Inside the Minds of Dentsu’s Changemaking Creatives

Matt Searle and Olly Wood are creatives looking to make change. Not just what tea you drink, where you buy your shoes, or what clothes you wear, but tangible change. Changing laws. Creating cultural impact. 

And since joining Dentsu Creative as joint executive creative directors (ECDs) at the start of the year from McCann London, it’s a mission they’re hoping to continue. 

Together they bring over a decade of success, which includes wins at Cannes Lions and D&AD, where work spanning across sectors of entertainment, gaming and sport have all been celebrated for brands like adidas and eBay.

A partnership that began as McCann, the pair describe the complimentary nature of their approaches to work; “We have a similar ambition for the work we want to make,” says Olly Wood. “Even though our craft skills differ, we compliment each other that way.” 

Creative Salon spoke with Searle and Wood about their routes into the creative industry, their favourite work, and the power of duo. 

Creative Salon: What does creativity mean to you?

Matt Searle: I was obsessed with Alan Fletcher’s ‘The Art of Looking Sideways’ at uni, and I think that’s a good encapsulation of what creativity means to me. It’s making the familiar feel unexpected. It’s transformational. It’s combining things to create something original and unique. It’s making a wildebeest dance on an apple to sell Doritos. It’s that - and how it moves people. Ultimately, that’s what creativity means for me.

Olly Wood: It’s a tricky one, but for me creativity means doing things differently. I’m really into contrast and juxtapositions, and I see creativity as embracing the new and unfamiliar. I think of it as bringing two opposing forces together to create something new.

MS: I guess it’s always on, isn’t it? That’s the fun of our job - everything you see, do, read, every conversation you overhear, it could all count for something one day. It’s funny how these things come back to you. You’ll be doing the house, saying something throwaway, and suddenly it’s really applicable to this brief.

What led you both down creative paths? Did you have creative childhoods or particular inspirations - a person, a moment, a thing?

OW: I was a designer long before this. Straight after my first time at college I did a Higher National Diploma (HND) in graphic design -  I joined a motor-vehicle graphics company and learned design there. Then I stepped away from that world and joined a regional advertising agency. I started as an artworker/designer and got a sense that there was this bigger world of conceptual thinking. There was a team over there with their feet on their desks just thinking up mad ideas for ads, and I thought, ‘maybe I want a piece of that’.

As I was designing at the time, a lot of it was grids and guides, and you’re quite restricted - you have to adhere to the rules. But I always found enjoyment in conceptual ideas. I’d get thrown a brief and find it fascinating. So I thought, ‘well, I’m in a small regional agency out in the countryside; I’d like to get into London’.

I cobbled together a portfolio and started coming into London. It was going really badly; the work was really bad and I realised I needed to restudy. I applied for a scholarship to the School of Communication Arts, won it, and restudied. That was a reset moment for me. From there, I got into London agencies and never left. 

MS: I just said 'yes' to people - 'yes' to things. A particular pivotal moment in my life was with my art teacher. Everyone was going to university, so I thought I had to go too. And my art teacher said, ‘Why don’t you go to art school for a year?’ So I went and did that. 

You get there, and you meet someone else - in my case, a design teacher -  who hands you a D&AD brief. Suddenly, I’ve got my own problem to solve here. There’s a clear challenge, something focused on working towards. That was a turning point. They said, ‘Why don’t you go to Bucks University? That’s what they’re all about.’ So I went, thinking I was going to be a designer.

But when I got there, I realised I was never going to master Photoshop. What I did like was the fact that I could think, and that has value -  thinking around things, approaching problems differently. That side really appealed to me. So I carried on, almost by chance, saying 'yes' to things and moments in time. That’s what led me into it, without much overthinking.

What did you want to bring to the creative industry? 

OW: I never really thought about it in terms of what I wanted to bring to the industry, but if I go purely on what I enjoy, it’s that I have a job where I can use my imagination to solve problems from all facets of life. You can make people laugh or cry, or think about societal change. The variety is huge, and where the work can take you is limitless.

If everyone’s united, if everyone’s audacious and the stars align, then I guess what I want to give back is a sense of pure optimism - an untainted spirit. We often get bogged down in feedback and rounds of changes, but it’s worth reminding yourself that when things go your way, when you pitch it right, you can make things that are entertaining or genuinely make a difference to people.

MS: Going back to when I was studying at college, that was a massive turning point. I remember a masterclass where the ‘Why So Serious?’ campaign for The Dark Knight was shared. That was huge for me: massive gaming immersion meets advertising. It was such deep storytelling, reaching people and engaging communities in a way that had never been done before.

I got really into new, unconventional ways of delivering messages to people, rather than what was then considered advertising - very traditional, passive, one message aimed at you, with the expectation it would change behaviour. I became obsessed with the unconventional, immersive side of things. So after studying, I wanted to bring more of that into the work -  different-shaped thinking.

