About Ben Hourahine

Ben is an award-winning creative thinker, communications strategist and strategic leadership expert.Ben Hourahine Colour

Ben is currently in start-up mode launching Splashsuits – the outdoor play innovation.

Positions Held:
Executive Strategy Lead at Razorfish Australia.
Board Member of the Account Planning Group (APG).
Australian Mobile Awards Advisory Panel.
Hyper Island Research Contributor.
Future Foundation Global nVoy.
Effies Award’s Judge.
Shesays Mentor.

Professional Awards:
The Tivey Prize (University of Birmingham, School of Social Sciences).
IPA Best Practice Award (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising).
Global Leo Burnet Intel Award: Best Piece of Brand Work. (Leo Burnett).

Client Work:
Qantas / IGA / Ebay / Samsung / Google / Australia Post / Suncorp / NSW.GOV.AU / Sportsgirl / MCA / Westfield / Aussie / ABC / Guinness / McDonalds / BBC / Adidas / ITV /Nike / O2 / Nestle / Marks & Spencer / Microsoft / Diageo / Kellogg’s / P&G / Lloyds.

Creative Awards:
Silver Effie, Brand New Thinking Award Winner, APAC Branded Content & Entertainment Award, Australian Marketing Excellence Award Finalist, Australian Mobile Awards (4) Twitter Business Case Study Selection, Samsung Global Case study Selection.

Biography:
In the beginning Ben studied History and Politics as an undergraduate and was named the top Social Science Scholar of 1999 for his work on the rebranding of the British Labour Party. After post-graduate studies in globalisation, Ben worked for the Economic and Social Research Council before joining the Future Foundation Think Tank in 2000, as the youngest member of the projects team. Ben soon rose to become Senior Analyst of the Future Foundation Group and spent 4 years in the post directing strategic projects for O2, Marks & Spencer, BBC, Channel 4 and the British government.

In 2005 Ben relocated to Sydney to set up his own Asia-Pacific consultancy with clients including Diageo, AMEX, ADMA and Fairfax. During this time Ben helped Nestle develop their pan-regional strategic communications plan and  directed the content for National Geographic’s Future Matters Documentary Series. Ben returned to London in 2007 to become Futures Editor at one of the world’s top creative ad agencies; Leo Burnett. During his time there, Ben helped plan McDonald’s next decade in business; launched Eidos’ new Lara Croft video game and built a pub of the future for Guinness’ 250th anniversary.

Heading back to Asia in 2010 Ben became Head of Strategy at Razorfish in Sydney, one of the world’s most innovative digital creative agencies. As executive strategy lead at Razorfish Ben is responsible for directing strategy across all clients including Samsung, Ebay, Qantas and NSW Govt. Ben is a board member of the Account Planning Group (APG), an Effies judge and sits on the Mobile Awards Advisory Panel. Ben is also a regular media commentator, with features in the Guardian, The Sun, The New York Times, as well as podcasting for The Wall Street Journal.

Press Features:5220cc57e442400693906c3ab09985bd
B&T: What’s Next in Digital
New York Times: Luxury & Social Media
The Guardian: Back to basics
The Telegraph: Future Pub
Channel 4 News: Future Pub
Marketing: Organic Food
New York Times: Trends
Media Guardian: Online Advertising
Daily Telegraph: Career Profile
Sunday Life: Suburban Chic

Predictions:
Predictions 2009 (Download PDF & Video)
Predictions 2008 (Download PDF & Video)
Future of communication 2006 (PDF)

Presentations:
Google / AD:TECH / iMedia Europe / Edinburgh International Television Festival / CPC Miami / PANPA Newspaper of Year / AIMIA Summit