for my daughter’s charity, the Yellow Brick Road Project. We were aiming for 10 grand and ended up with nearly 30 and on the BBC news and everything. When the box to tick is your daughter's future, everything matters more.
LBB> What's your agenda for how strategy at MullenLowe UK will look under your leadership?
Ben> Noisily creative. Simply inspiring. Passionately bothist.
LBB> What's something about your tastes or hobbies that will help people understand you as a person?
Ben> I play football for my local Sunday league team. Football gives me 90 minutes to forget the world, to be part of a team, with teammates to rally, goals to create and opponents to kick.