What work are you most proud of making in your careers so far?

MS: ‘Dream Transfer’, which we did for eBay, where we ‘sold’ Roberto Carlos on eBay for the price of a pint. 

It was a mad idea to celebrate eBay as the people’s marketplace versus the machine that is Amazon, and to bring some joy back to the football pyramid. At the time, there was a lot of talk about Premier League teams breaking off to form the European Super League, so this made thing feel grassroots and accessible again. And it was all raising money for Football Beyond Borders.

I liked it because it was a great example of tenacity. We had that idea in our bottom drawer for about a year. We’d go into meetings and pitch it time and time again, and for two years, we’d get laughed at for bringing it up. Then one day, a different client was in the room who just happened to have something going on, and suddenly it fit perfectly. That locked it in, and then it was about a year of making it.

Suddenly, you’ve got a World Cup winner knocking in a penalty on a pitch in Shrewsbury, downing a post-match pint, FaceTiming Sergio Ramos. That’s when it’s fun - when you feel like a kid again and think, ‘I can’t believe I’m instigating this’. It’s nice to make work that brings proper joy to people and is genuinely entertaining.

OW: My favourite piece was 'Reality Christmas'. It was a simple idea we made ourselves - no brief on the table. We created four Christmas cards that juxtaposed the romanticised nativity imagery you see on mantelpieces with real editorial war photography from the Middle East at the time. So where you’d usually see the three wise men walking through a cosy, idealised scene...

It was for the Syrian crisis, yes — and still painfully applicable today.

What made that project so good was that we didn’t adhere to process. We didn’t ask for permission. We just mocked up the cards and made it ourselves. Matt and I talk about maker culture quite a lot - it’s a big thing we’re trying to inspire here: make more.

It was incredibly impactful in what it achieved. It not only smashed the donations target, I think it hit around 300 per cent more than the goal, but it also became a platform for a petition. So going back to engagement and how you can extend a simple idea: everyone who bought a pack of cards added their name to a petition we then took to Parliament to reopen an air corridor that had been closed during the Aleppo crisis. And then, it went global in the news.

MS: It was one of those bits of work where you start off thinking, ‘we’ll just sell these cards and raise some money’, and then it has a bit of success. So you build on top of that, and then you build another thing, and suddenly it’s on CNN in America, on the front page of the French press. It was steamrolling.

OW: That was the amazing part - seeing one of the visuals you created on the front page of a newspaper on Christmas Day. That was something. 

MS: It’s a great example of just making it and then presenting it - as opposed to presenting the theory and asking for permission. We just went and did it.

How did your creative partnership come to fruition?

MS: Yeah, we partnered up at McCann. We were both running solo for a bit - we’d both had previous partners, previous lives, and then Rob [Doubal] and Lolly [Thomson] at McCann said, ‘Ollie’s a great art director and designer, you’re a good writer. That seems like the perfect marriage’.

I’d spent about a year working with freelancers and other people, and it’s really hard to find the right combination, where you complement each other in enough ways, where you’re different in terms of craft skills and outlook, and each bring something distinct to the partnership. 

OW: Ultimately you’ve got to share a taste in work - an aesthetic, a sense of the calibre of ideas you want to make. We have a similar ambition for the work we want to make, and even though our craft skills differ, we complement each other that way. 

MS: Yeah, and then being able to debate things out without putting each other’s hair on fire is key, isn’t it? I don’t think we’ve ever had an out-and-out argument. There was a lot of trial and error before we clicked. But there’s a sweet spot in terms of temperament, ambition, and approach -  that combination really works.

What’s some of your favourite work you’ve done here at Dentsu so far? Did any work draw you to join the business?

MS: One thing that drew us to Dentsu was the push for creative excellence across the agency and being connected to the Global Creative Council. It’s been really exciting to help elevate work across all offices in the network.

I was lucky at the start of my career here to be part of a session where I saw a piece called Sato 2531 for a gender equality charity. It was from Japan and had that very Japanese way of looking at the world - laser-focused, sharp insight. It explored how, because of marriage laws, women’s surnames weren’t passed down, and over time, there would essentially be only one surname left: Sato. They worked backwards from the data to ask: 'How can we change the law?' - and actually succeeded.

Seeing work like that is inspiring. It’s a reminder to look beyond local thinking, beyond UK tunnel vision, and see how others approach insights, find truths, and solve problems.

OW: I really like the work on KPN - ‘A Piece of Me’ done by Dentsu Creative Amsterdam. It was a brilliant example of using a persuasive medium - music -  to convey an important message around online training. A lot of young people in relationships share images or texts that should remain private, but unfortunately, they often get circulated, leading to online shaming.

