In conversation with: BBH

It’s hard not to be inspired when you’re at the Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) offices. Upon entering their London premises, the first thing that strikes you is the creative buzz. When the world Zigs, Zag, their underpinning mantra, greets you as it proudly spans the length of their reception desk. The expectation is set that whatever you’re about to experience once inside, it’s going to be good.

“Mantras are a big part of life at BBH,” says Stephen Ledger-Lomas, head of production at BBH. “They reinforce the narrative,” with many mantras coming from the founders of the agency. One which Stephen fondly quotes is from co-founder John Hegarty, “We don’t hire the most famous directors; we hired talented ones and made them famous.” And this is something that rings true in all that BBH does – their unwavering support of emerging artists is evident through all areas of their work, from their Unsigned program that runs every September, right through to their sponsorship of the New Directors category at the British Arrows.

This long history of supporting new creatives, especially directors, is a reflection of BBH’s desire to respond in the best way to a client brief. “We see opportunity everywhere,” says Stephen, “there’s room for everyone.” They choose a director based around “what the client’s needs are,” says Stephen. Having an extensive list of directors to work with enables them to constantly produce great film and be able to respond to a wide variety of briefs, from those with low budget to high. But above all, BBH adheres to the “belief in the power of difference and in the power of big ideas.”

“BBH is about creating big ideas that work across any consumer touchpoint,” says Stephen, and they choose to be channel agnostic in order to simply create the best expression of a creative idea. Along with their support of emerging artists comes their unwavering adherence to craft. Even though BBH have now built up their capabilities to be able to produce a number of projects inhouse, they still rely on their excellent relationships with production companies for the majority of their output, and the key at the end of the day says Stephen is “always achieving the best creative outcome.”

And achieve creative outcomes they do. BBH’s origins and legacy lies in creating powerful campaigns, with a commitment not only to creativity but also to effectiveness, with the aim of all that they produce to tell the message for the client in the most effective way. This has been recognised by the industry with a number of awards, from the IPA’s 'Most Effective Agency' in 2018, to numerous British Arrows over the years.

While they don’t do what they do for the awards, Stephen recognises that 'awards are important' and can be the catalyst sometimes needed to propel a creative or a team into the spotlight to further their career. On sponsoring the category of New Director at the British Arrows for the past few years, Stephen believes that giving emerging creatives the chance to be recognised is a vital part of the industry and is something that should always be a part of any award.

Stephen is looking forward to seeing the entries for not only the New Director award but all categories at the 2020 British Arrows, and we’re delighted to have BBH on board as a sponsor.

To join BBH at the 2020 awards, purchase your tickets here.