Lesley Bielby

Lesley Murray Bielby was born in Scotland, and has spent equal thirds of her career in advertising in London, New York and Boston. She was one of the British account planners to cross the pond in the turn of the century, to bring the discipline to America. Her first US agency was McKinney and Silver and after stints agencies such as Merkley, DiMassimo Goldstein and Hill Holliday (New York and Boston), Lesley returned to Hill Holliday 5 years ago, where she is Chief Strategy Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Lesley firmly believes in integrated planning, and to that end, her department consists of fully integrated strategists across strategic planning (account planning), social strategy, digital strategy, business strategy, content strategy and decision science (data & analytics and consumer research). Integration has been key to the success of the Hill Holliday strategic approach, as modern strategists need to be equipped with multiple skills and tools that allow them to balance art and science, through consumer and culture-informed creative and intuitive thinking, as well as rigorous data analysis.

Today's strategists must be x-shaped (to borrow a term from design thinking) if they are to succeed in an ever-competitive industry, where tech giants are nipping at the heels of traditional agencies with data-first approaches.

Lesley believes that while data plays a huge part in any modern strategy department and agency, creativity is still king. Advertising (in all its forms) works on many different levels - not just consciously and in the moment. Advertising works best when it doesn't simply focus on rational RTBs (reasons to believe) but when it also connects with a consumer through insight, shared values and ultimately, when it makes that person feel an affinity towards a brand. That is how loyalty and preference are created.

Lesley wrote 'Super Strategist. The Art and Science of Modern Account Planning' to equip those who are considering a career in advertising with all the tools and insights they might need for a successful start in a career - whether in an agency, in-house brand agency, brand consultancy or tech giant.