The project involved Holland’s most famous music artist, who created a track using real stories of real people. It sparked national conversation, even reaching Parliament, and contributed to new legislation making online shaming part of the sexual offences act. The music video is now used in schools for education. I love how a really simple idea had such a wide, lasting impact - it changed culture and continues to educate.

MS: That’s something we’ve always been drawn to here - acts, not ads. Meaningful gestures where you’re not talking at your audience, you’re talking with them. Where there’s a real value exchange, and what we put into the world gives something back. It’s not frivolous; it has substance and reflects brand behaviour.

What excites you the most about where the industry is right now.

MS: We saw a placement team this morning and it excited me to see this new wave of creatives coming through. They’ve got access to a treasure trove of tools, AI, and the ability to fully realise and broadcast their ideas almost instantaneously. It’s super exciting for how we can inspire ourselves and those around us, getting people to buy into ideas in ways that weren’t possible before.

The caliber of work we’re seeing now is incredible. Some of these creatives have only been in the industry five or six years, or just out of university, and they’re producing fully realised, highly crafted ideas.

It’s that ability to go from a blank page to tangible work almost immediately, with all the bells and whistles, that really excites me.

OW: I think the distance from idea to execution has gotten so much shorter because of the tools available to us now. We’ve never had access to so many ways to make things - AI, 3D software, and other tech make execution easier than ever. For example, on our last Wimbledon spot we were in the studio using AI and 3D rendering to remap historic photographs and bring them into the modern world. It’s amazing to see how fast and creatively we can produce work.

MS: It’s also exciting because of the brands we’re working with. Having clients like Adobe in the building with AI functionality in their software pushes us to be more game-changing in the solutions we provide. So it’s a two-pronged excitement: the tools we have and the way brands are entering the world, which allows us to create work in ways that weren’t possible before.

What change would you like to see from the industry? 

MS: Giving younger talent in our industry the space to learn and craft the skills to thrive. Since I started in this business, deadlines are tighter and the amount of deliverables has quadrupled. They have all these tools, which is great, but it also speeds things up even more. We need to foster them, because if they’re not succeeding, none of us are. It’s a double-edged sword.

OW: I’d love to see more brands behaving differently: less telling, more doing. Brands need to act differently now; passive messages aren’t enough. Those with a meaningful purpose should show it through action. By the end of the decade, I hope to see more brands proving their message, not just talking about it; go out and do it, show people who you are.

What can the industry be doing more of to make this change happen? 

MS: For me, it’s about aspiring to make work that stands out. That might sound obvious, but day-to-day bread and butter work can take over. You have to keep your focus on creating work that truly moves people. No matter how targeted your audience or media is, if your work isn’t noticed, nothing else matters. Constantly aiming for cut-through work should be the standard.

OW: More rejection of the expected. We all fall into familiar traps because they feel safe, but standing up and saying, ‘let’s do something new’ is how we innovate. Clients often stick with what’s worked before, following data and familiar territory, but we push to start fresh - create something completely different that sparks conversation.

Especially in social media, the temptation is to chase trends and algorithms instead of discovering what’s next. To reach truly great work, not just good work, we have to move beyond those tropes and trends.

What does great creative leadership look like to you? 

MS: Great ideas and great work are hard - they often 'bomb' in research because there’s no precedent and a thousand reasons they probably shouldn’t exist. To get through that, you need togetherness: a shared vision, collective tenacity, maybe a little madness.

For me, good creative leadership means inspiring people to be comfortable with uncomfortable ideas, staying positive, and staying consistent. The energy you give out is mirrored back, so it’s about inspiring belief in the unbelievable - showing your team that their bold ideas will be championed and at least entertained. That’s been a key lesson throughout my career.

OW: Looking back at leadership we’ve learned from, it’s all about balance. On one hand, you’re constantly pushing the work, raising the bar, trying to get the best out of your team. On the other, you need to leave room for them to experiment, try things themselves, and sometimes fail because that’s how they learn.

You don’t get everything right the first time. It feels great to figure things out yourself, and if you get it right, that high is amazing. If you mess up, having a safety net from a leader who trusts and supports you makes all the difference. That balance - pushing work while letting the team guide it themselves - is key.

If advertising died tomorrow, what would you do with yourself? 

MS: I’d probably try a lot of things badly. Train of failure style. I used to produce hip-hop beats and DJ then realised I wasn’t very good. I might get back into painting like I did in high school, and probably fail at that too.

I’ve always thought being a postman would be nice - do your little lap in the morning, get some exercise, maybe even start a podcast. Ultimately, I’d probably keep failing at things until I found something meaningful. Maybe there’s a moral in that somewhere.

OW: If creativity or the creative industries were to disappear, what would I do? There are always other ways to build brands. With news, culture, and people talking, there are always ways to tell stories and get messages across. I’d see it as a challenge to find new ways to build brands outside the usual parameters.

Plus, it would be an opportunity for a bit of creative mischief.