The B.E.N. Effect

Is Ben the new name of agency leadership? Over the past week, we’ve welcomed three new agencies to Blutui, all led by people named Ben.

Not three Bens from the same office, the same network or even the same country. We’re talking London, Brisbane and Auckland . Three Bens. Three Agencies. Three cities. One week.

At this point, we’re beginning to suspect that Ben might be less of a name and more of an agency leadership designation. Ben Slater from Kiltr had this to say: “Outstanding, thanks Graeme (PS Onboarding into BluTui has been brilliant...)” Which is great feedback from Ben, although it does raise further questions. Is the Ben name associated with good taste, decisive purchasing behaviour and an appreciation for a brilliant onboarding experience? Or are we simply witnessing the early stages of a global Ben convergence?

Why might Ben be so popular among agency owners? There are several possible explanations, and we’re not ruling any of them out. Perhaps Ben is the perfect agency owner name. Short, memorable, easy to say across multiple languages and apparently well suited to navigating the increasingly complex relationship between creativity, clients, technology and margins.

Perhaps there is a generational factor at play. Have the Bens of the world grown up to become the people responsible for running independent agencies, building brands and figuring out how to keep creative talent productive while technology eats an ever-larger slice of the budget? Or maybe Ben is simply a name that travels well. Our three recent Bens span London, Brisbane and Auckland, suggesting that whatever is happening isn't confined to one particular agency scene or geographic pocket.

Of course, three Bens don't constitute a statistically meaningful sample. We understand that. We also understand that this is precisely the sort of situation where a research budget can become very tempting. We are now considering commissioning some proper research to establish whether Ben is disproportionately common among agency owners and brand leaders. The research question nobody asked for perhaps, but we’re asking.

We'd like to investigate: Is Ben more prevalent among agency founders than the general population? Are Bens more likely to run independent creative, digital or brand agencies? Is there a correlation between the name Ben and agency leaders with a healthy interest in improving web production, protecting agency margins and avoiding unnecessary technology headaches? And crucially, are there regional differences between the Bens of London, Brisbane and Auckland? We may need a significantly larger sample, some statistical expertise and possibly a research partner who is willing to take the question seriously.

In the meantime, we're putting out the call.

If you're a Ben running an agency or brand, we'd love to hear from you. London, Brisbane, Auckland or anywhere else in the world. We want to know how many of you are out there. Perhaps there’s a Substack, LinkedIn or Facebook group where you've all been quietly coordinating this. If so, we’d appreciate an invitation.