BBH London: Rebellious Creativity Wins

It’s been another year of creative dominance from BBH as it continues to relish in being the black sheep of the industry. It began its year with Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes being promoted to ECD - tasked with leading the agency’s creative excellence alongside global CCO Alex Grieve. 

Creatively, his presence had long been felt. The agency showed particular humour and wit with its work for Paddy Power that saw Danny Dyer and celeb cameos take to the fore on more than one occasion; Audi took a musical turn with its symphony of roadmaps; and work for its long-standing client Tesco celebrated 30 years of Clubcard, the Lioness’ triumph at the Women’s Euros, and the funny side of Christmas. 

Its performance at Cannes Lions too shines, taking away three wins for work with Burger King and Mentos respectively. 

The agency also once again opened its doors to Barn, under the leadership of Nick Gill - the first and only ad school based inside an agency that pays students the London living wage, and removes barriers to entry into the industry. 

As its CEO Karen Martin began her reign as IPA President in April with a clear manifesto: celebrate human creativity, BBH partnered with Digital Cinema Media (DCM) and the IPA with ‘The Greatest Ad Show’ - a celebration of creativity to highlight that it’s at the core of business. 

We spoke with Martin about the agency’s 2025.

Karen Martin, CEO, on BBH London's 2025

What three words would you use to describe 2025?

Creative. Iconic. Relentless. 

Talk us through some of your agency’s highlights this year?

The work has been absolutely next level. At the start of the year, Alex and Felipe set our creative ambition to be world-class in every channel, specifically taking on the challenge of becoming the best OOH agency on the planet. No small task - our goal was to push boundaries in a channel that literally forces creativity. And it worked.  

I’m incredibly proud of our body of work this year, work that has changed the conversation, shifted culture, and delivered tangible business results for our clients. And we are seeing a trend of ex-BBHers rejoining the flock, plus lots of new exciting talent, which is always a good sign of great things to come. 

What one thing are you proudest of this year?

We got a hot coral makeover and won Monzo without a pitch. We celebrated 43 years with Audi, 25 years with Perfetti Van Melle, 10 years with Tesco, and seven years with Burger King, proving that long-term loyalty and radical creativity are not mutually exclusive, they are mutually beneficial. And we won the Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award, through our commitment to nurturing inclusive creativity.

And despite the wider economic noise and pressures, we expanded Barn. Barn is unique; it’s the only ad school embedded within a working creative department, and crucially, students are paid the London Living Wage while they learn. It’s a huge financial commitment from BBH, but if we want a vibrant future for our industry, we have to invest in young talent. 

And what’s been your biggest challenge?

The industry is changing, it’s getting more cluttered and less reliable. Bogged down in a glut of short term thinking, over-optimisation, over-researching, and endless chat about AI. 

But with that comes an opportunity - the upside of being different has never been bigger.

So this year, we tried to do things differently - fundamentally transforming our approach to pitching and refining our proprietary AI tool, The Zig Index, to instantly identify category clichés, allowing us to understand their problem faster, and help our clients grow through difference and creativity. 

What are you most looking forward to in 2026?

Another year of epic work. It’s all about the work; that hasn’t changed for over four decades of BBH. We have creative milestone moments coming for Tesco, Audi, Paddy Power, and more. 

We’ll also kick off the first IPA Creative Essentials Course, teaching creatives early on in their career the value of what they do. 

And what one change would you most like to see in our industry next year?

Let’s stop talking ourselves into misery. We’re lucky to work in this industry, we have a responsibility to protect and celebrate what makes it great. And we honestly all deserve to have a bit of fun while we’re doing it. Life’s too short.

Creative Salon on BBH London's 2025

BBH showed that 2025 was the year for creative excellence. Its work proved eye-catching, thought-provoking, and laugh-inducing, and its arsenal of talent continued to grow. 

Under Guimaraes’ leadership, it saw the expansion of its creative department with the hiring of a raft of talent: Ash Hamilton and Sara Sutherland from Uncommon; Jack Gravatt and Till Dittmers from Mother; Holly Fallows and Charlotte Watmough from House 337; Gémina Gil Flores and Jemma Burgess from McCann; Ryan Delaney and Emma Thomas from T&P; and Frances Leach from VCCP. 

And in charge of consolidating the business and nurturing its culture James Rice and Bobbie Gannon were promoted to client managing directors, who respectively held the roles of managing partners prior. 

This growth didn’t just come in the shape of talent; new business wins saw it claim Monzo - without even delivering a pitch, and Italian coffee giant Segafredo Zanetti.

This year also marks BBH’s 10th anniversary of working with Tesco, where work celebrated its 30th anniversary of Clubcard, tapping into three decades worth of nostalgia and highlighting the value of its loyalty scheme. 

Its work didn’t stop there. The annual Tesco festive campaign took a spin from an original 90-second spot; a range of 11 spots were rolled out alongside digital content, in-store purchases, showing the real side of Christmas. ‘That’s What Makes It Christmas’ was filled with family arguments, last minute present wrapping, and awkward meetings with neighbours. 

Work for F&F - the clothing brand owned by Tesco, introduced a new brand platform ‘Style It Out’, taking a humorous spin compared to traditional clothing ads. It explores a truth: F&F can’t give people magical superpowers but instead the composure to handle life’s challenges in style - from having loo roll stuck to your heel or your dress catching in the car door. 

BBH's long-standing relationship with Audi saw a range of eye-catching creative; it took a musical turn with ‘Light, as you like it’ -  spotlighting the panoramic sunroof of its A6 Avant e-tron vehicle. 

The theme continued with ‘Engine Symphony’ - a classical spin on the sound of a roaring Audi engine, with meticulously crafted musical scores titled with the car’s horsepower and car model. The work, both eye-catching and outside of the box, gained recognition for its UK director of marketing and digital Tony Moore as Creative Salon’s Marketer of the Week. 

Retaining that black sheep mantra, BBH yet again produced a stand-out piece of work that went against the grain. ‘Fizzooka’ for Mentos took a spin on the classic Mentos and cola experiment into the gaming world by creating a custom rocket launcher available in the Fortnite Creative universe. 

For Burger King, ‘Not Made By Gordon’ enlisted chef Gordon Ramsay to show its new Wagyu burger - sending out the message that the burger is so good, it tastes like it could have been made by a world-class chef. 

And its work for Paddy Power continued on from its foundations laid in 2024 filled with humour, wit and celebrity cameos. To celebrate Paddy Power Games’ sponsorship of Channel 4’s First Dates, it released a series of tongue-in-cheek indents filled with mischief and a feature from ambassador Peter Crouch. 

‘Come Out and Play’ for Paddy Power showed its star appeal with Danny Dyer, Gemma ‘The GC’ Collins and Colleen Rooney all making appearances. Dyer, acting as the ultimate casino guide, leads a bizarre tour filled with mischief and humour. 

Creative Salon says... BBH London is a force to be reckoned with. This year alone it's produced work that has had the industry in full chatter with raised eyebrows, curious what will be coming next.

Under the leadership of Karen Martin and the new creative direction of Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes, it sits on the most solid of foundations.