Tombras Appoints Avinash Baliga as First-Ever Executive Creative Director

Independent full service agency Tombras announced today the appointment of Avinash Baliga as the agency’s first-ever executive creative director. Based in New York and reporting to Tombras CCO Jeff Benjamin, Avinash will be responsible for building out the New York creative team as well as new business efforts as the New York office continues to gain traction and expand its footprint. 

Avinash comes to Tombras from Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, where he was VP, creative director on acclaimed campaigns for Mint Mobile and Bolt Financial. Prior to Maximum Effort, Avinash was a creative director at some of the most successful creative agencies in the world, including Mother – in New York and Buenos Aires – and Barton F. Graf, where he created award-winning work for Clash of Clans, and first worked with Benjamin.

“Having worked together previously at Barton F. Graf, Avi is a natural fit for Tombras. A generational creative leader who understands how to conceive and execute breakthrough ideas, with speed and agility. He was part of a new creative approach at Maximum Effort and now comes to Tombras where our in-house production, media, data & analytics capabilities are ready for his creativity. At a time when NYC agencies are shrinking and retreating, Tombras New York is on an incredible upswing, and we believe there’s no one better than Avi to help us continue our growth,” said Jeff Benjamin, chief creative officer, Tombras.

Throughout his career, Avinash’s work has been recognised by every major industry award show, winning gold pencils at the One Show, the D&AD and a Grand Effie. 

Avinash’s hire follows a year of growth for Tombras, including two new agency of record relationships, BMW Motorrad and Casey’s convenience stores; a new office space in Tribeca; and a continuation of the agency’s mission to fill its ranks with top executives from the industry. Avinash joins a leadership team in New York that includes Lindsay Stein (chief purpose officer), Juan Tubert (chief technology officer), Chad Hopenwasser (chief production officer), and Denice Heyward (SVP, business affairs). Avi will start in his new role on June 5th.

“I love that Tombras is a fiercely independent agency with a clear personality. It’s 77 years old but operates with the restlessness and ambition of a start up. I’m lucky enough to have worked at some of the most influential agencies in the world, and I’m keen to take all that I’ve learned and help build the NY office,” said Avinash Baliga, executive creative director, Tombras.

“I was a huge fan of Avi’s work even before I met him, and we want to hire people doing the best work in the industry. With Mint Mobile, you’re seeing real time ideas come to life in days, not weeks, because being a day late is like being six months late at the speed the internet and culture are moving. He’s a totally different type of creative, and that’s what you need to do the most breakthrough work in the world,” said Dooley Tombras, president, Tombras.

Tombras is known for creating work that breaks into pop culture, delivering value and consumer engagement for brands like MoonPie, Pernod Ricard, Steak-umm and Bush’s Beans. The agency’s guiding mission of Connecting Data + Creativity for Business Results speaks to their nature as impact-driven, creative storytellers with performance at the heart of everything they do.