In an ‘age of average,’ Helen Rhodes is determined Grey will ‘embrace the difference’

Rhodes speaks fondly of Cullingham, who died in 2023. “Once you’re his student, you’re his student for life,” she explains. At BBH, where she worked between 2021 to 2025, Rhodes got to work alongside Cullingham on The Barn project – a creative apprenticeship program. “I managed to hire Tony to run it, which was a big full-circle moment for me. It was very strange because I was always so in awe of him because he was my tutor. And then when he first started at BBH, he’d call me boss and I was like, ‘Don’t do that. That’s weird.’”

One piece of advice Cullingham gave her, and many of his students, was not to chase money. “If you chase the creative, the money will come,” he would say.

It’s something that Rhodes has always maintained. Throughout her career, she has built an enviable book of work, including groundbreaking campaigns for Burger King and Girl v Cancer. “I think it’s amazing that you can come up with a crazy idea and get it made and then see it out in the world,” she says of her love of the industry. “In the face of AI, having original, memorable ideas is just more and more important.”

While serving as executive creative director at BBH London, Rhodes led the ‘Girl v Cancer’ campaign for the charity of the same name. It took a no-nonsense, striking approach to thinking about sex after illness. ‘Cancer won’t be the last thing that f*cks me,’ read the outdoor posters. A trio of films showed women reflecting on their own experiences. It launched during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and caused widespread conversation in the cancer community and beyond. It’s something that Rhodes is truly “proud of” and believes “matters and makes a difference” in the world.

“Half of people will develop some form of cancer over their lifetime,” she explains. “But for women who get cancer, less than a third are given any information about how a diagnosis, or the side effects of treatment, will affect their sex life. That seemed wrong. And we wanted to draw attention to it.”

Ultimately, the ad got banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which deemed it “too sexually suggestive” and likely to “cause serious offense,” especially in public spaces where children could see it. “We did want to kick-start a debate and we had such a tiny media spend, it needed to be something that got noticed,” says Rhodes. “You try and do everything you can to do it the right way and to mitigate anything. The media we booked, we made sure it wasn’t near schools. But I think, ultimately, if it’s for a good cause, then you just want to do what you can to make as big a difference as possible.”

The following year, while still at BBH, Rhodes led on the ‘Bundles of Joy’ work for Burger King, which caused widespread discussion and divided opinions, especially between men and women. The project originated after the fast food chain conducted a Mumsnet survey about post-partum meals, with the premise of the campaign being that the food consumed immediately after giving birth is particularly delicious (some suggested on the survey that it was the best meal they ever had). Men, in particular, seemed outraged at the image of this meal being a Burger King.

“We were definitely surprised,” shares Rhodes. “We didn’t realize some people would take such offense. We just thought we were putting something out there that was true. But the internet, as it does, works itself into a bit of a frenzy.”

She explains that they were starkly aware of the gender division that the ad caused and knew it was a much bigger conversation, which was interesting to unpack. “It’s that age-old stereotype of women that I think negativity stems from the mystifying notion that once a woman becomes pregnant, she’s supposed to be nothing less than perfect and almost like give up her sense of self.”

Of course, Burger King doesn’t shy away from headline-making campaigns and was happy to get the exposure, especially being on the “right side of the debate.”

Another pivotal moment in Rhodes’s career was working on the KFC account while at Wieden+Kennedy Portland, where she was creative director/art director. “It was the best agency in the world at the time,” she shares. “There were so many people working there that I massively admired. And I think just working abroad in general, it really broadens your horizons and makes you think differently. You’re way out of your comfort zone. And also, my Kent accent sounds exotic in another country.”

She shares that the agency has a “culture of its own” and it took a couple of years for her to feel like she “found her place.” At the time, Karl Lieberman and Eric Baldwin were the creative directors on the KFC account (Lieberman is now the global chief creative officer at Wieden+Kennedy). “The clients [KFC] were amazing, they were ex-Old Spice,” Rhodes shares. “They knew how to buy good work.”

When the brand came to Wieden+Kennedy, it was struggling, sales were down, stores were closing and it needed a lifeline. Rhodes and the team listened and made a bold move to bring back the Colonel. But instead of one actor, they rotated the role like a cultural icon, generating PR buzz each time, especially when a famous actor stepped in. The campaign quickly became part of popular culture, even earning a mention on Jeopardy, to Rhodes’s delight.

Another key ad from Rhodes’s career is the work she accomplished while at BBC Creative for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which won a Bafta. “I joined the BBC because I believe in it as an organization. Working on the Olympics was a career-defining project”.

In January this year, it was announced that Rhodes would take the role of chief creative officer at Grey London. Due to all the “legal stuff,” she only started her new role three months ago. “I’m really enjoying it. I guess what attracted me to Grey was when I met Conrad [Persons], who’s the CEO, Johnny [Tennant-Price], the MD, and Tarek [Siofi], who’s the CSO. And I was just blown away by their passion for Grey and their drive to put it back up as one of the best agencies in the world.”

Rhodes explains that she was struck by the creative mindset at the top. Persons spoke about creativity in a way she had never heard an exec talk before. The drive to elevate the brand and the genuine care for the work were infectious and something she wanted to be part of.

“I want us to be a studio making lots of stuff and putting lots of great work out in the world,” Rhodes adds. “And then we can talk about that, which has a knock-on effect, doesn’t it? The more work you make, the more you attract different brands.”

Between finishing at BBH and starting at Grey, Rhodes had a lot of time to think about the type of creative leader she wants to be. One of the guidelines she has set out for staff is to “embrace the difference.”

“As an industry, we’ve entered the age of average,” she stresses. “Everything’s the same, from the cars we drive to the coffee shops we go into. And I think that has a trickle-down effect into advertising. I also think that AI is causing a bit of a ‘blandification’ of certain areas. But I think that that gives an opportunity to do something different and to really stand out.”