R/GA has announced several creative leadership moves across its US offices. Kim Laama has joined as group executive creative director in the New York office, and Will Esparza has been promoted to SVP, executive creative director West Coast, campaigns.
In their new roles, Kim will help lead, grow, and elevate the product and service design capability across a wide range of clients in the NY office, while Will will function as a key storyteller for the West Coast region, overseeing select campaign projects and new business pitches.
Kim joins R/GA from AKQA, where she most recently led brand experience initiatives, while growing talent and building diverse, inspired, and collaborative teams. There, she established and grew the product and service design practices in San Francisco and New York and worked on campaigns, products, retail experiences, and services for brands, including: Audi, Nike, Soho House, Verizon, Volvo, and Xbox. Prior, she was a lead UX designer for various startups, including Ticketfly, Twine, and Blurb.
Since joining R/GA almost five years ago, Will has shown a strong penchant for guiding, directing, and working with creative talent on campaigns. Will brings strong strategic and cultural insights into his work, evidenced by his contribution to the campaign-turned-cultural zeitgeist, Straight Outta for Beats by Dre. Will will report directly into Tiffany Rolfe, EVP, US chief creative officer as well as Richard Ting, EVP, global chief experience officer & US chief creative officer.
“To properly service our clients across their wide variety of needs, we need creative leaders that span across a wide range of expertise. Each of these creative leaders will tap into our robust and diverse creative teams to deliver industry-leading work,” said Ting. He adds “I’m thrilled to have this team at the helm as R/GA continues to build a refreshed and modern creative offering.”
Regarding the NY global headquarters, Ben Williams, Chris Northam, and Eric Jannon, have all been promoted to SVP, executive creative director, heads of creative. The trio will function as the top creative leads for R/GA New York while guiding the office’s creative output. The group will work across all of R/GA New York’s accounts and will work closely with the office’s venture and consulting capabilities. Ben, Chris, and Eric will strengthen R/GA New York’s creative culture by fostering a people-first atmosphere, building inclusive teams, and encouraging deeper interdepartmental collaboration.
Chris and Eric recently wrapped Rising, a powerful, widely acclaimed short film for the Love Has No Labels platform in partnership with The Ad Council. Ben Williams most recently led the award-winning A/R Jordan campaign, which leveraged cutting-edge augmented reality technology for a first-of-its-kind Nike Air Jordan 3 sneaker drop.
Source: R/GA
