Building BBH USA’s Future of Category-Defying Distinctiveness with CEO Steven Panariello

Over the summer, BBH USA appointed Steven Panariello as its chief executive officer. Steven joined from BBDO New York, where he was most recently managing director, and tells LBB that the opportunity to take on his first CEO role “was pretty much an immediate yes”.

“It’s widely known in this industry that Arthur Sadoun is pretty damn persuasive, but what got me reaching for the nearest DocuSign was the meaningful momentum at BBH USA, and the outstanding leadership team behind it.” This momentum refers to the agency’s recent period of growth, supported by BBH USA’s role as the creative engine behind PSOne, Publicis’ bespoke unit for the J.M. Smucker Co., and other celebrated work for the likes of Netflix and Samsung.

Steven has also reunited with some familiar faces at BBH, having worked with CSO Samantha Deevy and CMO Lindsey McNabb before at Droga5. “So I already knew they were the real deal,” he says. “Once I met the brilliant Erica Roberts (CCO), I was asking to move up my start date because I couldn’t wait to partner with her in taking this agency to the next level. Plus, so many of the best leaders in this industry were once Black Sheep, so I jumped at the opportunity to renew the pride of their origin stories in fresh new ways.”

LBB’s Ben Conway caught up with Steven to discuss his plans for modernising and furthering the momentum of BBH USA, his own approach to leadership as a first-time CEO, and why there’s “really never been a better time” to embrace the ‘zag where others zig’ philosophy.

LBB> You were most recently MD at BBDO New York, and have worked at iconic shops like Droga5 and TBWA\Chiat\Day. What experiences prepared you for your first CEO role at BBH USA?

Steven> When I was at Droga5, we were building the agency and it was the land of doing the never-been-done-before, which was an excellent training ground for how to balance the demands of rapid agency growth with an unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding creative. This is an ideal challenge for any agency to deal with, and it’s one I look forward to tackling as CEO at BBH USA.

 

LBB> How are you looking to further the agency's 25-year US legacy and momentum, while helping to modernise it and incorporating your own philosophy?

Steven> We’re focused on building the future of BBH USA. Everyone knows the agency’s past is wildly impressive and it is absolutely something to be very proud of – but in our industry, a strong legacy can sometimes become a bit of a crutch. While we honour our past, we focus more on what’s next for BBH USA. How both our work and our approach will set the new industry standard for creativity. In many ways, I see BBH USA as a growing boutique agency with the hunger to prove itself over and over again, and we’re starting quite fresh deliberately. 

My philosophy is that if you don’t find new ways to modernise almost daily, your approach to solving problems creatively will quickly become stale. 

Above: BBH USA's Samsung spot - 'The Next Big Thing Is You'

LBB> BBH is known for its independent spirit, but also has the powerful backing of Publicis Groupe – how are you hoping to leverage the network for the agency's growth and creative success?

Steven> BBH USA has the calibre of talent and creativity of an indie – yet we are backed by the most powerful holding company in the world (AKA dream job). My role is to ensure we utilise Publicis in a way that supercharges our offering for both our clients and our talent.

Clients more than ever seem to be demanding two things – the first is the need for big brand-building ideas. The second is fluid and seamless integration across capabilities. Right now, it’s really hard for clients to find a solution that does both – typically, they’re forced to favour one or the other.

At BBH USA, we can fluidly customise models, bringing the best of the right capabilities into one supernaturally seamless team experience. I think we’re all used to hearing discussion of this model in theory, but I was really blown away by how turnkey and genuine that functionality was in practice on day one within the Groupe. Whether it’s data brilliance from Epsilon, influencer magic from Influential, retail expertise from Mars or super agile production solutions via PXP – we are able to bolt on the right skills to show up better and stronger for our clients. 

That’s invaluable from a new business and growth perspective – but it also critically helps us pull off bolder and more innovative ideas at a greater pace – because the best experts we need to pull it off are all within an elevator’s ride away. 

