Jennifer Berry, now VP, Head of Our LEGO Agency at the LEGO Group, on transforming Digitas UK from the inside out, why a great idea can genuinely come from anywhere in the organisation, how inclusive entry-level talent programmes changed both agency culture and client work, and why measuring cultural impact alongside commercial impact is the next frontier for digital agencies. Recorded as CEO at Digitas UK.
"I sat down with nearly all 400 people one-on-one to understand what was working, what wasn't, where we needed to focus."
How Jennifer Berry transformed Digitas UK by listening first, building diverse talent second, and redefining what impact means
Jennifer Berry spent twelve years at Razorfish in New York before moving to London in January 2023 to become CEO of Digitas UK. Her first act was to sit down with nearly all 400 people in the agency one-on-one. Before she changed anything, she listened. That listening-first instinct shaped everything that followed: a North Star built around harnessing the power of connection to create positive impact, a Future Ready Board of twelve rotating agency voices, and a portfolio of entry-level talent programmes that fundamentally changed who was in the room.
In this conversation Berry makes the case that a great idea can genuinely come from anywhere in an organisation, but only if the conditions are right for people from different backgrounds to feel safe contributing. She describes what those conditions look like in practice, how entry-level talent partnerships like Next Tech Girls and Generation are changing both agency culture and the quality of client work, and why measuring cultural impact alongside commercial impact is the defining challenge for digital agencies in the next phase of their evolution.
"I actually sat down with nearly all 400 people one-on-one to understand what was working, what wasn't, and where we needed to focus. You've got to know your organisation before you change it."
Berry describes this as the most important thing she did. Before she restructured leadership, before she refined the North Star, before she launched any new initiatives, she listened. The intelligence she gathered informed every subsequent decision, and the act of listening itself sent a signal about what kind of leader she would be.
"A great idea can come from anywhere, especially in organisations like ours. If you think about the power of digital, some of my younger team members know more than me about some of the latest technologies. So really allowing them to thrive."
Berry is making a structural argument as much as a cultural one. In a digital agency where the landscape changes rapidly and where the newest team members are often the most current on emerging platforms and behaviour, hierarchical decision-making is not just culturally limiting but commercially suboptimal.
"Under Digitas Next we have partnerships with Multiverse for apprenticeships, Generation for career transitions into tech, and Next Tech Girls to bring more young women into understanding careers in technology. One workshop with young girls changed the insight we were pushing on for a gaming client. The work became directed differently and better."
The example Berry gives is specific and illustrative. A workshop with young girls reviewing a brief revealed that the central insight the agency was planning to lead with was not the right one. The diversity of perspective in the room produced better work than the internal team had arrived at on its own.
"Impact is our output. When we talk about impact, we talk about commercial, but we also talk about cultural. We start at the end upfront, co-creating what that vision is and what that measurement needs to be."
Berry describes a pitch in which rather than leading with creative concepts, Digitas went to the client with an analysis of the commercial impact their work could produce over five years. That framing, starting from the outcome rather than from the brief, changed the nature of the relationship and differentiated Digitas in a crowded agency market.
"Always be curious. You don't have to know all the answers. And you don't have to know the end point. Just keep on learning. It will all fall into place."
Berry connects this advice to her own path, which moved from KPMG to financial services to digital agencies in Sydney to twelve years at Razorfish in New York to running a 450-person agency in London. None of it was pre-planned. What made it work was staying curious and being willing to step into opportunities that were not obvious extensions of what came before.
"Impact is our output. Not just commercial impact. Cultural impact too."
Host Tell us about your career journey to Digitas UK.
Berry I started in London in 1999, went to KPMG, then moved to digital. I spent twelve years at Razorfish in New York, rising to northeast regional lead. In January 2023 I moved to London to become CEO of Digitas UK.
Host What was your first priority?
Berry I sat down with nearly all 400 people one-on-one to understand what was working, what was not, and where we needed to focus. We rallied around a North Star: harnessing the power of connection to create positive impact every day. And I am very passionate that a great idea can come from anywhere.
Host Tell me about the entry-level talent programmes.
Berry Under Digitas Next we have partnerships with Multiverse for apprenticeships, Generation for career transitions into tech, and Next Tech Girls. One workshop with young girls changed the insight we were pushing on for a gaming client. The diversity of perspective produced better work than we had arrived at internally.
Host What do you mean by impact as output?
Berry Impact is our output. Not just commercial but also cultural. We start at the end upfront, co-creating what that vision is and what the measurement needs to be. For one pitch we went back with an analysis of the commercial impact our work could produce over five years and it matched their internal analysts. That changed the entire nature of the conversation.
Host Advice for someone starting out?
Berry Always be curious. You do not have to know all the answers. You do not have to know the end point. Just keep on learning. It will all fall into place.
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