#Newsmaker: HWB Communications appoints Bradly Howland as new CEO

We find out more from Bradly Howland on his appointment as CEO at HWB Communications.

Congratulations on your new appointment! How are you feeling?

I'm feeling very excited. I have the opportunity to take an agency that has worked incredibly hard to establish itself as a serious player in the marketing and communication space, and to evolve it to match the changing needs of our clients.

The ultimate goal will be to offer better products and services, which have more value and impact for our clients.

It is exciting to embark on the process of changing the way we think, in line with how the world and business have had to change over the past two years.

What does your new role entail?

As the new CEO, my biggest role is to enable the success of the team. It means that it is not my job to do great work, but rather to ensure that I am surrounded by a team of consummate professionals who are experts in their respective fields. They are the ones who will breathe life into client campaigns that lead to business success – for clients and for the agency.

How and when did this come about?

It’s interesting how it all came about. I previously worked for HWB, starting as an account director and later becoming client service director. These roles helped me to better understand the clients and how they worked and what they required of our team. I left HWB for a while and joined the hyper scaling fin-tech, Ozow. It was an invaluable opportunity to learn new skills very quickly and to gain an understanding of the changes that we are seeing in the world of business. When the opportunity at HWB was presented to me earlier this year, it was something I simply could not pass up.

It allows me to take all the learnings I have gathered and apply it to an environment that is ready for change and growth.

I get to work with a proven team of incredibly talented professionals. We’re also privileged to have an established client base and a strong reputation in the market.

At the same time, I have an almost blank canvas that gives me the opportunity to work with the team to build something new. The pandemic has shown us all how we need to reinvent ourselves, and the same is true at HWB.

Tell us about your journey into the industry.

I left school with the idea of wanting to be in the creative field. I was lucky to be in the right place and at the right time when I stepped into the world of communications and marketing. Over the last 18 years, this is a career path that I’ve really enjoyed.

This journey has also given me the chance to help people shape their own narratives.

This is a process that involves much more than just writing great press releases and getting media coverage. It is about positioning individuals and businesses as thought leaders and ensuring that their reputations are protected. In doing so, we get to help them build their credibility and grow their share of the market.

What do you love most about your career, the industry and what you do?

Probably the best part about my career is the privilege of being a leader for others. Thanks to great mentors, the most important part of this is inclusive leadership. At its core, true success is achieved through collaboration. It’s the only way that we’re able to deliver great work and grow our business.

Apart from being the CEO of a marketing communications agency, I like to be involved in developing great strategies for brands that the team can breathe life into.

I am also an extrovert at heart, and I love being around great and interesting people – this goes for clients and for the team I get to work with. It is the fuel that gets me up every day.

What approach will you take in your role as CEO going forward?

Every great leader talks about how they surround themselves with people smarter than them, and I believe this is really important. The only way we can get to the next level of success or greatness as an agency is to make sure the team is actively part of that journey.

What can we expect to see from HWB in 2022?

I think you can expect to see a lot of big changes. It is about the evolution of what an agency should look like, keeping in mind the needs of clients that must be met. HWB is renowned as a PR agency, but we’re more than just that. As a marketing communications agency, our goal is to deliver impactful brand, marketing and communications campaigns for the clients that we work with.