Caroline Pay moves up as BBH London unveils radical new management line-up

Managing the transition from one very famous management to another that, by definition, is not so well-known is a tricky task but it’s one facing BBH in London.

So in place of Sirs Nigel Bogle and John Hegarty and numerous other well-known faces we now have a new Gang of Four – deputy ECD Caroline Pay, MD Mel Exon and joint chief strategy officers Jonathan Bottomley and Jason Gonsalves (below, left to right).

CEO Ben Fennell and ECD Nick Gill are going to focus on the bigger picture; nurturing BBH’s bigger accounts and building up new businesses, like BBH Sport which also involves former England rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio. BBH is facing repitches on two of its global accounts: Johnnie Walker and Axe.

The agency says it’s also planning to launch a “high volume, high speed” video production business in the New Year, presumably a consequence of the relentless focus on more ‘content’ of all descriptions and the growing desire of clients for agencies that make, as opposed to commission, creative things. The agency also recently launched a CRM business with Warren Moore and Simon Hall, a product of the protracted British Airways pitch against Sapient Nitro, which it won.

CEO Fennell says: “This management team has a highly complementary set of skills, but a completely aligned vision for BBH. Mel, Caroline, Jason and Jonathan are all outstanding individual leaders, I am excited to see what they will achieve as a team.”

Pay is an interesting riser in the BBH ranks. She appears to be a combo of creative and business handler, rejoining BBH earlier this year from Mother with the brief to raise a new generation of creative talent.