Ben Barker

Soho Partners core belief is that a brand needs to truly understand its consumer’s passion points if it wants to deliver real engagement - whether on a sports field, music festival, art gallery, cause initiative, cinema, or dare I say it X-Factor – understanding what they are passionate about enables us to create the right partnership. This philosophy is fundamental to our fresh take on traditional sponsorship – we advocate partnerships, with an emphasis on creating integrated campaigns for clients with brand IP and content at the heart of the ideas.

In 2010 we set up a new offer, Soho Partners, and I moved across to run it. My passion has always been for consultancy, getting under the skin of how a brand should leverage its partnerships to better engage consumers whilst answering their fundamental business questions.

I joined Hill & Knowlton eight years ago, working principally on international sports campaigns and sponsorship consultancy projects for some of the world’s best known brands including adidas, Gillette and Aviva. Working on these brands and with some of the biggest names in sport has taken me to all the corners of the world and I have seen firsthand how the power of partnership can connect different cultures and societies. I’ve had the pleasure of personally advising Jenson Button on his driving technique... naturally he ignored my suggestions....

I graduated from Northumbria University with a BA (Hons) degree in Marketing, with a specialism in Sports Marketing. Outside of work I am determined to lower my golf handicap and improve my skiing.