As creative director at marketing agency SALT XC, Ben Scott (BA’06, C-FPD’07) brings passion, leadership and imagination to his role.

After several years building a career agency-side, Ben describes himself as a generalist, working across media and formats. He says his goal is to challenge creative thinking and deliver strong work, but more specifically, it’s to empower his team to do great work and enjoy what they do.

Helping oversee a team of creatives, writers, and designers, Ben’s day-to-day often involves organizational and business roles in addition to creative ones. But the part of his job that is most important to him is the people.

“I often say that I don’t care what anyone’s job title is because I believe everyone is creative. I hope that no matter where my career takes me, I’ll always get to be in the room and brainstorm with people. One of SALT’s core values is ‘seek different perspectives,’ which is how the best ideas come together. It starts with a nugget that snowballs into something great through collaboration.”

Ben joined SALT in 2023 and says it’s been exciting to see how quickly it has pivoted and grown into a large-scale, full-service agency. With a team of over 300, SALT is a globally recognized North American marketing agency based in Toronto that creates connected experiences through creative, digital, and media innovation, and has an international client roster that includes Microsoft, Xbox, RBC, Labatt, and others.

In 2025, SALT was named Brand Experience Agency of the Year; No. 2 Fastest Growing Large Agency, Global by ADWEEK; and Top 3 Best Workplaces by Great Place to Work Canada.

Looking back, Ben admits he didn’t think he’d one day land in the marketing and communications world—though he had a habit of flipping through Vogue in math class and imagining a life as an art director or journalist. 

It wasn’t until his time in UNB’s faculty of arts, majoring in multimedia studies, as well as pursuing a certificate in film studies, that he experienced the defining moment that would shape his career.

For a project in an advertising class taught by Tim Hanford, Ben pitched a fictional ad campaign for Manolo Blahnik. Complete with ‘Don Draper-style’ pitch boards and visuals, Ben described the image, the action and the sounds of the city, and heels clicking on the sidewalk—bringing his vision to life.

“That was the moment I fell in love with storytelling. It helped that I got an A+ on the project, too.”

That early spark turned into a decade-plus of creative work for Ben, across formats, sectors and platforms. “I’ve been lucky enough to move around and work with a variety of clients and brands, and collaborate with talented people and amazing teams, making fun work and bringing some big ideas to life through advertising, experiential, PR, and sponsorship.”

That sense of creative exploration has led Ben to some standout moments in his career. One of his proudest moments came in 2023, when he helped lead Adidas’s Women’s World Cup campaign, featuring Canadian star Ashley Lawrence. Ben and the team at SALT told a human-centric story rooted in Ashley’s real-life experiences of growing up playing soccer with boys because there weren’t enough girls’ teams. The campaign struck a deeply emotional chord with its audiences.

“It was really rewarding to see Ashley’s reaction to the script, but also the overall response. I had several friends who played soccer (actually from my UNB days) reach out and say, ‘this made me cry’ and ‘that’s exactly how I felt too!’ I love telling stories that connect with people.”

Another standout project, one close to Ben’s heart, was the McCain Happy Frydays Café. As a proud East Coaster, he says that collaborating with a strong Canadian brand that originated in the Maritimes and has UNB alumni roots was a “full-circle” moment.

Experiences like this shaped how Ben thinks about the future of creative work. He says a perceived dichotomy is emerging between the rise of AI and the demand for real-life, in-person experiences. “It’s no longer about ‘digital vs. physical’, it’s about the two working together to optimize connections.” At SALT, he and his team are embracing AI to elevate both internal processes and client and consumer experiences.

Ben admits that working with high-profile brands comes with its own pressures, especially the constant push for fast-paced, instant content. “We live in such a digital world, and content is king; there’s a pressure to move a lot faster and put more out. My ask is always to buy a little time in the upfront and give creative people time to be creative.”

He says his experience at UNB was formative and continues to shape the leader he is today. During his time as a student, he was deeply involved in campus life, serving on house committees, the Student Union, and as a proctor. Those experiences, he says, taught him about connecting with people, listening, valuing different perspectives, and the power of creativity when you put your heads together.

“I work with an incredibly talented team that keeps me on my toes. I’ll never be the smartest person in the room, so it pushes me to ask the questions and continually be learning.”

In an industry that often celebrates speed, volume and immediacy, Ben remains grounded in the collaborative experience that drew him to the work in the first place. His career is defined not only by campaigns and clients, but by the process of building environments where creativity feels shared, supported and genuinely enjoyable.