From co-founding Big Communications in 1995 to serving as a PLC board director and Chief Creative Officer at The Mission Group, Bogg has built a reputation for bold ideas and high-performing creative teams. Now, at tmp, whose clients include AWS, T-Mobile and Thomson Reuters, he takes on the challenge of shaping a global creative function at a moment when the B2B marketing industry is under considerable pressure.

Drawing on tmp’s own research, which surveyed more than 1,000 marketers and buyers across the UK and US, Bogg addresses the chaos affecting marketing functions worldwide and makes the case for coherence as the path forward. He speaks candidly about the role of emotional storytelling in enterprise marketing, the underuse of out-of-home advertising, and the opportunities and risks that generative AI presents to the creative industry. For anyone working in or alongside B2B marketing, this is a conversation worth paying close attention to.

You co-founded Big Communications in 1995, spent more than 15 years rising to the top of The Mission Group, and have now taken on the role of Chief Creative Officer at tmp. Looking back across that journey, what has shaped your approach to creative leadership most profoundly?

“I’m not sure there’s one single thing that has shaped my approach. I think of it more like building blocks. You learn something from one experience, and it lays the foundation for the next. And the next. So, in some ways, it evolves every day.

“Without sounding too sentimental, having kids has definitely played a part. There are a lot of parallels between parenting and leadership. You’re trying to create an environment where people can express themselves and thrive, with a few guardrails in place.

“From a creative leadership point of view, I was probably an overbearing parent in my early days. Now I’m more of an overprotective one. I’d like to think that’s progress.”

tmp works with some of the world’s most recognised technology and telecoms brands, including AWS, T-Mobile and Thomson Reuters. B2B marketing has a reputation for playing it safe creatively. How do you intend to change that, and why do you believe emotional storytelling has a place at the heart of enterprise marketing?

“Emotion in creativity wins. It’s what makes things stick in your mind. That’s not just my opinion, it’s a fact.

“For example, one recent study found that campaigns that were emotionally led delivered four times the ROI of purely rational campaigns.  So, I’ll continue to present those kinds of irrefutable facts alongside our emotionally led work, to help our clients make better marketing decisions.”

You have spoken about the tendency for strong ideas to lose their potency as they move through the production process, becoming diluted before they reach the audience. What does it take to protect a creative idea from the brief all the way through to delivery?

“It’s a great question, and I think that word ‘protect’ is really important.

“First, you need real rigour around your original idea. Is it strong enough to show up across every touchpoint and channel without losing its power? Answering that question calls for a lot of commitment, dedication and emotional honesty with yourself and your fellow creatives. It’s not always easy. But if you stay focused on critiquing the work, not the people, it’s always worth it.

“Then it takes a collective effort to keep it on track. Creatives, planners, client services and the client all need to believe in the idea enough to resist any drift away from the core thought. Small changes can seem inconsequential, but they build up over time and can seriously dilute the idea.

“Ultimately, it comes down to stamina and an unwavering belief in what you’re trying to achieve.”

Generative AI is reshaping the creative process at pace. You have described it as “the enemy of average.” How are you approaching its integration at tmp, and where do you draw the line between using AI to raise the standard of work and allowing it to lower the ceiling on original thinking?

“There’s this belief among some people in our industry that AI democratises creativity. It doesn’t. AI can help to democratise the production processes involved in creative work, but not creativity itself.

“A lot of clients and agencies find themselves now with access to levels of production they may never have been able to afford before. I understand the temptation to see that as the answer to your prayers. But you still need to nail the fundamentals like perspective, taste, judgement, originality.

“At tmp, we embrace AI as something that enables our creative output. But ultimately, humans remain the final judge of what leaves the building.”

Your appointment has been described as a pivotal moment in tmp’s evolution as a global agency. What does building a world-class creative culture actually look like in practice, particularly across teams operating in different markets and disciplines?

“For me, a creative culture isn’t something that just lives in the creative department. It has to flow through the whole agency.

“In practice, that means making sure everyone has a clear understanding of our creative vision. Then that becomes something the whole business can get behind, across all disciplines and all markets. That’s what we’ve focused on in the first few months, and it’s been really well received.

“We’ve also introduced a creative framework to measure ourselves against and to hold ourselves to account. And we’ll be running quarterly creative councils to review the work, learn from each other, and keep building as we move forward.”

With experience as a judge at the D&ADs and a career built on award-winning work, you have seen what distinguishes genuinely great creative from work that simply performs adequately. What is the gap between those two things, and how does a brand close it?

“The very best creative work is ruthlessly simple, instantly memorable, and beautifully relatable. And above all, it hits people in the feels.

“Closing that gap between ‘good enough’ and ‘great’ comes down to clarity and conviction. Do you really understand what you’re trying to achieve and are you going to fight for your ideas? You’ve then got to be disciplined enough to strip an idea back to its essence, and brave enough to hold onto that as the idea moves through the creative process.”

tmp’s research makes a compelling case for coherence as the defining characteristic of high-performing B2B marketing, with buyers responding more positively to brands that operate with clarity and consistency. As someone stepping into a global creative leadership role at this moment, what does the future of B2B marketing look like to you, and where do the greatest opportunities lie?

“I think it’s clear that the future will be both challenging and rewarding. My hope is that more brands learn how to navigate the chaos around them, rather than look for quick fixes and hope it’ll all go away. Finding your way to coherence takes a bit of that same commitment that I mentioned earlier.

“The opportunities will be everywhere, especially as AI continues to expand what’s possible.But chasing after everything will actually get you nowhere.

“In a world that’s drowning in content, what we’ll see is the brands that win in 2026 and beyond will be the ones smart enough to know where to focus and understand how to tell stories that genuinely make people feel something.”