BRITTNEY RIGBY – WINNER IN PR CATEGORY
DDB GROUP AUSTRALIA

The path to advertising was a windy one for DDB Group’s Brittney Rigby.

After two years as Deputy Managing Editor at Mumbrella covering adland’s biggest topics, as well as building her own byline and relationships, Rigby would finally find her gateway into the industry as head of communications and new business across DDB Group Australia.

It’s been barely a year since Rigby started her new role, and she’s already found success supercharging DDB’s communications strategy, and growing coverage by 39 percent year-on-year. But Rigby isn’t just about the numbers.

“In every position, I’ve advocated for change and haven’t shied away from difficult conversations,” she says. “That’s because I want to be a leader who’s action-oriented, curious, and courageous, even when it’s uncomfortable.”

“In every position, I’ve advocated for change and haven’t shied away from difficult conversations.”

Since joining DDB, Rigby has allowed curiosity to lead her. With DDBers living by four freedoms, the young wordsmith has become guided by the freedom from fear and the freedom to fail.

Always willing to try new things, Rigby hosts two different podcasts, featuring interviews with prominent industry figures and dissecting pressing issues seldom discussed in adland, such as D&I, mental health, diversity, Indigenous representation, and why people aren’t joining the industry at all.

Considering this, Rigby lives and works by exceeding expectations, making an impact, and doing good work alongside good people. She also values a healthy work-life balance as a means of success, using her spare time to regularly freelance for The Guardian and contribute to the Mentally Healthy Change Group.

HANNAH LAWSON – WINNER IN CREATIVE CATEGORY
DDB SYDNEY

Hannah Lawson knew she wanted to work in the creative space at the tender age of eight.

Watching Bewitched on TV, she was inspired by Darrin to become an advertising executive.

At 21 she graduated from RMIT and scored an internship at Isobar in Melbourne.

Three years later, Lawson was shortlisted for a Cannes Future Lions global competition and the following year duxed AWARD School which lead to her current role at DDB Sydney.

Lawson confesses she’s a bit of a crier, but says that shows vulnerability – one of the key traits of leadership, she says.

“Fearless vulnerability is also the key to making excellent ads. It’s that secret weapon that helps you dig a little deeper to find the most precious of human truths and explore the scariest of forward thinking,” Lawson adds.

“Fearless vulnerability is also the key to making excellent ads. It’s that secret weapon that helps you dig a little deeper to find the most precious of human truths and explore the scariest of forward thinking.”

On the definition of success, Lawson says it’s not about the “pencils or the fame” but rather “it’s gaining that infectious ability to transform a department for the better”.

One concern for Lawson is the booze in the business, something she calls “the last, outdated advertising cliché”.

“In an industry that revolves most of our social events around alcohol, we kind of forget how shitty this can be for people’s mental health. It can be a slippery slope into alcohol dependence in an industry like ours. And that dependence is seriously glamorised,” Lawson says.

“Like how we’re quick to suggest a bottle of wine as a solution to a tricky brief. Or how we reach for a beer when the week’s been particularly tough. Or how those real connections with our peers, and leaders, only happen at the pub.”

First published via B&T