Experience has appointed Ben Burman as Managing Director, strengthening its senior leadership as the business enters its next phase of growth.
As Managing Director, Burman will lead client relationships and business development at Experience, overseeing the agency’s events and experiential strategy, creative development and delivery.
He will also lead the team, with a focus on driving growth, strengthening client partnerships and delivering ambitious, creatively led experiences that connect live activity with wider brand campaigns.
Ben Burman
Burman joins from ZEAL Creative, where he was Head of Experiential and the driving force behind ZEAL X, the agency’s experiential division. With more than 13 years’ experience in the industry, Burman has built a reputation for combining creative ambition with commercial thinking, developing teams and delivering high-impact campaigns for leading brands.
At ZEAL, he spearheaded campaigns including Nuii’s Choose Your Next Adventure nationwide sampling programme and the award-winning UK launch of Japanese ready-to-drink brand -196, brought to life through pop-ups, festivals, takeovers and culturally relevant activations.
His wider brand experience spans Suntory, TENA Men, Foneri, Nestlé, Lucozade, Ribena, Starbucks, Revlon and Arla.
His work on the TENA Men pop-up earned recognition at the Campaign Experience Awards and IPM Awards, alongside an Effie Awards shortlisting.
Under his leadership, ZEAL X was named Brand Experience Agency of the Year at the 2025 FMBE Awards, while Burman was personally recognised as an FMBE Best Connected Rising Star in 2026.
The appointment marks an ambitious next chapter for Experience, bringing proven leadership, creative ambition and commercial expertise to accelerate the agency’s growth.
Commenting on his appointment, Burman said: “I’m incredibly proud of what we built at ZEAL X, establishing a new experiential division within the ZEAL Group, growing a brilliant team and delivering work that genuinely made an impact.
“I’ve always been driven by what’s next, and the opportunity at Experience is hugely exciting. There’s a real appetite to push boundaries, challenge the expected and create work that gets people talking, while delivering results that matter for clients.
“For me, the best work comes from big ideas, brilliant people and a healthy dose of ambition. That’s exactly the kind of business I want to help build.”
Chris Rhodes, co-Founder and Creative Director at Experience, said: “Our paths first crossed many years ago, when Ben joined Experience as an Account Manager. He was brilliant with clients, cared about getting every detail right and was great fun to have in the team. We rated him very highly then, and it has been fantastic to watch his career develop since.
“What he has achieved at ZEAL speaks for itself. He built a successful division, delivered award-winning work and developed into a very strong industry leader. He comes back to us with a wealth of experience, but with the same energy and high standards that impressed us the first time around.
“There is something genuinely exciting about bringing a great former employee back to lead the business as Managing Director. We have built a strong and trusted agency over the past 18 years, and Ben understands both what makes Experience work and how much further we can take it.
“It feels like the right person at the right time, and we are incredibly excited to have him back.”