How BBD Perfect Storm London Ad Agency Tackle Masculine Stereotypes with Fernando and Seb Ep 9

Hey Ryan Podcast

Today we’re talking with Fernando Desouches and Seb Hill from BBD Perfect Storm, a brand and culture transformation agency. Fernando is Managing Director of the New Macho division, while Seb is the Executive Creative Director of BBD Perfect Storm as a whole.

Seb began working at a network agency and worked alongside BBD Perfect Storm, CEO Jason Foo. Both were tired of the way network agencies operated, with people siloed and with no real purpose. As an independent agency, the idea was to create accountancy in advertising. This led to one of BBD’s first campaigns taking down Sepp Blatter. Purpose is at the heart of everything they do.

Fernando comes from a marketing background and found that he often worked with brands that predominantly marketed to men. Fernando thought there was a better way to market to men; to create a sustainable gender balance through the eyes of men. Fernando saw the way men were conditioned from a young age to behave certain ways in order to have value and how it became completely subconscious. It was all about ticking expected boxes.

BBD’s proposed clause 14 tackles the portrayal of men being emotionally distant, cold, and dominant over women. Through surveys and research, it has been found that millennial men in the UK have the second worst mental health in the world and that much of the pressure comes from other men. New Macho aims for the integration of the traditional and new age man.

When it comes to their clients, BBD focuses on the emotional space and creating new aspirations for men. It’s about modernising the emotional space. There has been resistance, but it is necessary to create conversations in order to begin the cultural transformation.

BBD Perfect Storm: https://www.bbdperfectstorm.com/