Gerety Talks: British Creativity

The panel includes:

• Laura Jordan Bambach, president & chief creative officer Uncharted Studio
• Sachini Imbuldeniya, co-founder & CEO at House of Oddities
• Sue Higgs, executive creative director at Dentsu Creative

With special thanks to event partners The Industry Club, Adobe, AdsofBrands, RoastBrief, Media Avataar, Indian Creative Women, and Adgully

Just like the award show, the Gerety Talks series puts some of the marketing and creative industries' true changemakers in the spotlight and at the centre of the conversation for a refreshing take on what leadership looks like.

In this new edition of Gerety Talks, the participants discuss the some of the unique qualities of British creativity, like witty, disruptive, intelligent, eccentric, and stylish. They attribute these qualities to the country's island status and celebration of individuality, among other things. The speakers express concern over the waning bravery of clients, leading to overly safe and data-driven advertising, and the financial challenges faced by small independent creative agencies. They advocate for reuniting media and creative agencies for better collaborations and the exploration of new technologies as tools to augment human creativity. They also share personal experiences of fostering creativity through safe spaces, fighting bullying, and starting their own agencies to promote diversity and inclusivity. As a final advice they encourage newcomers to the advertising scene to find community, trust one's instincts, and stay curious in the face of challenges in the creative industry.

For over 20 years, Laura has enhanced the advertising industry through her fresh and pioneering spirit. Combining deep technical skill, with her innate human understanding and passion for storytelling, Laura is recognised and awarded globally as a creative innovator and industry leader, and was described by The Guardian as “a digital female icon”.

Sachini Imbuldeniya is the CEO of full–service content agency House of Oddities. Built on the principle that ‘difference makes a difference’, she has dedicated her career to making the creative industry a more equitable and inclusive space both in front of and behind the camera.

From founding an artist agency that champions exceptional talent from the most underrepresented groups in the UK’s creative sector, to producing a short film for the United Nations to support the plight of first, second and third generation immigrants that attracted 300 million views worldwide. She is also a UN Women UK delegate to the United Nations Commission on the status of women (CSW68) and has made it her mission to use her voice to advance the rights of women and girls, and accelerate the achievement of gender equality globally.

Sue Higgs is a joint executive creative director at dentsuMB UK where she looks after the Generali global business as well as Heinz Beans in the UK. 

She started her career at Lowe Howard – Spink as a writer on accounts such as Vauxhall, Smirnoff and Reebok. After seven years, she moved to M&C Saatchi as a group head to work on British Airways, Fosterslager and The Royal Opera House. Following three years at M&C she moved to Ogilvy in 2000 where she led creative for accounts for American Express, WWF and Huggies; she also worked across some of the world’s most revered brands such as Ford, Comfort, Dove, MTV and BP. In 2013 she moved to Publicis London as a creative director running the Nestle, SMA, Nescafe, Buxton Water, Maggi and Westjet accounts. She then moved to Grey London as group creative director to work on M&S food, Nomad and P&G.

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