Clemenger BBDO’s new head of brand on practicing what they preach
Agencies are brilliant at building brands, but often terrible at doing it for themselves. Newly formed Clemenger BBDO is trying to turning that around by investing in itself, appointing former DDB Group global head of marketing Lindsay Bennett as its new head of brand and communications.
Bennett will work closely with Clemenger BBDO’s CEO Lee Leggett and the wider leadership team to define how the agency now shows up in market. Her remit spans brand, communications, new business, and a particular focus on turning earned media into business growth.
Her biggest mission will be communicating what the agency stands for as it settles into this new chapter, after the consolidation earlier this year.
As a result of the consolidation’s inevitable restructure, several senior leaders departed, including Chep’s CCO Gavin McLeod and CSO Lilian Sor, and Clemenger BBDO’s CEO Dani Bassil, CCO Adrián Flores, and chief growth officer Anita Zanesco.
(L-R): Lee Leggett and Lindsay Bennett
“This is unique in that it’s a very new era for Clemenger BBDO. We have just brought together three agencies… three different businesses. And we’re building that narrative from scratch, I’ve never had the opportunity to start a company from day one,” she told Mumbrella.
“I am looking after the whole holistic bucket of everywhere we show up in the industry. How we talk to and pitch clients, how we tell the story and then how we sell the story.”
Bennett began her career as a journalist at Adnews, before joining DDB Australia as a corporate comms manager. During her two years there, she moved into a marketing and new business director role, before heading to New York as DDB’s global head of marketing.
Still in New York, she moved to Gale, where she spent two-and-a-half years as VP of communications. There, she led the agency’s marketing, comms and new business.
Bennett told Mumbrella agency branding is often overlooked in the market, so it’s an “interesting challenge” to join an agency doubling down on it.
“Agencies talk about the power of branding, we talk about the power of storytelling, but then when it comes to actually applying that to our own business, we don’t do that. And there’s recognition at Clemenger BBDO and within the leadership team that we can’t be out there preaching the power of brand if we’re not also looking internally,” she said.
“There is a really big communications job to be done at Clemenger in this moment. We’re creating a brand, not from scratch, but from almost 80 years of legacy, so there’s a big job to be done there.
“Agencies that have done a really poor job at building their own brands … they treat their comms as a nice to have.”
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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