Ant Jackson, Super Person

Creative Director at Stonehaven

While some prefer a Wordle, Ant Jackson, Creative Director at Stonehaven, catapults out of bed each morning buoyed by the prospect of solving the world’s most complex problems. Balancing creative expression with an analytical mindset, Ant cut her teeth in marketing and advertising before pivoting to a wider world of creative comms, with the purposeful ambition of helping people and planet. Here she talks career highlights, challenging the status quo, and her creative superpowers.

How did you get into the industry?

We disrupted Cannes Lions with an attention-grabbing stunt, emailed 200+ Creative Directors, and tracked them via Mailchimp to find out how many times they opened the email. Peter Souter, Chair at TBWA London, had 7 times, so we emailed telling him we knew he was interested in meeting! Cheeky, and illegal now with GDPR, but it got us an interview.

What’s been your career highlight so far?

Joining Stonehaven — a respected strategy consultancy at the forefront of cultural politics — to help build a unique creative comms model, capable of accelerating the critical change the world needs. And somehow convincing a very skilled Creative Strategy Director, with a rare and brilliant mind to join me.

We’re a team of data + insight, sustainability, policy + advocacy and communications specialists, applying creative thinking to more areas to find more effective paths to influence.

You were nominated for your dedication to “improving representation and belonging amongst underrepresented groups”, tell us more about that?

From creating a campaign for Omnicom’s LGBTQIA+ metwork and marching in the Pride in London parade, to helping Rich Miles with the positioning of the Diversity Standards Collective, to working with the incredibly committed people in WPP Unite, Roots, and the PRCA’s LGBTQ+ group, to being invited by Marty Davies (now CEO) to join Outvertising’s board, it’s all been a privilege.

Before joining Outvertising as Co-director of their Advocacy and Activism workstream, Marty and I discussed that while diverse representation is needed in ads, if brand media buy is funding divisive journalism, which in some cases, is linked to hate crime against marginalised people, then it isn’t inclusive — it’s indirectly funding hate. Since then, Marty, Jax, and the team have made brilliant progress engaging brands and campaigning organisations to challenge the status quo. I’ve been involved in the thinking, but the real credit goes to the team bringing it to life.

What would you say are your super abilities?

As an LGBTQIA+ neurodivergent woman, I’ve done lots of self-work to replace criticism with compassion and learn to love my unique strengths — and quirks! Many inventors and successful entrepreneurs are neurodivergent. Being less likely to conform to the norm, and more likely to see things differently and take risks where others wouldn’t (in measured ways) are effective tools for innovation and evolution. Being aware of your own EQ is invaluable too.

What made you break away from advertising?

I see what we’re doing as growing advertising’s potential, rather than breaking away from adland. What if, instead of using our problem-solving abilities to make people buy something, with no other benefit to them or planet, we could use our abilities to solve bigger issues, and help brands fulfil a more purposeful role too?

Industries should be mindful of their own echo-chambers, and how these can, without intent, restrict our thinking, rather than develop it. I don’t want to be one of the people with their heads in the sand, while deserts continue to expand. We’re more powerful than we think. We just need to spend more time thinking, not just outside of the box, but outside of our industry’s box too.

What’s next in the pipeline for Stonehaven?

Tackling global issues such as air pollution, the green energy transition, more sustainable travel, and ED&I recruitment. It’s going to be a very busy, but a very exciting (or should I say super) year.

Interview by: Katy Pryer

PITCH SUPER ALUMNI 2023