Nils Leonard

Nils Leonard co-founded Uncommon Creative Studio after leading Grey London through its most profitable and awarded period.

Uncommon has since created British Airways’ “A British Original”, ITV’s “Britain Get Talking”, H&M’s “One Second Suit” and the rebrand of FIFA to EA Sports FC, turning one of the biggest name changes in gaming into a fan-led cultural campaign. Its work has helped establish Uncommon as one of the most distinctive creative studios of its generation. Today, Leonard is increasingly focused on what creativity means when AI can produce almost anything.

Nils Leonard grew up in a creative household in north-west London, the son of a tattooist and musician. His route into advertising was almost accidental. Unsure about university, he went to a job centre and asked if it had any advertising jobs. There was one. He landed a junior production role at Lintas after arriving two-and-a-half hours early for his interview. He never went to university.

Leonard soon realised he wanted to be on the creative side of the business. At AMV BBDO, Leonard pushed beyond the confines of his job. He designed posters for himself, sent them to Creative Review and secured a double-page spread. It taught him an early lesson: create your own opportunities rather than wait for permission. He continued to build his career across leading London agencies before joining Grey, where he eventually became Chief Creative Officer and then Chairman.

Nils Leonard has spoken candidly about becoming increasingly focused on money, recognition and career progression at Grey, only to realise he was unhappy. That inspired him to co-founded Uncommon in 2017 with Lucy Jameson and Natalie Graeme. The trio wanted to make work that people outside advertising might actually care about. The studio has since tackled mental health, employment, travel, sport and culture. “Britain Get Talking” turned a national conversation about mental health into a mass campaign, while the EA Sports FC launch persuaded millions of players to embrace a new name after decades of FIFA.

Nils Leonard now focuses on taste. As AI makes it easier to produce more work, he argues that the harder question is deciding what deserves to exist in the first place. For him, taste comes from a life spent collecting references: art, music, film, design, fashion, food and everything else that leaves an impression. Data and prompts can generate possibilities, but they cannot replace the human judgement that makes something worth remembering.