A London creative agency founded in Soho in 1982, known for work for Audi, Tesco, Burger King and Paddy Power and for its black sheep outlook.
BBH London, short for Bartle Bogle Hegarty, is an advertising agency that makes campaigns for brands including Audi, Tesco, Burger King, Paddy Power, Mentos and Monzo. It is known for ideas such as Audi's "Vorsprung durch Technik", Lynx's "The Lynx Effect" and Johnnie Walker's "Keep Walking". Its recent work includes Tesco Clubcard's 30th anniversary and a Burger King campaign with Gordon Ramsay. Early classics include Levi's "Launderette" and "Flatbeat" with Flat Eric, and Paddy Power's "Come Out and Play" featured Danny Dyer, Gemma Collins and Colleen Rooney.
The agency was founded in 1982 in Soho by John Bartle, Nigel Bogle and John Hegarty, with Levi's as its first client. Its guiding idea is "When the world zigs, zag". Its own landing page says "We create iconic brands using difference", and in 2025 it described itself as the "black sheep" of the industry, preferring different, rebellious work over the mainstream. Publicis Groupe has owned the agency fully since 2012.
BBH's website lists London as one of six offices alongside Dublin, Mumbai, New York, Shanghai and Singapore. A directory suggests 201 to 500 staff in the UK. We did not find a street address on the pages read. Karen Martin is chief executive and became IPA President in April 2025, Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes is executive creative director, and Alex Grieve is global chief creative officer. The agency's long relationships include Audi at 43 years, Perfetti Van Melle at 25 years and Tesco at 10 years.
BBH runs an ad school inside the agency called Barn, led by Nick Gill, which pays students the London Living Wage and aims to remove barriers to entering the industry. It also built an AI tool called The Zig Index to spot clichés in a product category. In 2025 it hired creatives from agencies such as Uncommon, Mother and VCCP, and former BBH staff returned. Martin says the industry should "stop talking ourselves into misery" and have more fun. These are the agency's own claims. Wikipedia says Campaign named BBH London UK Agency of the Year several times, including 2011 and 2012, and that it was on the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 11 years.
The agency employs creatives, strategists, client managing directors and account teams, designers, producers and out-of-home specialists, a growing focus. An IPA Creative Essentials Course for early-career creatives was announced to launch in 2026.
Website: www.bartleboglehegarty.com
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