Jon Leney Creative Director - Copywriter
ECD, MBAstack / MSQ Sustain (MSQ Group). November 2020 - June 2023
Responsible for the agency’s creative output, overseeing the creative and design departments for CXM agency MBAstack (Nov ’20 - May ’22) and sustainability agency, MSQ Sustain (May ’22 -’23). This involved being both hands on with the work and running pitches and accounts in the CRM, digital and social space, as well as creating work that appeared at the last 3 COPs. In addition to shaping the agency’s position as a leading customer experience agency focussed on digital transformation, I created and creative directed campaigns using data and strategic insight to tell stories right across the customer journey. Accounts included Mars Petcare, Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroen, DS), Hiscox, AXA, global accountancy body ACCA, pet pharma brand Elanco, the UK Government, domestic abuse charity Solace Women’s Aid and multiple sustainability clients including brands and NGOs.
ACCA. For the global accountancy body, I developed digital campaigns targeted at members, employers and students that would appear in 180 markets. I was responsible for establishing a tone of voice for multiple campaigns and oversaw all copy messaging; developing detailed brand guidelines, briefing market leads and writers and checking output. One campaign ‘The Practice Room’, a peer-to-peer series was shortlisted at the DMAs.
Hiscox. Created and creative directed an integrated 360 campaign to promote Hiscox business insurance to small business owners which involved CRM, digital, social, OOH and Radio. The work used copy to show how Hiscox ‘get’ small business owners, and how they tailor their insurance accordingly.
UK Government - Levelling Up. I developed a campaign to explain the Levelling Up campaign to the UK, producing and overseeing work that stemmed from a core idea and that flexed through hundreds of copy variants across UK towns and cities.
Royal Mail Marketreach. I lead on a multi-channel B2B transformation project for Royal Mail’s commercial arm Marketreach, communicating mail’s sustainability credentials to business decision makers through a campaign ‘The Circular Advantage of Mail’. The work appeared at events and online and included the creation of a digital carbon calculator tool, as well as film and social content, and has been shortlisted at this year’s DMA and Festival of Media awards.
Elanco. I was ECD on global pet healthcare brand, Elanco developing a digital personalised reminders programme ‘Your Pet and You’, within the My Elanco portal.
AT MSQ Sustain, I creative directed experiential and digital branding projects focussed on creating positive change which appeared at major climate events. One of these won Best Environmental Cause campaign for Collaboration at this year’s Purpose Awards. I also worked on a branding project for a plastics free packaging solution, naming the brand, Morro.
In my time at MSQ, I won pitches for Global Commons Alliance, Ivy league University Dartmouth College, and off grid tech platform Bboxx that is transforming lives in Africa through technology. I oversaw award winning charity fundraising campaigns for Solace Women’s Aid which picked up multiple awards for different campaigns including a Campaign Big silver and a DMA Gold and which was shortlisted for a DMA Grand Prix. I have been a judge in the Copy category of DMAs in 2021, and in the Sustainability category in 2022 and 2023.
Associate Creative Director, BBH
October 16 - February 20
Created an integrated visual identity and headlines in Virgin’s distinctive tone of voice for a campaign promoting the Virgin TV V6 box. This included DRTV, radio, print, content and digital. Relaunched Next’s Denim offering with an online and social campaign including a film that moved them to the number one slot in the UK for denim. Worked on a winning integrated Barclays Business pitch and a consumer fraud campaign, writing and creating a film and web messaging that used the Barclays app and digital channels to target specific audiences. I produced CRM and internal comms for Samsung and US annuities provider Brighthouse Financial, wrote OOH poster headlines for Experian, TV scripts and social content for Tesco and print for British Airways.
Creative Director. Rapp
Aug 13 - May 16
Creative director on Virgin Media. I managed six creative teams and oversaw four parts of the business: Acquisition; CRM; mobile (for which we won awards at DMAs and Drum awards for our work) and social. The account grew from £7.25M to £10M during my time at Rapp. We helped Virgin break the 5 million customer mark for the first time and delivered their lowest ever customer churn. I’ve also run and won two pitches while at the agency, PayPal (brand and CRM work) and the CRM for Mercedes Benz.
Senior Copywriter. Engine/Partners Andrews Aldridge
Feb 09 – July 13
Worked and won awards on Partners accounts like Rolls-Royce, Vodaphone and Coral. Won pitches for HSBC, Marriott Hotels and Investec. Also worked across the Engine Group on a diverse range of clients like the Departments of Transport and Health, Samsung, Mecca Bingo, BMW and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Group Head. Rapp London
June 07 – Jan 08
Creative lead on NSPCC and Cancer Research.
Senior Copywriter/Associate Creative Director. Inferno
June 06 – May 07
Ran the MoneyCorp and Hiscox accounts, worked across direct, point of sale and digital. Also worked on Honda and BritVic.
Freelance May 05 – June 06
Freelanced at Wunderman, DLKW, Publicis, JWT, and Cayenne Amsterdam and managed to pick up a Campaign Big Silver and a Cannes Bronze along the way.
Client list
AEG/Electrolux, Alzheimer’s Society, Audi, AutoTrader, Barclays, Boots, Brighthouse, British Airways, Cadburys, Cancer Research, Carlsberg, Campo Viejo, Coca Cola, Comfort, Compare the Market, Experian, Festival Place, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), IKEA, ING, Invesco Perpetual, John Lewis, Keep Britain Tidy, Kiss, Land Rover, LaFarge, MS Society, National Lottery, National Trust, Natwest, Next, NSPCC, O2, Oxfam, PayPal, Proctor & Gamble (Ariel, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pampers, Wella), QUIT smoking, Rayban, Royal Mail, Safeguard, Samsung, Solace, Sky, Tesco, Tesco Mobile, T-Mobile, Toyota, UK Broadband, UNICEF, Unilever (Bertolli, Carte D’or, Flora, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Knorr, Magnum, Persil, PG tips, Stork, Vaseline), Virgin Holidays, Virgin Media, Visa, Vodafone, Voltaren and WWF.