News
October 21, 2026
Billion Dollar Boy Group Appoints Advisory Board to Accelerate Global Growth
Five senior industry leaders join BDB Group's Advisory Board, bringing experience from Google, Unilever, We Are Social and more to help shape the Group's global ambitions.
Billion Dollar Boy Group (BDB Group) has appointed a new Advisory Board, bringing together five senior leaders with experience building global brands, scaling businesses and transforming the marketing and advertising industry.
The appointments mark a significant step in BDB Group's growth strategy, strengthening its leadership with expertise spanning marketing, technology, creative production, finance and business transformation.
The Board will advise on global expansion, business strategy, innovation and M&A as BDB Group continues to develop its social and creator marketing offering.
And its influence is already being felt.
Shaping BDB Group's Next Chapter
Members of the Advisory Board have played a role in two significant milestones for BDB Group.
They supported the Group's recent acquisition of Creator Authority, expanding the Group’s capabilities into B2B creator marketing and strengthening our position in the creator economy.
The board has also advised on BDB's strategic repositioning as a global social agency with Creator Instinct®, sharpening our proposition as we continue to evolve our offering for global brands.
Meet BDB’s Advisory Group
The five members bring complementary expertise spanning global marketing, agency leadership, technology, production, investment and business transformation.
Deirdre Findlay, Founder and CEO of Apex Strategic Advisory
A global marketing and commercial leader, Deirdre has held senior roles at Google, Stitch Fix and Condé Nast, alongside board positions at Sonos and Olaplex.
She will advise BDB Group on global growth strategy, brand positioning, international expansion and M&A opportunities.
“Creators are no longer a channel. They're how consumers discover, evaluate and trust brands. Billion Dollar Boy understood that power early and built a business around it with real creative ambition and commercial discipline.”
Firdaous El Honsali, Chief Marketing Officer, Noli
Firdaous brings extensive experience in global brand building and marketing, having held senior leadership roles at Unilever, L'Oréal and The Body Shop.
Having previously worked with BDB as a client, she brings a valuable brand-side perspective to the Board, advising on brand strategy, social-first transformation and innovation.
“I love the passion BDB brings to social and creator marketing and the agility of thought they have versus the more traditional agencies.”
Nathan McDonald, Co-Founder of We Are Social
Nathan co-founded We Are Social, growing the agency from a startup into a global business of more than 1,200 employees across 20 offices.
He will advise BDB Group on business strategy, scaling its operating model and culture, and the acquisition and integration of founder-led businesses.
“The combination of agency, technology and community makes a compelling value proposition to clients, so BDB is well positioned to continue growing and remain a leader in its category.”
Phil Wieland, Non-Executive Chairman at Essenta, Centrient and Churches Fire
Phil brings extensive financial and operational leadership experience, including previous roles as a Bain operating partner, CEO of Diversey and CFO of Brakes UK.
He will advise BDB Group on financial strategy, operational scale and M&A activity.
“I joined Billion Dollar Boy’s Advisory Board because they’re actively setting the pace for the creator economy, blending creative agility with rigorous, data-backed strategy.”
Hughie Phillips, Founder and Managing Director of MindsEye
As founder of production company MindsEye, Hughie brings expertise in branded entertainment and creative production.
He will advise BDB Group on expanding its entertainment and production capabilities, building on work including Argos's award-winning episodic social series Arghaüs.
“Brands’ demands on their creative partners are changing. They’re increasingly looking beyond traditional advertising towards entertainment, creators and ideas that can live across multiple platforms. BDB is really well positioned at the centre of that shift, and I think there’s a huge opportunity to combine its understanding of creators, audiences and platforms with increasingly ambitious creative and production.”
Building the Next Era of BDB Group
Ed East, Global CEO and founder of Billion Dollar Boy, said:
"We founded Billion Dollar Boy to build a braver, creator-fluent alternative to legacy models that simply weren’t built for the speed of culture. Appointing our new Advisory Board marks a huge milestone in that journey.
"They’ve already helped guide our first acquisition and fuel our ongoing transformation. Now, as we accelerate BDB Group’s global growth, bringing together heavyweights like Deirdre, Firdaous, Nathan, Phil, and Hughie pushes us to think bigger. They bring fresh perspective and deep experience to our team, helping us to shape how global brands turn social into real commercial growth."
The next chapter of BDB Group is already taking shape, bringing together the experience, ambition and expertise to help global brands navigate the future of social and creator marketing.
