Caroline Pay Completes Dentsu Creative UK Leadership Team

DENTSU CREATIVE UK has appointed highly awarded creative leader, Caroline Pay, as chief creative officer, completing the leadership line-up. She will join the agency on 5th June, alongside CEO Jessica Tamsedge and chief strategy officer, Theo Izzard-Brown, who were hired from McCann at the end of last year.

Caroline was most recently chief creative officer of Headspace in California. Influential across all parts of the business, including product, CX, content and production, she headed up brand and product design, design research and all marketing and creative output. Simplifying and solidifying the brand, under her direction the product extended beyond meditation into a sleep, fitness and performance enhancing offering, was integrated with tele-therapy brand Ginger and reached beyond the platform into culture. From partnering with the likes of Nike, Disney, Microsoft, Spotify and Waze, to creating three hit Netflix series with over 20m viewers and award-winning podcasts, from launching the Healthy Happy America activation, to influencer campaigns with John Legend and Raheem Sterling, she was instrumental in Headspace’s evolution into the world’s leading wellness brand.  

Previously, Caroline held top positions at some of the UK’s best agencies, including Grey London, where she was joint CCO with Vicki Maguire and worked closely with Tamsedge, and BBH London, where as deputy ECD she led the 120-person creative department and helped set up Black Sheep Studios and BBH Live. She started her career at Mother London, where alongside Kim Gehrig, they became one of the world’s most awarded female creative teams. During her career, she has led on an incredible range of clients and created iconic work for the likes of the United Nations, Tesco, BBC, Levi’s, Bailey’s, Google, Coca-Cola, Boots, Amnesty and Talk to Frank, the drugs advice service. She has won Webby’s, an Emmy, as well as a slew of global advertising awards, been named one of Ad Age’s 'Women to Watch Europe' and 'World’s Most Creative Women' by The Drum. 

Caroline Pay said, “This is my broadest, most challenging role yet. An unmissable creative opportunity to flex my experience across so many disciplines, at scale. To get to love and develop the DENTSU CREATIVE team, with two people that I respect so much, is a dream.”

With the coming together of seven leading agencies as DENTSU CREATIVE UK in June 2022, her remit will be to drive the collective creative ambition, quality and diversity of the agency’s work in advertising, influencer and talent management, customer experience, social and PR, production, brand activation, content marketing and entertainment.  Leading creative teams across the country in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Newcastle, she will also collaborate with the wider dentsu family in media and CXM, to deliver scaled modern creativity and the best outcomes for clients. 

Jessica Tamsedge said, “DENTSU CREATIVE is set to be an unrivalled creative force, building brands in places people choose to spend their time. Few creative leaders have the breadth of experience and generosity of spirit to bring together such a diverse creative community. In Headspace, Caroline built the world's most influential wellness brand and knows what it takes to get to great work at scale. It's a privilege to have her on board. Our DC trio is now complete.”

Caroline is known for building strong and authentic partnerships internally and externally and being a beacon of culture for her people. She’s outspoken and passionate about the diversity agenda, with key involvement in The Great British Diversity Experiment, with OK Mentor, the Women’s Association, SheSays and Cream among other platforms.