“Positive Change Comes from Positive Dissatisfaction”
Agency leader Claire Hollands specialises in creativity, growth, and change management. Since joining MullenLowe in 2021, she has helped the company integrate three agencies into one for a more creatively driven, entrepreneurial agency. Their challenger mentality saw them land the number one spot in the new business rankings in 2022 - a testament to the progress they’ve made in a short space of time.
Previously, Claire was chief client officer at AMV BBDO where she led some of the biggest global and domestic brands, and led a change agenda across the agency around their client proposition as well as social, digital and production offerings.
An honest, creative, and collaborative leader, Claire looks to build inclusive cultures with a ‘high support, high challenge’ environment to get the best out of people. With two small children at home, she hopes to carve a path for the next generation of working parents.
LBB> Congratulations on your newly appointed role as CEO at MullenLowe UK! What is your vision for the business?
Claire> My vision for the agency is a simple one: ‘Creativity we’re all proud of’. That of course starts with the creative work itself. However, true to our entrepreneurial spirit, I believe creativity can breathe through all aspects of an agency from the way we brief teams, to our production partnerships, to our commercial modelling. I think it’s important that the vision is something everyone can sign up to across the agency even if they don’t touch the creative work directly.
LBB> You also announced that attracting and retaining the next generation of more diverse talent and supporting working parents will be a key part of MullenLowe’s success moving forwards. Why is this so close to your heart?
Claire> I believe our work is better, and our culture is richer, with diversity of talent. It’s a topic close to my heart, not just as I am a mum of two young girls, but when I entered the industry, I was very aware that privilege ruled. It’s something throughout my career I have always set out to change. That takes acts over words and a top-down, strategic approach. In truth, we still have some way to go, both at MullenLowe and as an industry. However, we are making progress.
Our fixed and flexi approach to the working week is designed to support people at different life stages. We have changed some of our policies to better support our people like our shared parental leave policy. And we have active communities for neurodiverse, pride and parents who are a huge contributor to our culture. Most recently, we’ve run ‘The Ship’, which is our apprenticeship scheme. This year we had over 400 applicants. This is talent we would never normally be able to find - the best bit is our apprentices from two years ago are still with us to make that experience even richer.
LBB> MullenLowe has recently announced its new global positioning - tell us about how the UK office will support this?
Claire> Our new positioning is born from a simple belief that positive change comes from positive dissatisfaction. The positioning was a collaboration across all our offices globally, which means we’ve all owned it from the off. Importantly, it gives us a clear POV on the world, which is something we’d been missing. For a positioning to mean something you must really live and breathe it internally. We wanted to bring our employees into that process, so we’ve hosted a set of positioning labs that have really helped us define what behaviours drive positive dissatisfaction. The key bit is now leading from the top on those behaviours and changing up everything from our recruitment processes to how we feedback and reward people.
LBB> Before joining the agency in 2021, you were chief client officer at AMV BBDO, with experience as an account director and executive at Leo Burnett, M&C Saatchi and Publicis. Looking back over your career so far, what would you say are the biggest lessons you have learned?
Claire> Never be afraid to ask for help. I got my first job by knocking on doors. Latterly, no matter how senior you are, I’ve also realised it’s ok to reach out to people and ask for help – even if you don’t know them.
Only work with people you respect and like. For a large chunk of my career, I took this for granted. You don’t realise how important the people around you are until you don’t have it.
It’s a marathon not a sprint. Our world is fast paced and demanding. Over the years I’ve learned to protect myself and my energy levels. Learning to say no is a big part of that but it’s critical with a small family who need just as much of my time and energy as work.
LBB> As a leader you focus on creativity, growth, and change management. Why are these three pillars the keys to success for you?
Claire> Creativity because it’s what clients come to us for and pulls us apart from the pack. If your reel isn’t good enough no one knocks on the door.
Growth because organic growth and new business are the lifeblood of any agency. When an agency is winning and growing it gains swagger, which I think you can see in the bottom line.
Change because agencies that stand still die. In an increasingly complex marketplace, we must evolve to survive. Interestingly, that’s where our Octopus comes from – it’s the only organism on the planet that routinely edits its own genetic material to adapt, innovate and thrive.
LBB> You mention that you look to build inclusive cultures with ‘high support, high challenge’. What does this entail?
Claire> I believe motivated teams stem from a culture of ‘high challenge, high support’. High challenge is about empowering teams to be entrepreneurs, so they are courageous in their decision making, pace setting in their approach and act with a healthy competitive spirit.
High support is about creating the right environment for them to do this. This can be creating safe spaces to give feedback or encouraging test and learn with failure being seen as something to learn from. Ultimately, it’s about setting a team up for success and being there when they fall.
LBB> Any industry trends or current challenges you’re keeping an eye on?
Claire> Everyone is talking about AI – for good and for bad. I’m always about action. I love the fact we’ve just quietly got on with it, testing and learning as we go - be that using ChatGPT for briefs, opening our all agency away day in the metaverse or using MidJourney for creative stimulus.
LBB> What are you most looking forward to achieving this year on a personal level?
Claire> I’m at my best when my agency life and home life are both thriving. That takes work especially in a new CEO role. Success for me is therefore a simple one. To make work, work for me and everyone around me.
