R/GA has appointed Ben Miles as the new executive creative director of the company’s consulting practice, Business Transformation, in Asia Pacific.
Based in Sydney, he joins R/GA after nine years as ECD of DDB Group’s Interbrand Australia, where he played an instrumental role in its regional growth strategy.
In his new role, Miles will be the regional creative lead for R/GA’s consulting practice and will continue to grow the offering, which is designed to help the C-suite innovate.
He will leverage a global multi-disciplinary team of consultants, designers, strategists, and technologists in seven offices.
Miles told AdNews while it was an unusual time to move roles, he has admired R/GA for a number of years and jumped at the opportunity to join the business.
“The team is unified by a common desire to make. They quickly move from the theoretical to something tangible,” Miles says.
“They don't just talk about change they actually make it and help take it to market. That's something I've always found impressive and wanted to be a part of.”
Starting his career at Fitch in London, Miles went on to freelance for top agencies such as The Partners, Lambie Nairn, Analog Folk, Siegel & Gale and numerous other independent startups before making the move to Interbrand.
During his time at Interbrand, he delivered acclaimed work for The Prince Akatoki, Independent Grocers for Australia (IGA), Telstra and most recently led Australian Marriage Equality’s award-winning campaign G’ AY MATE.
He says this experience has helped set him up perfectly for the role at R/GA.
“My role often involved working directly with the C-suite and founders, giving me unique insight into the myriad of challenges they face on a daily basis,” he says.
“We rarely began any project with a preconceived idea of the solution given every business has its own distinctive and complex set of needs. Instead we started by listening, asking questions and looking for the problems.”
Acknowledging that it is a difficult time for all, Miles says he hopes he can bring optimism and empathy to the role.
“To do this we'll create space for genuine innovative thinking, and invest in building a diverse multidisciplinary team,” he says.
“We'll encourage everyone including clients to be open, collaborative and forward thinking. The latter is important because many problems organisations are facing right now have never existed before.
“This is why creative minds are uniquely positioned to thrive in this era of ambiguity. Navigating ambiguity also differentiates us from other consultancies where creativity is just a bolt on, at R/GA it's integrated from the very beginning.”
R/GA Australia managing director Michael Titshall says Miles is well-placed to continue building out the practice in the APAC region.
“Ben’s impressive track record in reshaping some of the world’s top companies and successfully navigating disruption will be a powerful asset for growing Business Transformation in the region,” Titshall says.
“Since launching the APAC consulting practice in 2018, we have seen strong demand from a range of regional and local clients who look for a creative and strategic partner on their journey towards building sustainable and customer-first brands.”
Miles will report to Mike Rigby, R/GA’s global head of brand transformation, based in New York.
Rigby, alongside R/GA chief innovation officer Saneel Radia, have spent the last five years building the Business Transformation practice to service clients in seven offices across three regions.
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