Ben Lilley is an Australian creative entrepreneur and corporate finance investor with a background as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of award-winning creative advertising agencies across Australia with agency offerings across integrated brand strategy, marketing communications, digital development and digital agency services through Melbourne advertising, Queensland advertising and Sydney advertising agency offices

Ben Lilley | Creative Entrepreneur and Private Investor for Advertising Agency, Digital Agency, Design Agency, Media Agency, Creative Business and Angel Investor Mergers, Acquisitions and Funding

Ben Lilley is a Melbourne-based award-winning Australian creative entrepreneur and corporate finance investor with a focus on advertising agency, marketing agency, brand strategy agency, media agency, digital agency and graphic design agency offerings across Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne advertising agencies. Ben Lilley also invests in creative privately-owned businesses like global Swedish design and stationery retailer kikki.K, also a Melbourne-based Australian company. He was previously Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of McCann Erickson Australia, one of the world’s best leading marketing communications organizations operating in more than 110 countries with best-in-class capabilities in branded communications disciplines. Before that Ben Lilley was founder and CEO of creative advertising agency SMART. He is now a creative entrepreneur and director of investment vehicles Bensational Pty Ltd and the Bensational Super Fund. Ben Lilley is based in Melbourne and his personal website is at www.benlilley.com.au. Today Ben is founder and Chairman of the Hero national Australian agency network.

Ben Lilley’s Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne integrated advertising agency work has regularly featured in AdNews, B&T, Mumbrella and Campaign Brief as well as the best creative and digital advertising award shows including the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, One Show, Clio Awards, New York Festivals and local Australian advertising shows, including the Australian Writers and Art Directors (AWARD) and Melbourne Art Directors Club (MADC) awards. His businesses have also been recognised in the best of B&T and AdNews Agency of the Year Awards. Some of these advertising trade press articles are included here on the Ben Lilley website.

In 2013, under Ben Lilley as McCann CEO based in Melbourne, McCann Australia made history as the world's most awarded agency in the best of The Gunn Report, Won Report and AdAgeAwards Report, for campaigns including Dumb Ways to Die (DWTD). Named the most awarded campaign in history, DWTD featured in both the AdAge Top 15 Ad Campaigns and Gunn Report 20 Best Commercials of the 21st Century. Since 2013, McCann was also top ranked Australian agency in the World Advertising Research Centre, APAC Effies, Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy, Australian Creative Effectiveness and Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness Awards. Its award-winning work has even included the creation a new English word - "phubbing" - for Macquarie Dictionary.

A multidisciplined marketing communications services professional based in Melbourne, Australia, Ben Lilley’s experience encompass best-in-class brand strategy, advertising, media strategy and media buying, direct marketing and design, including a full suite of digital, interactive, online, media, and web internet services and all associated production services, both for above-the-line media, including television, print, outdoor, radio and magazine, and online and below-the-line media including email marketing, e-crm, direct mail, collateral, visual merchandising and public relations, as well as through-the-line media neutral and integrated communications services including experiential and activation services and installations and event management.

Ben Lilley also offers network experience in world-leading technology-driven marketing solutions, with a primary focus on delivering Return On Investment models for marketing communications, with fully integrated creative and technology expertise in CRM, digital and brand platforms to create lasting, memorable brand experiences across the entire digital landscape. Today he is an active corporate investor in the best advertising agencies, digital agencies and media agencies that can deliver the analytics, results and streamlined simplicity that brand marketing professionals require across combined competencies in strategy, creativity, performance and technology.

The companies and agencies that Ben Lilley invests in are typically staffed by multinational creative agency and business professionals across Melbourne and Australia and seeking to create a strategic and creative alternative to traditional creative and agency thinking. Ben Lilley’s Australian agencies have regularly appeared on pitch lists across all industry categories, competing against the likes of Melbourne and Sydney agencies like AJF Partnership, DDB, Ogilvy & Mather, BBH, BMF, BWM, Clemenger BBDO, Cummins & Partners, GP Y&R, Grey Worldwide, Host, JWT, Leo Burnett, Marmalade, M&C Saatchi, Publicis Mojo, Naked, Saatchi & Saatchi, The works and The Monkeys Sydney.

