In February 2004 Sam Ball became one of the founding partners in the advertising agency Lean Mean Fighting Machine. Sam has worked with his creative partner Dave Bedwood for 11 years. Initially coming from a traditional background, they moved into online advertising eight years ago. Together they have won numerous industry awards. In 2004 they were voted into Campaign's Top Ten Creative Directors in London across all disciplines, along with Campaign's Faces to Watch. In 2005 they received Campaign's Young Achievers of the Year Award and they were recently voted by their UK peers to be the number one creative team in online advertising.