The Best Work "Gives People A Feeling They Can’t Quite Shake", According to Bec McCall

Bec McCall is a creative leader with a sharp strategic mind and a deep love for craft. She brings over 17 years of experience shaping campaigns that don’t just win awards – they drive real results, and is constantly exploring new ways of working with emerging technologies.

Having a background in digital she employs a design-thinking mindset and believes great creative isn’t just about making something look good -- it’s about making people feel something, do something, and remember a brand long after the ad is gone.

From global giants to grassroot causes, she’s solved creative and strategic challenges for clients like Tourism Queensland, Diabetes Australia, Greyhound Australia, Qantas, TripADeal, Flight Centre Group, Gimmie, Royal Flying Doctors, Citizens of the Reef, Allianz, Australian Retirement Trust and Ladbrokes (to name a few). Along the way, she’s built a body of work that’s as impactful as it is recognised, earning a shelf full of industry accolades.

LBB> Person: What kind of creative person are you?

Bec> For as long as I can remember, I’ve just been wired to create things. As a kid, it was drawing and making stuff. As a teenager, it was chasing my rockstar dreams as lead guitarist in a pop punk band. Being creative wasn’t ever a conscious choice -- it was just who I was.

That’s probably why routine has never really suited me. I’ve always followed curiosity more than plans. That’s how I ended up in advertising, almost by accident. I started out in design because I loved drawing. That led me into editing and animation, and eventually into front-end development (a bit random). But each step was about chasing whatever felt interesting at the time. Advertising turned out to be the place where all those odd skills and interests collided.

I’m still that same curious person who’s always noticing things. My phone notes are filled with half-formed thoughts, random business ideas, snippets of conversations that make for a good insight, or jokes that seemed funny at 1am.

I think that’s why I get restless if I’m only looking inside advertising for creative inspiration. The best stuff usually hides somewhere else entirely – in tech, pop culture, a funny interaction at the shops, or a perfectly timed meme. If you stay open, the ideas always seem to find you.

LBB> Product: How do you judge the creativity of a piece of work?

Bec> I’ve always believed the best creative work is the kind that connects with people on an emotional level. In life, we tend to remember how something made us feel. The words fade, the details blur, but the feeling sticks. It’s the same in advertising. If you can connect with people on that level, you’re breaking through.

That’s how I look at creative ideas. It’s not about how clever the line is or how polished the craft -- it’s about the reaction it gets. Did it make people laugh? Stop and think? Tell someone about it later? The best work gives people a feeling they can’t quite shake.

One of my favourite campaigns was 'Made You Look, You Dirty Chook' for Bishopp Outdoor. A simple outdoor campaign I worked on, featuring giant “dirty” chickens -- a biker, a street peddler, and a lady of the night -- paired with this irreverent Aussie saying. People couldn’t help but talk about it. It even got a run on the radio, and our client was busier than ever. It’s now Australia’s longest-running outdoor campaign.

Work that sticks because of how it makes people feel is always the goal. If the work’s not doing that, it’s probably not doing enough.

LBB> Process: Tell us about how you like to make creative work

Bec> I’ve always worked fast and messy. Sketching, scribbling, jotting down whatever comes to mind, or digging back through my phone notes to see if any of those half-formed thoughts still have legs. That early part of the process has always been about getting everything out -- good, bad, and dumb -- so I can start seeing what sticks.

But the way I work has definitely changed over the last year or so. AI has completely shifted how I approach that early phase. Now, I can take all those loose scraps of thinking and throw them into a prompt, and suddenly I’ve got an endless creative sparring partner. It’s been a game changer, especially for those early stages where I just want to explore lots of angles, fast, without overthinking them.

I’m not really a big, structured brainstorm type. I much prefer bringing a few interesting sparks into a smaller group and bouncing them around. Using AI the way I do lets me get to that point quicker, with more options on the table for us to then sharpen together.

And when the ideas just aren’t flowing, I know the best thing I can do is step away. Hang out with my dogs, switch to another project, sit somewhere different -- whatever shakes things up.

I know an idea’s right when it gives me that gut reaction. You can feel it. And if I see that same spark in the room, I know we’re onto something. If I have to keep convincing myself, it probably means we’re not quite there yet.

LBB> Press: What external factors have shaped you and what can make or break a creative project?

Bec> I grew up moving around a lot. New schools, new faces, new routines -- it felt like I was always starting over. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but looking back I can see how much it shaped me. When you’re the new kid, you learn to read the room fast. You figure out who’s open, who’s closed off, when to speak up and when to hold back and that humour is an easy way to make friends.

That instinct has followed me into my creative career. It’s made me hyper-aware of the environments where creativity thrives – and the ones where it gets shut down. I know the best ideas come when people feel safe to play, to throw out the rough stuff, to push each other without fear of looking silly. And I know the fastest way to kill a great idea is to create a space where everything has to be perfect first go.

Clients can have a huge influence on that too. The best work comes when they trust you early and bring you into the problem. I love when clients and agencies work as a team, and you push each other a bit. And inside agencies, it’s the same. You want a culture where curiosity is protected, and where different perspectives are actively encouraged. The best ideas often come from unexpected places -- when you have people with different backgrounds, opinions, and lived experiences in the room, the work gets sharper, braver, more relevant. That’s when the best stuff happens.