BEN LILLEY


YOUR DREAM LIFE STARTS HERE - BY KRISTINA KARLSSON



I'm a massive fan of global Swedish design and stationery retailer, kikki.K. And am fortunate to have been an early investor. The founders - and all-round awesome people - Kristina Karlsson and Paul Lacy, recently launched Kristina's inspiring new book, Your Dream Life Starts Here. I'm sure you'll get as much out of this fantastic read as I did. Kristina has shared some great tips below.





HI LOVELY PEOPLE


I have this big crazy dream to inspire and empower 101 million people around the world to write down 3 dreams, and go chase them. It’s so exciting, because I KNOW that inspiring the world to dream will make the lives of so many people so much richer – and make the world a better place, for you, for us, for our children and grandchildren… and for future generations.


I would love, love, love for you to join me in making this movement a true success, and here’s just a few ways I can suggest to help:

• Visit our Dream Life landing page (www.kikki-k.com/DreamLife) and be inspired by all the content we’ve curated here

• Find our ‘Your Dream Life’ Podcast series on the iTunes Podcast App – Listen, subscribe and rate/review (this will help it be more visible and climb the charts!)

• Check out our ‘Dream Life Masterclass Events’ on our Facebook Events pages and tick ‘Interested’ or ‘Attending’ if you are (to help it be more visible to your friends!)

• Once you’ve read my book, leave a review at www.goodreads.com

• Share your Dream Life journey on social media and use the hashtags #101MillionDreamers #kikkiKDreamLife

• Share all of the above with your family & friends


Thanks a million in advance for all your support. I truly believe we can achieve something remarkable by inspiring the world to dream, and I am so grateful for your support.


Dream big


Kristina



Buy Kristina's Book



Kristina Karlsson’s ‘Your Dream Life Starts Here’ is filled with powerful ideas and simple proven tools that will help you transform your wishes into dreams, and then into an achievable one-page roadmap for creating your dream life - a life designed by you for you, and for your loved ones. Filled with simple and practical magic - and inspiring stories and wisdom from people who've dared to dream big - this book will show you how to harness the power of dreaming to transform your life in small, simple steps. Featuring stories of: Dr Tererai Trent (Oprah Winfrey's all-time favourite guest), Arianna Huffington, Stella McCartney, Sir Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, Li Cunxin (author of 'Mao's Last Dancer'), Alisa Camplin-Warner (winner of a remarkable Olympic gold medal), Michelle Obama, and others. Arianna Huffington said, "For anyone looking for more meaning, purpose and joy in their lives, this book is a wonderful place to start." To order your copy, just click on the book below:





ABOUT KRISTINA AND kikki.K



Kristina Karlsson is the Founder and Creative Director of global Swedish design and stationery business, kikki.K, with 102 kikki.K stores, stocked in another 250, and sold online to stationery and design lovers in over 147 countries worldwide. She’s also a sought-after international speaker, a passionate learner, self-improver and the proud mother of two children, Axel and Tiffany, with her partner, Paul. After growing up on a small farm in country Sweden, at the age of 22 she found herself in a new country, half a world away from family and friends, with little money and no idea what to do with her life. So what was a girl to do? Imagine what her dream life could look like – and then make it happen. With deep personal experience of the power of dreaming and then doing, Karlsson is on a mission to encourage people the world over to create and follow their own dreams. Her new dream is to inspire and empower over 101 million people just like you to write their own dreams on paper and set about bringing them to life. Why? Because by dreaming, we can all help make the world a better place, starting with us.



BEN LILLEY | WWW.BENSATIONAL.COM | E: HI@BENSATIONAL.COM