Yesterday afternoon, R/GA took The Stable through its new offices, offices that have been redesigned by Victoria Curro, managing director in Sydney and Claire Waring, executive creative director, to make a new way of working possible at R/GA. Global chief executive officer, Sean Lyons, explained to The Stable what this new way of working means and how it helps brands to deal with the brave new world of marketing that continues to emerge and evolve. Claire Waring explained how creativity fits into R/GA’s aim of conquering the future. Curro then led a panel discussing how to be on the right side of change (Claire Waring, Ben Miles, VP executive creative director, brand design & consulting R/GA APAC, Tara McKenty, creative head Google APAC and David Ray, digital industry executive).

Included in the presentation was a spectacular piece of R/GA work, We Are Warriors, created with Yuin Nation hip-hop artist, producer, and radio host, Nooky, to change the lives of young Indigenous Australians for the better. There are many campaigns for the betterment and rights of underprivileged and underrepresented groups in the world. This one is a standout. More about the social platform to come.

Here is how R/GA intends to conquer tomorrow from today:

Sean Lyons, Global CEO, R/GA

The Stable: Please describe what is involved in the new agency structure?

Sean Lyons: In the old agency model, organisational structures are built around physical office locations. This also has the effect of looking at offices as containers for people. We saw where people were located physically, was a less important factor in their craft and ability to collaborate.

As a result, we’re formally moving away from an office-first structure which we’ve outgrown, and into a distributed creativity model. That is the first part, embracing the fact that incredible talent can succeed from wherever they are. The second part, equally important, is being very intentional about our creative expertise which results in R/GA centering our services around five core practices – brand design and consulting, brand relationship design, connected communications, media and connections, and products and experiences. This evolution will allow us to work faster and better to meet the needs of our clients. With regard to our Australian presence, the R/GA Australia team has deep expertise across products and experiences, connected communications and brand design and consulting. These teams not only serve Australian clients but global clients as well.

TS: What is distributed creativity and how does it fit into the restructure?

SL: Distributed creativity is about making sure we can tap into our global network of talent to find the best teams for clients – based on experience, expertise, and skill sets, not just location. It’s the philosophy at the heart of this restructuring, which will take R/GA into its next era.

TS: What are its aims?

SL: Clients come to us for our deep expertise and to work with our top talent. They want to partner with us for our people, not a specific office. Once you embrace this concept you can open the possibilities of who can work on what. This means more types of talent for our clients. This only accelerated during the pandemic, when we recognised the shift to remote work presented an opportunity to innovate and accelerate how we work. While other agencies have since retreated to office mandates, we’ve embraced the possibilities of a hybrid workforce to create a distributed creativity model that allows us to provide clients with the best talent for their needs, regardless of where they’re located.

SL: How does hybrid working fit into R/GA’s future?

We have been vocal advocates for the importance of workplace flexibility and are committed to a hybrid model that doesn’t rely on an office presence. As our teams have become more geographically diverse, the focus on specific cities no longer served our needs or those of our clients. That was part of the impetus for this evolution. By taking a look at where our talent is located, and how best to assemble teams within this new framework, it became clear we could turn this into another R/GA reinvention.

Claire Waring, executive creative director, Australia, R/GA

The Stable: What was your thinking behind the design of the new R/GA hybrid office.

CW: When you distill it down, our new space is about human connection – it’s designed to foster collaboration and creative culture. There are no permanent desks, no departments, no rules for when or how you show up.

It’s a place to gather when needed – to build relationships, to jam together because that’s what leads to bigger ideas and innovations. Serendipity is important to design and creativity. That doesn’t mean we need to be here all the time, the time we DO spend together sets us up for success remotely.

TS: How does creativity fit into R/GA’s future?

CW: We are a creatively driven innovation company, so creativity sits at the heart of everything we do. I’m a firm believer that magic happens when you bring human insight, imagination and technology together.

In our model, creativity is not penned in by geography. It can happen anywhere and be applied to any market. In this office we have exported our creativity often to clients who operate in overseas markets – including for clients like Timberland, Nike and Samsung. In Australian agencies we are often used to ‘importing’ creative from other parts of the world – our model turns that on its head. It means our staff and our clients benefit from global expertise without having to leave our shores.

TS: What are the most important elements that brands will need for future success?

CW: The single most important thing brands need to do is find ways to provide value to their customers – that value traditionally has been through storytelling to create an emotional connection, shaping and influencing culture.

Now it can happen in a myriad of ways – utility, experience and storytelling all have a role to play in providing either functional or emotional value.