ballsy launches in London, led by former VaynerMedia creatives

Singapore-based creative consultancy ballsy has expanded into the UK with the launch of ballsy London, marking its latest international move following the recent debut of content studio Kaki Sosial in Malaysia.

The London operation will be helmed by long-time creative partners Dan Fryer (pictured right) and Gaetan Uytterhaegan (pictured left), both of whom take on the role of creative director. The expansion strengthens ballsy’s ambition to operate as a creative-led independent network delivering global strategies for brands across markets.

ballsy co-founder VJ Anand (pictured middle) said the decision to set up in London with Fryer and Uytterhaegan was a natural progression, having previously worked closely with the duo at VaynerMedia EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa), where both served as creative directors under his leadership.

“Setting up ballsy London with Dan and Gate was a no-brainer,” Anand said. “Other than being amazing creative leads, they are first and foremost caring and empathic leaders, and this translates into the work they do for clients and brands.”

According to Anand, the London launch builds on ballsy’s growing international credentials, following the success of Jetpac’s campaign last year which was conceptualised in Singapore and executed across the US, UK and Europe. He shared that ballsy London is already working on two international projects, including a generative AI film for a football fan app and club, as well as a global social influencer campaign for a well-known alcohol brand. The consultancy is also looking to support Asian brands seeking a stronger global or international footprint.

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Fryer and Uytterhaegan bring more than 15 years of creative partnership to ballsy London, having worked together across multiple UK agencies. Most recently, both spent over four years at VaynerMedia London as creative directors, where they led social-first and through-the-line work for brands including Revolut, Visa, Heinz, TikTok, ASDA, Unilever and Merlin Entertainments. Their portfolio includes campaigns such as Revolut’s UK-wide work featuring Charli XCX, a global Visa campaign tied to the Paris 2024 Olympics, and Liquid I.V.’s “The Hot Seat”.

Prior to VaynerMedia, the duo held creative roles at Fallon London, Leo Burnett and Fold7, where they worked on brands including AXA, Skoda, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, Lurpak, Disney, Carlsberg and Gumtree. Their partnership began in 2009 after winning AMV BBDO’s Doritos “Make us an ad” challenge, a collaboration that has since spanned five agencies.

Explaining their decision to join ballsy, Fryer and Uytterhaegan said the appeal lay in the opportunity to build a creative-led independent that strips away unnecessary layers and prioritises bold ideas. 

They said the ambition was to create an agency that cuts out politics, middle management and diluted decision-making, allowing creatives to solve business problems while preserving the “ballsy” edge in the work. "We had a funny conversation about the name ballsy. Will it work in the U.K.? Is it too divisive?
Then we realised that it’s probably the best filter for people who are ready to make work that actually stands out," they shared. 

Fryer and Uytterhaegan also shared that after leaving VaynerMedia, they were looking for what was next, and that was to work with great people, and make the ballsiest work they can. "We’ve worked with plenty of EMEA clients over the years who understand how much riskier it is to make ‘safe’ work and (dare we say, wisely) pivoted to us to actually move the needle of their business results," said the duo. "We want to build the agency that those clients know they can come to when they’re ready to be ballsy."

Earlier this month, ballsy kicked off 2026 with a dual expansion move, launching a Malaysia based social content studio, Kaki Sosial, while appointing Becky Leng as its new managing director based in Singapore.

Leng joins from NP Digital Singapore, where she led the agency’s operations. Leng became a part of NP Digital back when it was SearchGuru, starting as Singapore country head in 2015. She later oversaw Hong Kong and APAC operations before stepping into the Singapore MD role in October 2024, leading the agency’s regional expansion and growth across Southeast Asia.

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