Ben Southgate has been helping brands grow for over 25 years. Projects have spanned a range of sectors including FMCG, banking, retail, utilities, sports, telco, media & tech.

Three areas of focus:

BRAND
STRATEGY

Clarity is crucial. I work with clients to help them develop a clear, creative and compelling brand positioning and story that will inspire internal audiences and consumers in equal measure.

INNOVATION

‘New’ matters. The right innovation grabs consumer attention and drives revenue. I work with clients to develop stand-out new product and service propositions, at pace. I can add value across the innovation process, from early analysis of opportunities, to concept development, to naming and pretesting.

MARKETING STRATEGY FACILITATION

I enjoy working with CMOs and their teams to solve advertising and marketing problems of all shapes and sizes. This could be anything from writing campaign messaging frameworks, through to facilitating an annual strategy offsite.

To chat about a brief email ben@highbeamuk.com

Previous projects include…

Ben initially worked with Hearst on a consultancy basis, delivering a strategy project in April 2024. This was followed by a 12-month maternity cover role as Director of the Commercial Studio. The Studio focuses on creative partnerships between clients and Hearst's 16 brands, including ELLE, Esquire, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping.

 
 

Ben spent several years as a partner at WPP's MFUSE - a bespoke full-service ad agency created for Virgin Money. Leading the brand strategy, Ben helped guide Virgin Money through the merger with Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, whilst positioning and naming numerous new products and services along the way.

 

“Ben has a beautiful way of cutting straight to the heart of the matter and delivering stunningly simple, insightful and creative solutions to complex strategic problems.”

Gerry Magee, Head of Brand & Marketing, Virgin Money

 

Multiple marketing strategy projects for the European marketing department, including positioning, messaging and innovation. All under NDA, reference on request.

 
 

Immediate Media needed a clear brand strategy to transition away from using the BBC prefix in their market-leading brand ‘Good Food’. The project was equal parts brand positioning and risk management.

 
 

F-Secure is a cutting edge cyber security company with over 30 million subscribers worldwide. Ben recently worked with the business on a brand merger strategy following the acquisition of US firm Lookout. In addition, Ben has helped craft brand sales narratives (both B2B and B2C) and facilitated creative development for advertising campaigns.

 
 

HIGHBEAM has worked with Viacom International on various projects over the last few years including a consumer product launch at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the development of an International B2B promotions strategy.

 

“We worked with Ben to crystalise our strategic thinking around one of our brands in the promotions space. He worked with us to gather input from around the world, find common issues, and help us create solutions to drive our business. He was great to work with and helped keep us on track.”

Tom Dobson-Gunn, Vice President Global Franchise Planning, Viacom International

 

Roche is the 3rd largest pharmaceutical company in the world and Ben has worked with them on numerous projects including brand positioning, product/service messaging frameworks and marketing training.

 

"Ben worked with stakeholders at every level and took us through a clear process to uncover a powerful brand narrative that we all love."

Reeta Bhatiani, Head of Communication, Roche Diagnostics.

 

HIGHBEAM worked with Danone’s innovation team to help develop the proposition and name for an a new health product.

 

"Ben is a strong strategic thinker who is fast, flexible and has a ‘can-do’ approach to any problem. His help in developing and articulating new product propositions has been invaluable for Danone." 

Alastair Strang, Innovation Lead, Danone Waters

 

 

Projects for B&Q’s parent company have included creating a new electricals brand, helping develop the group content strategy and helping the retailer articulate individual category propositions.

 

"The strategists and designers at HIGHBEAM were a breath of fresh air. They worked quickly and collaboratively to help us create a new brand to roll out across Europe. They were undaunted by hurdles along the way and developed something we're all very proud of."

Mike Foulds, Group Commercial Director, Kingfisher Plc

 

 

Academy is a powerful new approach to education, helping shape diverse raw talent into high-value technology leaders of the future. HIGHBEAM helped this high-growth start-up develop their brand positioning, story and endline.

 

“Academy had a great product, but we needed a clearer brand story to help our next stage of growth. Ben's help was invaluable in identifying the key building blocks, crafting the narrative and developing the sales pack.”

Thea Fisher, Head of Partnerships, Academy

 

THG dominates the beauty and wellness space online, with a presence in140 countries. In 2019 HIGHBEAM worked closely with Simon Smith from the leadership team to help develop a new brand positioning and manifesto, as well as naming their new e-commerce platform. The group successfully floated in 2020 and is now valued at over £7bn.

 

“As part of a corporate initiative to crystallise and refine The Hut Group’s proposition Ben proved to be a great catalyst and challenger for change. His input was invaluable in capturing and synthesising the group’s vision.”

Simon Smith, Group Creative Officer, THG

 

RNIB is an incredible charity that needed help to develop a clear 3 year marketing plan to keep their brand relevant and the donations coming in.

 

"RNIB approached Ben at a time when we required a top-down rethink of our business and brand strategy. He worked with us to help crystalise our challenges - then developed a new way of thinking about our core marketing propositions that is now being applied across the organisation."

Martin Wingfield, Head of Marketing & Comms, RNIB

 

Lowe Alpine has been making premium backpacks since 1967. In 2018 HIGHBEAM helped them prepare for their next stage of business growth, by clarifying their brand positioning across International markets. Watch the launch video here.   

 

"Ben is a pleasure to work with; highly insightful, hugely enthusiastic to meet and exceed the project objectives. He very quickly got to grips with the business, the challenges we faced and went above and beyond to deliver."

Giles Polito, Commercial Director, Equip Outdoor Technologies

 

Ben Southgate worked with News Corp for many years on a variety of strategic projects.

 

"Ben's valuable experience across a wide spread of categories and commercial models enables him to bring in context from the outside and encourage those he works with to look for answers from beyond the business they are in.”

Nick Stringer, Chief Creative Officer, News UK (The Sun / The Times)

“Ben was a trusted advisor to the Times brand for many years. He gave us insightful and actionable strategic thinking at significant points in the brand’s development, including the launch of our successful digital subscriptions business.” 

Katie Vanneck-Smith, Global Managing Director, Dow Jones

 

 

HIGHBEAM worked with Virgin Sport to create a digital communications strategy and campaign to support the launch of their British 10k event in 2017.

Cancer research needed to unlock new fundraising opportunities. HIGHBEAM developed a variety of new giving platforms for the charity to test.

 

"Ben is someone that if you worked with him once, you try and find every opportunity to work with him again. He is constantly curious and inspiringly insightful and is always finding creative solutions that you just wish you had thought of first."

Janine Chandler, Head of Innovation Development, Cancer Research.

 

 

NBC needed to reposition several of their digital TV channels in markets across Europe. HIGHBEAM's work helped NBC's internal creative teams develop more compelling and effective marketing.

 

"If you are blinded by too much data and too many insights then call Ben. He develops clear answers that are the perfect blend of logic and creativity."

Sarah Lloyd-Baker, Vice President Marketing, NBC Universal.

 

 

Ascential is a global B2B information company and owner of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. HIGHBEAM has worked with the Ascential on numerous projects including optimising customer experience, clarifying digital product propositions and developing content strategy.

 

"Ben makes incisive observations and can solve those lurking creative or strategic problems that you never quite have time to figure out. And he’ll only make recommendations that are doable, clear and credible."

Liz Moseley, Chief Marketing Officer, Ascential