Porter Novelli Bolsters Creative Talent with Appointment of Creative Director Ben Briley

Today, Porter Novelli London announces the appointment of Ben Briley to creative director and the launch of a new content and production offering, The Studio. 

With over twenty years’ experience of working alongside high profile brands including Nike, Lacoste, Superdrug and Lloyds Pharmacy, Briley will lead The Studio and brings diversity of experience to Porter Novelli’s conceptual creative and production team. Briley joins from full-service content marketing agency, The River Group, where he was group creative director and prior to that was head of branded content at Hearst UK for seven years.

The appointment of Briley falls on the back of the London agency reporting 40% growth in the last two years after simplifying the business into two portfolios – Reputation & Brand and Health – and investing in its four capability areas: employee engagement, brand growth, corporate counsel and purpose and impact. At the heart of the agency sits Strategic Services, a hub team which has trebled in size in two years, and houses data-led and creative expertise including research, insights, measurement, planning, strategy, and now the powered-up Studio. 

Says Ben Briley: “PR is the place to build the content powerhouse of the future. It’s an industry that’s had to earn the success of its campaigns, not pay for it, and consequently has the best experience and expertise in storytelling. Yet visualisation, in my view, is behind the curve. With an exceptionally talented and diverse team at Porter Novelli and a treasure trove of clients seeking to engage more meaningfully with their audiences, we have no limits to what we can produce for our clients.”

Says Fenella Grey, Porter Novelli managing director: “Ben is a creative who you want to be on the front lines with. In a visually dominant world, Ben’s ability to visualise and produce big strategic creative concepts through to fast turnaround creatives at the pace of the newsroom is a true find for the agency. We’ve invested in becoming a data-led agency over the last 18  months and I’m excited to marry our confidence of knowing we’ve right the strategy with what I project to be industry-leading creative.”

The appointment of Briley to creative director follows on from the announcement of Amber Tovey moving into the role of leading the health portfolio and Ludivine Delattre leading on the employee experience capability.