R/GA Announces Promotions in Strategic Leadership Team

R/GA announces three executive promotions in its strategic leadership team.

Saneel Radia has been elevated to global chief innovation officer. In this role, he will help companies drive growth through corporate innovation strategies that combine brand assets and emerging technology. Jess Greenwood and Tom Morton have been named US chief strategy officers. They will spearhead collaboration between R/GA’s strategy, marketing science, and media practices in the US to inspire more transformative marketing and experiences.

“Our Innovation Consulting practice has thrived under Saneel's leadership. The work he has done to help our clients evolve their core businesses has had a great influence on R/GA. He is a critical member of my leadership team. Jess and Tom have incredible strategic range, ideally suited for the complexity our clients deal with every day. They have been successfully growing, integrating and simplifying our strategic discipline teams across the US which has been key to many our new business wins. I also get most of my sartorial advice from Tom,” commented Sean Lyons, R/GA’s Global CEO. “These promotions are well-deserved and I know their contributions to the company will speak for themselves.”

Since joining R/GA as head of business transformation in 2016, Radia has grown the practice globally, doubling its revenue every year. As global CIO, Radia will report directly to Sean Lyons and will continue to partner closely with vice chairman, global chief strategy officer, Barry Wacksman to develop corporate innovation strategies. Collaborating across R/GA’s global teams including R/GA Ventures, Radia will drive multi-disciplinary projects to design, develop, and implement new brands, products, and lines of business for clients as part of their corporate innovation efforts.

Over the past three years, Morton and Greenwood have redesigned R/GA’s strategy practice for the new age of brand building, adding new talent and approaches to provide brands with broader advice on how to thrive in the connected world. The duo lead an extended team of more than 100 strategists across six US offices who collaborate with marketing scientists, connections planners, and influencer strategists in custom 'Strat Packs'. This combination of skills, and the fusion of approaches from user research to design thinking and data-powered insight hunts guides all of R/GA’s marketing, experience and brand development work.

“Saneel, Jess and Tom are focused on ensuring that our vision, craft, talent, and thought leadership for transformation grows across our company,” said Barry Wacksman. “In this age of disruption, a creative-minded team that pulls insight from all directions and applies it across a company’s business, experience, and marketing is the differentiator clients are looking for.”

These are the first executive promotions under Lyons, who recently assumed the global CEO role. With unique track records across the spectrums of both business and brand, Radia, Greenwood and Morton represent the next generation of R/GA’s innovative DNA, and will help to push the company’s creative thinking further into the connected age.