VCCP hires top planners to strengthen global strategy leadership
Claire Strickett returns to VCCP, joining from Anomaly to oversee global strategy on Primark, and Ben Phillips joins from Mekanism as Group Planning Director for Cadbury Global.
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Leading global communications agency VCCP, has hired two top planners to expand global strategy leadership on their Cadbury and Primark accounts.
Claire Strickett will lead global strategy for Primark, who appointed VCCP as their Global Agency of Record in 2023, while Ben Phillips will work with the global leadership team on Cadbury. Both will be based in VCCP’s UK headquarters in London, with Phillips relocating from New York.
The new hires are part of VCCP’s growing global ambition having recently been named both Integrated Agency of the Year and Independent Agency of the Year at Campaign’s Global Agency of the Year awards.
Ben Phillips was previously Group Strategy Director at Mekanism NYC from 2019 to 2024 leading a group of clients including Peloton, Amtrak, Jose Cuervo, Lenovo and Fanatics. Phillips developed Peloton’s first-ever brand campaign, also launching the Peloton Bike+, Tread and Guide. He sat on the Effie UK Finalist jury in 2023 and 2024 and has worked in senior strategy roles in New York, London, Paris and Sydney.
Claire Strickett is returning to VCCP where she first started her career, having recently worked as Global Strategy Director at Anomaly leading on Unilever and LVMH brands. She has also held Strategy Director roles at Jellyfish, working with YouTube and The Drum, and adam&eveDDB on Virgin Media and the AA. Outside of agency life, Strickett is the co-author of Which Wine When, published by Penguin Random House.
Clare Hutchinson, Chief Strategy Officer at VCCP, said: “One of the greatest pleasures in my job is to find the most talented planners on the global stage, and to bring them to VCCP to help us write our next chapter. Ben is one of those planners, bringing incredible global experience, huge enthusiasm and excitement for creativity. But, for VCCP, it is just as much a pleasure to grow your own, which is why we are always thrilled to welcome back into the team brilliant, sparkling talent like Claire. She’s an exceptional talent, who sees the world of communication from some very different and fresh angles. We’re doubly lucky."
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As the Challenger Agency for Challenger Brands, with a reputation for creative effectiveness and brand world building, VCCP’s work with Cadbury has won numerous awards including this year’s Broadbent Prize for Best Dedication to Effectiveness from the IPA.
Claire Strickett, Group Planning Director for Primark Global at VCCP, said: “I always thought I would come back to where everything started for me at VCCP, so it was really a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. I missed everyone, and I missed VCCP’s unique combination of strategic rigour and challenger spirit. It’s very good indeed to be back with both fresh and familiar faces, and exciting to be part of the agency’s next chapter of international growth.”
Ben Phillips, Group Planning Director for Cadbury Global at VCCP, adds: “‘Enduringness’ is what I aspire to most in my working life. I feel like so much of modern culture is a fleeting flash in the pan. Cadbury, and the VCCP/Cadbury relationship, has created something that is genuinely enduring (and famous) on a global scale. I’m thrilled to bits to be here and looking forward to contributing in my own little way.”
Both Strickett and Phillips take up their new roles immediately and report into Claire Hutchinson, Chief Strategy Officer at VCCP.
