Lucy Watson: The MD Leading The Charge For B2B Growth

Despite being a year into her role as managing director at Nelson Bostock Unlimited (part of Accenture Song), Lucy Watson is no stranger to the business. After leaving Unlimited B2B in August 2024 where she was deputy MD, Watson returned to Nelson Bostock - the company she first joined in 1996 and has had an on-and-off spell totalling to 22 years with range of roles as proof - from associate director to head of consumer to strategy director. 

Her new role will see her overlooking the business’ long-term partnerships, as well as the acquisition of data and insights to lead its work on its Human Understanding Labs and growth in the B2B sector. 

Watson tells Creative Salon about her ambitions for the future of Nelson Bostock, the culture of the business, and industry advice. 

Creative Salon: While still in your first year in the role, how have you settled in?

Lucy Watson: I’m fortunate to have been part of Nelson Bostock for many years, so while the challenge is different, the agency still feels very much like home. That said, it’s been an exciting time to take on the MD role. We're now part of Accenture Song, which has opened up a raft of new opportunities.

The landscape is changing rapidly. Technological advancements, evolving channels of influence, shifting customer expectations, and the blurring of lines between disciplines are giving us the opportunity to think and deliver differently. I work alongside a brilliant senior team, and we’re excited about the year ahead.

As managing director, what are your top priorities for Nelson Bostock?

Continuing to deliver our best work for our clients. We’ve always enjoyed long-term partnerships - some lasting 20 or even 30 years. This partnership approach has seen us regularly support clients through secondments, which keeps our teams deeply embedded in the business and brings fresh perspectives to the client team. I really believe it’s the constant knowledge acquisition and sharing with clients that has led to client satisfaction scores consistently ranking above 8 out of 10 (versus the industry average of 7.1).

Data and insight remain top priorities. Over the last year, we’ve enhanced our insight work through the expertise of our Human Understanding Lab - a team of 120 plus data, behavioural and neuroscientist experts, supported by our tech platforms. This enables us to get even closer to audiences and is resonating strongly with clients. It’s also supporting growth into new B2B sectors.

But we can’t deliver any of this without our brilliant team of people. We're working hard to retain our culture in this hybrid world and continue to create an environment where people want to stay and build their careers. Our recent ‘Your Voice’ scores put employee engagement at an all-time high, with 97 per cent of respondents recommending Nelson Bostock as a great place to work - something we’re very keen to maintain.  

What’s that one skill that the best account people you know have?

The ability to really listen. It sounds obvious, but clients aren’t always super clear and account teams don’t always listen and ask enough questions to understand the real challenge. We need to read between the lines, get under the skin of the business, and listen to people from across the different departments to connect the dots. We also need to listen to what the audience is saying and understand the broader cultural context. Bringing it all together to be a valuable strategic partner.

Tell us about one experience you’ve had across your career that made you really proud.

Being nominated twice in the last few months for Agency of the Year has definitely been a highlight. I’m incredibly proud of the team and the work we’re doing together.  

What makes Nelson Bostock different to any other agency you’ve worked for?

The people and the culture stand Nelson Bostock apart. We believe in supporting people to build their own careers and giving them the opportunity to take on new challenges or move in a new direction. Many of our planners and creatives started out in client teams.  

We also have access to an incredible wealth of talent and capability across UNLIMITED and now Accenture Song, which allows us to adapt, scale and flex quickly. This is vital in today’s world.

How would you describe the culture of the business?

Supportive, passionate and fun!

The industry is ever-evolving – and as a result, agencies are having to adapt to keep-up. Is this changing the client-agency relationship? What does that look like nowadays?

The client-agency relationship has matured; clients are looking for strategic partners. There is more collaboration across the business - particularly between communications and marketing. Integration is more important than ever. Clients expect their teams and their agencies to work together. It doesn’t matter who has the idea, it needs to work hard across all channels and deliver precise business outcomes.

How does Nelson Bostock best support its clients? What does it do best? 

We commit fully to clients - by that I mean ongoing senior consultancy and the desire to understand and engage in the business. We have our own internal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to ensure best-practice client service every time.

We also build teams with a blend of capabilities depending on the client need – bringing in expertise across digital, media and content to deliver value. Finally, each client team is fuelled with insights from the Human Understanding Lab and our data and insights champions to ensure ideas are grounded in insight and will truly connect.

What future changes would you like to see in the industry?

Measurement continues to be a topic of hot debate but for me, it’s the reputation of comms more broadly.  Previously, it may have been viewed as more tactical, focused on message delivery, however, I think we’re starting to see that change; comms is now helping drive business strategy and being given a seat at the board room table. This hasn’t always been the case…

And finally, what advice would you have for someone wanting to get into the industry?

Be curious! Subscribe to newsletters, follow journalists and comms experts on LinkedIn or X, and read a lot! Gain as much experience as you can across different disciplines - every experience is valuable and will give you a broader view of the industry.

We’re working with the 10,000 Black Interns programme again this year, as well as running a dedicated entry-level recruitment and onboarding programme. Approach people directly and show your passion for the world of comms.