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Ben Mears - Creative Director/Copywriter

DOB: 20.09.1976

Sex: Male

Nationality: British

Email: ben.mears@gmail.com

Mobile: 07971 000637

Senior Creative Freelance – November 2020 to Present

Agencies include an 18 month stint at BBH working on Audi, Hofmeister and various health brands, TBWA looking after the Nissan account, Publicis Poke working on various skincare brands in the Galderma portfolio, Ogilvy working on B2B for Inmarsat and McCann Health on all things GSK including an innovative AI film.

Co-founder of Bev - November 2020 to Present

Set up the creative and strategic studio Bev, working with start-ups and small businesses to sharpen their focus and trigger distinction by building distinctive brand worlds that lead to effective comms. Currently working directly with the founders of new wine retail platform Bottl, helping them gain traction in order make a case for investment.

 

Creative Director at VCCP – April 2017 to November 2020

Driving the client work direction, producing creative with active purpose for VCCP Retail. Highlights include: turning Canon into a storytelling brand and helping them reclaim their status as leader in the pro-photography category; making the nation fall in love with Cadbury again (having helped VCCP win the pitch); and helping grow Shell Helix oil distribution globally by revolutionising their trading program. Alongside running accounts day-to-day, I led and won pitches and nurtured creative talent. As leader of a 30-strong creative department for two years I was instrumental in driving and forging the agency’s own creative ethos, proposition and creds.

Creative Director at WARL – July 2016 to April 2017

Responsible for the whole agency’s creative output and direction. Managed the transition as WARL became VCCP Retail. Ran a 25-strong department of creatives, designers and art workers with my creative partner. Clients included Coca-Cola, Diageo, SAB Miller, Suzuki, Jeyes and Hamlin, working across every channel from retail to brand TV. Favourite work includes making an action movie trailer for Tesco’s F&F School Shop, receiving over 2 million YouTube views in the process and creating an activation for O2 that was viewable from space, as part of their sponsorship of the England rugby team.

Senior Creative Team at WARL – February 2013 to July 2016

Won the Peroni pitch, then helped make the premium lager one of the top 3 Italian style brands in the world. Helped O2 lead by example when encouraging the nation to ‘Wear The Rose’ during the Rugby World Cup by re-branding every O2 store (a first for our client). Created the global on-trade Coca-Cola ‘real serve’ campaign to get people to ask for and expect, Coke to be served correctly. Produced our first Tesco F&F Back to School campaign as well as the global Diageo spirits retail campaign for Christmas. Won the Schweppes retail pitch. Gave Jeyes Fluid a facelift for a younger male audience.

Junior - Mid-Weight Creative Team at FCB Inferno & Freelance – July 2010 to January 2013

Began as a creative at Inferno working on a diverse range of brands in all shapes and sizes across all platforms, from ideas that translated across continents for Nokia, to local awareness posters for The London Dungeons. Freelance briefs included creating a strategic positioning with print ads and video content for EMI Sync to promote their music search and licensing service to ad agencies. Award-winning print for City & Guilds at 1DA.

Client list

Andrex, Arla (Anchor, Anchor Squirty Cream), Arriva Trains Wales, AutoTrader, Bensons For Beds, Black n Red, Cadbury, Canon, Carabao, Coca-Cola (Coke, Fanta, Schweppes), Diageo (Baileys, J&B Whisky, Smirnoff), Electrolux, EMI Sync, F&F, Festival Place, Galderma, Global Refund, Harveys, GSK, Henderson Global Investors, Hovis, India Tourism, Inmarsat, Intuit, J2O, Jenny Craig, Jeyes, Johnson & Johnson, Keep Britain Tidy, Kleenex, Legal & General, Linkedin, London Boat Shows, McArthur Glen, McVities, Merlin Group (Edinburgh Dungeons, London Dungeons), Nissan, Nokia, O2, Oxford Campus Notebooks, Paddy Power, Pepsi Max, Peroni, Pizza Hut, Purina, Sab Miller, Sainsburys, Samsung, Shell, Spitfire Beer, Suzuki, Tesco, The Economist, Thorpe Park, Unilever (Bertolli, Comfort, Dove Spa, Flora, Hellmann’s, I can’t believe it’s not Butter, Lynx, Surf), Warburtons, Vaseline, Visa, Xbox, Youngs Frozen.

Prad Nair - Senior Art Director 

DOB: 09.02.1976

Sex: Male

Nationality: British

Email: pradnair@hotmail.co.uk

Mobile: 07507 133 672

Freelancing since June 2020
Freelanced with Dennis Publishing, VentureThree, MRM and Rapp.

BBH - October 2016 - February 2020

Worked on all accounts across BBH, including Tesco, Barclays and Audi. Responsible for pitch wins for Campo Viejo, Barclays Business and Lego. in addition to big brand thinking, I have worked extensively in the digital and direct space producing CRM, online and social campaigns, as well as TV and print for the likes of Experian, Tesco Mobile, Barclays and Next.

RAPP (freelance) - August 2015 - April 2016

Bringing fresh creative thinking and art direction to the Virgin Media account. 

LIDA - January 2014 - July 2015

I initially joined Campaign Agency of the Year, LIDA/M&C Saatchi for a short freelance stint and joined full time soon after. I predominantly worked in to ECD, Nicky Bullard across a number of accounts. During this time I was part of the team that won the Royal Mail pitch and also created work that helped retain the IKEA and Invesco accounts. The agency also retained its Campaign Agency of the Year status. 

Freelance - April 2012 - December 2013

Freelanced at Grey/Possible, Draft FCB, Cheil, Sapient Nitro, Leo Burnett, TMS, Ogilvy and My Agency. 

Inferno - February 2009 - 2012

I was brought in by Malcolm Caldwell who was the ECD at the time. I created work that pushed the boundaries for several of the agency’s leading clients and regularly helped out on pitches. During this time the agency won over £100m in new business, including Nokia and Legal & General. 

Saatchi & Saatchi - April 2001 - December 2008

I started working within the Saatchi & Saatchi network as a designer for London based Saatchi & Saatchi Design. After 3 years I made the transition to my current position as art director, remaining in the London office. This role involved working within a more integrated offering of the Saatchi group, creating campaigns for clients such as Visa (whose business I helped to retain during a pitch), Toyota, T-Mobile, Proctor & Gamble and Carlsberg to mention just a few. This move was perfect for me as it allowed me to be creative on a larger scale, having ideas that worked across all types of media. During my time as an art director working through the line, I was able to draw on my design experience whilst further developing my ability to generate ideas and see them through to production. 

Client list

AEG/Electrolux, Alzheimer’s Society, Audi, AutoTrader, Barclays, Boots, Brighthouse, British Airways, Cadburys, Carlsberg, Campo Viejo, Cisco, Coca Cola, Comfort, Compare the Market, Dulux, Earnd, Experian, Festival Place, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), IKEA, ING, Invesco Perpetual, John Lewis, Keep Britain Tidy, Kiss, Land Rover, LaFarge, MS Society, National Lottery, National Trust, Natwest, Next, NSPCC, O2, Oxfam, PayPal, Proctor & Gamble (Ariel, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pampers, Wella), QUIT smoking, Rayban, Royal Mail, Safeguard, Samsung, Sky, Tesco, Tesco Mobile, T-Mobile, Toyota, UK Broadband, UNICEF, Unilever (Bertolli, Carte D’or, Flora, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Knorr, Magnum, Persil, PG tips, Stork, Vaseline), Virgin Holidays, Virgin Media, Visa, Vodafone, Voltaren and WWF.

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