NEW YORK, USA — Interpublic Group announced senior management changes at R/GA, the leader in designing businesses and brands at the intersection of creativity and technology. Global Chief Creative Officer Tiffany Rolfe adds to her global creative title and expands responsibilities to include company vision, culture and business leadership as Chair of R/GA.
Her partner in leading the agency will be Robin Forbes, currently Global Chief Client Officer, who steps up as Interim CEO. This succession plan coincides with the departure of current Global Chief Executive Officer Sean Lyons, who is pursuing a new opportunity. Sean will stay on through a transition period and support Tiffany and Robin as they take on their additional responsibilities.
Tiffany Rolfe and Robin Forbes will both report to IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky, effective immediately.
“R/GA has always been one of the most technologically-advanced agencies, where brands turn for transformational marketing and experiences driven by creativity and innovation,” commented Philippe.
“We thank Sean for his leadership and commitment to shaping R/GA into the recognized leader it is today and wish him well going forward. We’re also very much looking forward to supporting Tiffany, Robin and the leadership team at R/GA as they continue to define what the future of marketing can look like with work that creates valuable human experiences and taps into the potential of emerging technologies for a great portfolio of clients,” he furthered.
Tiffany Rolfe joined R/GA in 2018 as U.S. Chief Creative Officer. During her five years at R/GA, she has helped elevate the agency to multiple Agency of the Year nods from organizations and publications such as the The Webby Awards, Campaign and Ad Age. Rolfe’s body of work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, Adweek, The New York Times, Fast Company, and more.
She has judged and received dozens of top awards at every major creative and effectiveness competition in the industry, including best of show at the One Show, Clio Awards Grand, and Grand Prix and Titanium at Cannes. She was Creative Pool’s Chief Creative Officer of the year in 2022 and was nominated for Ad Age’s Chief Creative Officer of the year the last two years. Tiffany is on the Board of One Club for Creativity, Ad Council’s Creative Committee, and Meta’s Creative Council.
Tiffany commented, “I wish Sean all the best in his next opportunity and I’m proud of what we have built over the last five years — during a time of tremendous change for the industry and the world. I’m honored to take on the additional role as Chair and build on the recent changes that we have begun to implement with our new ‘Distributed Creativity’ model. In partnership with Robin and the rest of our terrific leadership team, we will continue to define an exciting future for our clients, and for R/GA.”
On the other hand, named Global Chief Client Officer last year, Robin Forbes has held a range of leadership positions during his nine years at R/GA. He’s been responsible for growth, operations, and new business development for some of the agency’s largest clients, including Verizon and Samsung. He has also served as Managing Director of R/GA’s 700-person New York office, after which Forbes went on to oversee the company’s U.S. region, prior to being promoted to his current global executive role.
Tiffany and Robin, together with R/GA’s leadership team, will build on R/GA’s recent success. R/GA was named No. 2 on Ad Age’s A-List and The Webby Awards’ “Agency of the Year” last year. Additionally, it has been a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for over nine years and led R3’s 2022 Creative Agencies New Business League in the U.S. R/GA’s culture-shaping creative work continues to be recognized in the industry including the highly awarded Reddit’s “Superb Owl,” Verizon’s 5G Fortnite stadium, and Sephora’s “Black Beauty is Beauty,” among many other famous and business-building campaigns and experiences. The team also built an award-winning media offering that is integrated into the agency’s outstanding creative output, launched the agency’s ‘Distributed Creativity’ model, and made significant strides in becoming a more diverse and inclusive workplace, including being one of the first agencies to publish their diversity data to the industry.
“R/GA is a special place filled with talented people,” said Robun. “The magic mix of creativity, design and technology is what propels the company forward. I am excited to partner with Tiff and the rest of the R/GA leadership team to build on our DNA and deliver on our purpose to design brands for a more human future. I want to personally thank Sean for his leadership, for building on the legacy of R/GA, and for laying the groundwork for our next chapter.”
