This opinion piece by Jocelyne Henri Danet, Global Chief Growth Officer, was originally published by Creativepool.

Lonsdale is a global branding and design agency with a legacy of creativity dating back to 1961. Headquartered in Paris with offices in New York and Singapore, the agency blends strategic insight with bold design to help brands like Renault, Heineken, Nestlé, and L’Oréal connect with audiences worldwide.

Under the leadership of Jocelyne Henri-Danet, Global Chief Growth Officer, Lonsdale has scaled internationally while staying true to its independent, entrepreneurial roots. From acquiring creative studios in APAC and North America to launching initiatives like La Collab and the No-Low Playbook, the agency continues to lead with cultural relevance and sustainable branding in mind.

In this article, Jocelyne shares how Lonsdale fosters cross-border collaboration, builds lasting client partnerships, and stays ahead of industry shifts by combining human insight with strategic creativity.

How was your company born and where are you based?

Lonsdale was founded in 1961 by British designer Richard Lonsdale, with an innovative approach rooted in understanding consumer behavior, well ahead of its time.

Today, we’re a leading independent, international branding and design agency with offices in Paris, Singapore, and New York. This global footprint allows us to support brands with both local insight and international reach.

Lonsdale is part of Lonsdale+Partners, an independent group of 260 people representing 18 nationalities. As a recognised leader in branding and design, we collaborate with major clients including Renault, Heineken, Nestlé, Rexel, Unilever, and L’Oréal.

What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?

As an independent agency with an entrepreneurial spirit, our biggest challenge has been building a sustainable international presence. Growth has come both organically and through acquisitions, such as Singapore-based Why? Brand Design in 2022 and New York’s Force Majeure in 2024.

Expanding into markets like North America and APAC meant more than just opening offices, it required acquiring existing agencies with deep local insight, while fostering a shared culture across a multi-expert, entrepreneur-led network.

Rather than exporting a top-down culture, we’ve aimed to build a common identity from the ground up, balancing global consistency with local relevance and protecting the independence that defines us. It’s a process that has been both complex and deeply rewarding.

Which was the first huge success that you can remember?

One of our first major successes was winning and growing global key accounts across offices, an early sign that our network model was working.

From crafting work for Heineken in Europe through our Asia office, to supporting Diageo from North America to Asia, we saw the power of collaboration across borders. These wins proved that we could farm global accounts effectively while staying agile and connected across markets.

What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?

We see two major opportunities on the horizon. First, La Collab, our strategic and creative collective of Gen Z talents, is helping us connect more authentically with the next generation of consumers. It’s a powerful way to future-proof our thinking and bring fresh, relevant insight into every brief.

Second, we’re launching our No-Low Playbook, focused on the booming No and Low alcohol drinks category. It’s a fast-evolving space with huge potential, and we’re excited to help brands navigate it with clarity, creativity, and cultural edge.

Beyond that, we’re also leveraging retail expertise from our French hub, particularly through our work with Clarins, to elevate retail and innovation across the network. It’s a strong example of how local excellence can inspire and empower teams globally.

How does your team remain inspired and motivated?

We stay inspired by sharing, learning, and staying connected across our network. We’ve built regular moments into our culture to keep that energy flowing. For example, Phase One is a regular internal rendezvous where teams from all offices present exciting projects, explore creative processes, and spark new ideas. Our annual Creative Show celebrates a year of work, launched or in progress, with teams from Paris, Singapore, and New York coming together to reflect and elevate our craft.

And with La Collab, our Gen Z strategic and creative collective, we tap into fresh perspectives from young talents across our offices and partner schools, bringing new energy and relevance to everything we do.

What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?

Focus relentlessly on excellence, both in creativity and execution. In today’s landscape, talent is everywhere, and most agencies are capable. What truly sets you apart is the quality of your delivery and the strength of your client relationships.

Our biggest growth driver has been investing in the client partnerships we already have. Long-term success comes from being more than a service provider; you need to be a true strategic and creative partner, committed to supporting your clients’ growth as if it were your own.

How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)

A big part of our business development comes from cultivating our network and building on existing relationships. But we’re also constantly monitoring the market to stay ahead of emerging trends, with our annual « Brand Shifts » study. Being early to spot a shift often leads to new opportunities.

We’ve also developed tools that showcase our thinking, like our Playbooks, proprietary studies, and newsletters like the Trendroom du Planning (a monthly selection of branding news, design trends and emerging signals shaping the future of brands) and The Eye of AI (a bi-monthly update curated by our AI Lab).

These aren’t just thought leadership pieces; they’re conversation starters that create real value for prospects and help position us as strategic partners from day one.

What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?

Our big hope is that the industry embraces AI for what it truly is: a tool in service of human creativity (not a replacement for it). We saw firsthand at the D&AD Festival this year that the most powerful ideas still come from people, not prompts.

As AI becomes more integrated into our workflows, we hope clients continue to value the originality, craft, and thinking that only creative minds can deliver. In a time when the risk of a “sea of sameness” is real, the work that stands out will be the work rooted in genuine insight and imagination. Clients deserve that level of creativity, and the industry should never settle for less.

What measures do you take to ensure diversity and inclusion are prioritised within your company?

At Lonsdale, diversity and inclusion are lived values, not just policies. One of the most tangible ways we reflect this is through the women who lead across our global offices. From Nadia Romanis and Muriel Schildknecht in Singapore, to Raphaelle Mahieu, Michelle Mak, and Meilyn Weege at force Majeure in New York, to Julie Jolliot and Sandra Joly in Paris, women hold key strategic and creative leadership roles across the agency.

We believe diverse leadership brings richer perspectives, stronger ideas, and better outcomes for our clients. It’s not just about representation, it’s about impact. That commitment to people and purpose is also reflected in our certifications: we became a B Corp in 2024, and we’ve proudly been recognised as a Great Place to Work for the past three years.

Can you share a memorable client success story that exemplifies your company’s approach and impact?

A great example of our approach and impact is our collaboration with Clarins, the iconic French beauty brand. Tasked with reimagining their travel retail experience in Asia, we helped them connect with a younger, hyper-connected audience, particularly Gen Z and Millennial consumers in China and across APAC.

Together, we created an immersive, phygital experience centred on Clarins’ Double Serum, deployed in major duty-free hubs like the Sanya International Shopping Complex. Blending physical space with digital layers (QR-personalised journeys, AR features, and multilingual storytelling), we designed a scalable, modular pop-up tailored to local cultures while staying true to Clarins’ brand DNA.

This project perfectly reflects our way of working: deep consumer understanding, strong creative (in that particular case retail and digital) expertise, and a focus on creating emotionally resonant, future-facing brand experiences that balance global consistency with local relevance, while staying true to the brand.

How do you approach sustainability and ethical practices within your company’s operations and projects?

Sustainability, ethics, and ecodesign are embedded in everything we do, thanks to our B Corp certification. It holds us to rigorous standards across our operations—from the way we work with clients to how we manage our teams and resources. It’s not just a label, it’s a daily commitment that pushes us to make better, more responsible choices for our business, our clients, and the planet.

Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?

There are a few timeless resources we always come back to. The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell and Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman are both great for understanding human behavior. How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp offers a sharp, evidence-based look at what really drives brand performance, while The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker is a fascinating dive into the narrative structures that shape how we tell stories.

We also stay plugged into what’s happening in the industry by keeping an eye on awards shows like Dieline, D&AD, DBA and Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards. They’re a great pulse check on where creativity is heading.