James
Ryan
LONDON-BASED AWARD-WINNING SENIOR CREATIVE
ABOUT JAMESHello 👋🏻 I’m James… an award-winning Senior Creative specialising in social-first and multi-channel activations.
I lead ideas from strategy through to execution, shaping concepts, creative direction, and delivery across platforms. You could say I’m a James-of-all-trades. Yes, I’m sticking with that.
Social-first ideas are my thing. Scroll on 👇
Ongoing Social Experiment
An ongoing personal practice exploring platform-native comedy, format, and cultural behaviour.
As a passion project, I run and grow my own social channels, creating original comedy sketches and music-led content that explore everyday truisms and culturally relevant moments.
Across TikTok, I’ve built an audience of 180K+, alongside a YouTube following of 16K+, by developing platform-native formats - from short-form skits to original and parody comedy music - giving me a constant, hands-on understanding of how ideas travel, resonate, and evolve.
Normalising grief through open, social-first conversations.Co-op Funeralcare.
The challenge
Co-op Funeralcare wanted to normalise conversations around death, dying, and grief - a culturally sensitive topic that’s often avoided, especially on social.
The approach
We built a social-first strategy focused on opening up the funeral industry, encouraging honest conversation, and creating supportive spaces where people felt comfortable engaging. The work prioritised openness, warmth, and platform-native storytelling over traditional brand messaging.
The impact
Over two months, we more than doubled the channel’s following (6,000 → 13,000+), generated 1M+ organic views, and increased engagement by 821%..
Turning half time into a cultural moment.Pepsi MAX Champions League.
The challenge
Pepsi MAX wanted to own the UEFA Champions League in a way that felt culturally relevant and genuinely useful to fans, not just present around the match.
The idea
We created a social-first campaign built around the half-time moment — showing audiences how to make great-tasting evening meals in just 15 minutes, perfectly timed for the break in play.
Each recipe was inspired by iconic European ties and designed to pair with an ice-cold Pepsi MAX, turning football fandom into a shared food moment.
The execution
We launched two complementary content formats:
A face-to-camera series fronted by Big Zuu
A hands-and-a-pan series created by Twisted chefs
To extend the idea beyond social, we built a shoppable hub on Amazon Prime, allowing viewers to watch the content and add ingredients straight to their basket for fast delivery.
The impact
The campaign won a Digiday Media Award (Europe).
Championing forgotten birthdays in a sea of Christmas noise.Taco Bell.
The challenge
Taco Bell wanted to make a festive splash in an overcrowded Christmas landscape, competing against brands with significantly larger seasonal budgets.
The insight
December birthdays are routinely overshadowed by Christmas. Instead of adding to the festive noise, we chose to champion the people Christmas forgets.
The idea
We flipped the script with an anti-Christmas campaign celebrating December-born fans. The work positioned Taco Bell as the brand that showed up for birthdays when everyone else was focused on Santa.
The execution
A hero PSA film led the campaign, supported by vertical cutdowns spotlighting individual characters from the hero asset. December-born influencers shared their own stories, while a competition rewarded overlooked birthdays with Taco Bell birthday hampers.
The impact
The campaign delivered 18M impressions, achieved a 43% VTR, over-delivered by 18.1%, and won two silver Media Week Awards.
Turning every day frustration into a product-led cultural moment.Waze.
The challenge
Waze wanted to highlight the everyday benefits of its navigation app in a way that felt unexpected, memorable, and rooted in real journeys.
The idea
Working with Twisted, we created an actual Traffic Jam - a sweet spread made from berries growing along the M1. A playful literalisation of the problem Waze helps drivers avoid, designed to turn frustration into something enjoyable.
The execution
We produced a social-first video series featuring Twisted chefs using the Traffic Jam in recipes inspired by UK holiday destinations.
To extend the idea beyond content, samples were distributed via Twisted’s deliver-only restaurant on Uber Eats, turning the concept into something people could actually taste.
The impact
5,000 full-size jars sold out within 24 hours, delivering mass brand awareness and a highly memorable product-led moment for Waze.
Brands I’ve worked with
PHILOSOPHY