At the end of the day, an agency’s job is to make it easier for its clients to be brave. Showing up with the right capabilities makes it that much easier to pick the brave idea and pursue it with passion and confidence. This is how we best unlock genuine growth and business results. 

Above: BBH USA's Jif spot - 'The Merger'

LBB> How would you describe your leadership style?

Steven> Radical honesty is intrinsically tied to good leadership, so I try to practise and encourage that. We all have to be overwhelmingly honest with each other, and with ourselves, in order to achieve the best work. The same power of honesty is paramount to cultivating long-lasting client relationships. When you think about it, we are paid for our opinions, so offering them up honestly and directly should always be in scope. It’s how real trust gets built, which is also what makes being brave a bit easier, and that’s what helps unlock real business transformation for our clients. 

I’ve also always believed that talent is more important than tenure, so treating everyone – at every level – as the next big deal is critical. I do everything I can to create an environment where people feel heard and valued, so that they are willing to bring their biggest ideas to the room – time and time again. From the first day I walked in the door at BBH, I found a truly receptive and thriving agency culture, so I just see my task as adding to their existing magic. 

LBB> Are there any people from your career and life generally who you've taken particular leadership inspiration from?

Steven> I’ve been spoiled. I could go on and on about the brilliant people I’ve learned from, but here are a few that stand out. 

Carla Serrano, chief strategy officer of Publicis Groupe and CEO of Publicis New York, taught me the importance of practitioner leadership. This is the fourth time I’ve had the pleasure of working with Carla in the past two decades. She remains the hardest-working strategist I’ve ever known – glued to the thinking, the process, the teams and fully engaged with clients in a way that creates massive impact. The minute you stop doing the work yourself, you start unlearning how to make the work better.

I will never forget Droga5 CEO Sarah Thompson’s advice to ‘believe in your own bullshit’ – and still think of it daily. Many people assume being a leader means having all of the answers – but I don’t think it does. We all run up against challenges that we haven’t solved before, and we have to summon the self-determining confidence to run at them, bring the right people into the room with us, and deeply believe we know how to pull it off together. 

I’m also a twin, and sharing a life with someone from birth teaches you a lot about collaboration. You never achieve anything on your own, and every victory is shared. That is especially true in this industry, so it’s inspired a lot of my leadership style in terms of checking your own ego and, instead, prioritising team dynamics to yield the best results.

Above: BBH USA's Dunkin' spot - 'Goldilocks'

LBB> When announced, you said your ambitions were to continue BBH's ‘zag where others zig’ philosophy and drive more transformation. Where do you see the opportunities for transformation, both within the agency, and for its clients?

Steven> I don’t think creating compelling differentiation and pushing against the category norms will ever go out of style when it comes to driving success creatively. But ever since the pandemic, it’s felt like the industry has been trying to find its spark again. A lot of brands and agencies drifted back to the status quo and have had a hard time shaking it off. That means there’s really never been a better time to embrace our philosophy of ‘when the world zigs, zag’. Our clients are craving category-defying distinctiveness both in the work, and in how that work is made.

We are finding more and more iconic brands coming to us needing to reinvigorate themselves. When you look at the work we’ve done for brands like JIF, PayPal or Samsung, we are pushing brands outside of their comfort zone to create real change and real business results. Reversing sales declines is kind of our thing, and it’s addictive. 

Still, transforming the way we work is critical to changing the work itself. Long lead processes from briefings to development and execution are becoming increasingly less relevant. We all have the muscle memory needed to drive a new brand platform launch through a complex organisation. But chasing relevance based on what’s already happening isn’t going to shift the tides in big enough ways. By the time agencies launch the six-months-in-the-making campaign, culture has shifted twelve times. 

We need to strengthen new muscle memory around how to react more quickly, anticipate, and – maybe most importantly – drive cultural moments. Developing the right ways of working with our clients to then seize those opportunities is critical to our shared success. I look forward to sharing that ambition with current and new clients alike.