Berners Bowie Lee

The world is changing so rapidly we can’t possibly be experts on everything.

Everyone does not behave, think and dream just like us. And while our gut instinct for shifts in culture is probably good, it can’t always be right, or be nuanced enough to make the work truly resonate. To create advertising that better understands the people it’s trying to reach, we need to learn from them rather than believe we know best. It’s this mentality that is at the heart of our Cultural Mapping process, our model and everything else we do at BBL.

Advertising seems to love virtue-signaling almost as much as it used to love the idea of cultural fit. We'd rather act, than just talk.

We’re a new agency, so we can build it the way we want to. We want our co-workers to come from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and from across the gender spectrum. We want eccentrics and mavericks who have been squeezed out of the industry. And we want people with transferable skills outside of the advertising world. Not only does diversity help us understand nuances within culture shifts but it also improves how we work with our clients everyday. Our value partly lies in having points of view that you might not have considered. And this happens far more often when you have people on your business whose backgrounds, interests and experiences compliment, but don’t mirror yours.

How can we understand cultural turning points if all we do is work?

Even if we are working remotely, we still need to observe people, think about the world, binge trashy TV, watch good and bad movies, read books and gossip sites, hang out with our kids and partners, do things we regret, get accidentally drunk (occasionally), learn new things, and just generally enjoy the 82 or so years we get to live. We have all worked at “Be in on Sunday or don’t come back Monday” agencies and we’ve seen first-hand how working all the time leads to burn out and mental health issues. And the work suffers too. If we are working 24/7, then we are not working smart. We are here when you need us, but it is very important to us, and our business, that the people who work here have time to do more than just work here.

Like many companies, we are remote first. But we’re also big on autonomy, and working smarter rather than longer.

We have a small office with a couple of meeting rooms and a boardroom, but for us, anything more is unnecessary overhead. Culture shifts are often global, and we’d rather invest in great talent wherever they happen to live and show how much we value them by paying them what they deserve. Working remotely and with autonomy also allows people to focus on their work without impromptu meetings, interruptions or being pulled off one thing to do another.

We have replaced legacy roles and departments with lean, flexible teams with specific skill-sets.

This makes it easier for us to run projects efficiently, ensure they achieve their business objectives, are culturally nuanced and creatively great. It means there will always be someone on the team who deeply understands your business and the cultural shifts that affect it. There will always be someone to keep you informed and keep everyone else on the project organized. There will always be at least two people with complementary skills who think deeply about a problem and come up with solutions. And there will always be at least one partner involved from start to finish.

Layers waste time, money, and hinder creativity. That’s why we don't have them.

When you work with us you have direct access to everyone on our team and they have access to you. If you need to discuss something creative, talk to the creative people directly. Need to talk strategy? Talk directly. That way there is no broken telephone and no time wasted in unnecessary meetings. And after you talk, the information is shared with everyone else on the project.

Openness to the ideas of others is essential for Culture Mapping and brilliant creative work.

We encourage sharing of ideas, information, and we communicate openly at all times, building upon each other's thoughts rather than compete with one another. That doesn’t mean we won’t challenge each other – far from it. But we do so in a respectful way, and with an open mind. The goal is always to learn, build and make things better. This isn’t something we just do inside BBL, it’s how we work with our clients and other partners too.