Ben Williams is an award-winning creative with over 25 years of experience in design and innovation.

Currently, as Global Chief Creative Experience Officer at TBWA\Worldwide, Ben helps define and drive the creative product for the global collective.

In his role, Ben with agency Chief Creative Officers, strategists, designers, and writers to deliver world-class creative experience strategy, concept development, and creative execution for some of the world's most recognizable brands. Through his work, Ben continually hones processes and ways of working conducive to innovative work that resonates in culture, redefines categories and sets new standards.

More about Ben

A/R Jordan

Reimagining the sneaker drop.

The 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend marked 30 years since Michael Jordan’s 1998 Slam Dunk Contest win — the scene of the momentous Free Throw Line dunk, arguably one of the most memorable moments in NBA History.

Ben led a team at R/GA, in partnership with Jordan Brand and Snapchat, to relive the iconic dunk in augmented reality, putting Michael Jordan back on the court and Jordan sneakers back to the top of people’s minds. At All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, fans could engage with the recreation of Michael Jordan and, for the first time ever, purchase an early release of the AJIII ‘Tinker Edition’, directly in Snapchat.

Apple Watch Nike+

Creating the ultimate digital running partner.

Together with Nike and Apple, Ben led a team at R/GA to conceive, design, and launch a sport and fitness specific edition of the Apple Watch, untethered to the iPhone. Ben was key to the concept, digital running experience including the core feature set and functionality as well as the brand and interfece design system.

The experience was designed with simplicity in mind — provide runners with what they need without getting in their way. Leveraging the power and inspiration of Nike+, together with Apple Music and Siri, the watch brought together Apple’s technology and Nike’s community to give runners a connected experience that changed the way they run.

Oprah's Book Club

Evolving Oprah's Book Club for a digital world.

With a vision to connect the world like never before through the power of reading, Oprah Winfrey (and the greater Harpo Productions team) enaged R/GA to digitize Oprah’s famous book club.

Ben currently leads the cross-functional R/GA team tasked with bringing the vision to life. Working together with Harpo Productions and Apple, Ben is defining and designing a connected reading platform that leverages Oprah’s reach and Apple’s technology and bridges the gap between physical and digital to transform Oprah’s Book Club and redefine reading globally.

Nike+ FuelBand

Making life a sport.

Upon joining R/GA, Ben worked with Nike focused on designing and launching one of the world’s first ever wearable fitness device — Nike+ FuelBand. Nike set out to enable people to track and manage their daily activity, leveraging data and insights to motivate them to move more.

Working with the Nike Digital Sport team, Ben led a team to define and design the companion app experience. Following the initial launch, Ben continued to work with Nike on additional releases including the much-anticipated follow-up — Nike+ FuelBand SE.

Boasting a number of industry awards, Nike+ FuelBand still stands as the wearable that paved the way for the entire digital sport and fitness category.

Converse.com

Connecting culture and commerce.

Ben worked with Converse, a brand steeped in street style and skate culture, to rethink and overhaul Converse.com. Converse struggled to balance their legacy, weave in the organization's culturally resonant and continually evolving brand, and leverage content and storytelling to drive commerce.

Ben led a team to reimagine the site experience and bring it to life. The new Converse.com engages consumers like never before — simplified shopper discovery (including shoppable stories) offers convenient and inspiring content to make Converse.com a destination for style and hyped "drops" to give consumers a reason to come in and come back.

Hey Google, Ask Nike

The first ever voice-activated shoe drop.

Working with Nike, and hot on the heels of A/R Jordan, Ben and his team worked to develop the most futuristic shoe drop, for one of the most futuristic shoes – the Nike Adapt BB. Powered by Google Assistant, the experience enabled the shoes to be purchased with nothing but your voice during a much-anticipated NBA game broadcast on TNT.

Ben oversaw a team to design and develop the experience, defining the user journey, designing the broadcast snipes to notify viewers, mapping the logic flows and conversational design. Leveraging audio and video content from NBA players Kyle Kuzma and Jayson Tatum, the conversational experience told the design and technology story of the shoes, while enabling further exploration through voice prompts.

Dream With Us

An epic celebration of the women who make the world dream.

In partnership with Nike NYC, Ben led a team to create the ultimate send-off to the US Women's National Soccer Team before the Women's World Cup — a Times Square take-over.

Ben and the team designed an experience that celebrated each team member and invited all of New York and the US to "dream with us". The team created an experience and established a design system dynamic enough to flex across nearly 20 screens of varying sizes as well as a number of buildings and AV systems across which visuals and animations were synchronized. R/GA gave the team a night to remember and the team gave the world a win it would never forget.

Nike+ Move

Transforming your phone into a fitness tracker.

Back in the day of the iPhone 5S, Ben designed an experience that leveraged the newly developed M7 coprocessor to turn iPhones into activity trackers without requiring another device.

Working together with Apple and Nike, Ben created concepts and prototypes to test the hardware and understand its capabilities. And working together with Nike, Ben applied those concepts to define an experience that engaged and informed users and inspired them to connect with one another without anything more than the phone in their pocket.

Ben's work on Nike+ Move was showcased as a part of the iPhone 5S announcement during the Apple Keynote in 2013.

Jordan Emoji Keyboard

Powering conversations for the ultimate fans.

For Jordan Brand, Ben and an R/GA team designed and developed the Air Jordan Emoji Keyboard app, putting the sneaker conversation into the hands of fans around the world.

Inspired by the brand and Michael Jordan himself, the emoji keyboard features the artwork Ben and the team created. The sport, culture and Michael Jordan emojis and iOS stickers were leveraged by Jordan Brand on merchandise available for sale and by the global community in countless conversations.

Just Do It Sunday

A weekly 5K run connected by millions around the world.

While designing and developing the Apple Watch Nike+ running experience, Ben proposed connecting users through a weekly activation, inspiring them to run with the rest of the world and changing the running culture and community as a whole.

Seeing a pattern in activity on Sundays across Nike+, Ben created a bespoke 5K run on Sundays — Just Do It Sundays. The weekly invitation of Just Do It Sundays inspires the Nike+ community to run with the community and coaches every Sunday. Within weeks of launch, Nike saw over a million runners joining in every Sunday.

Sprite Spark

When a global campaign powers creativity.

While at AKQA, Ben partnered with Coca-Cola to bring to life a digital experience inspired by the global Sprite Spark campaign.

The Sprite Spark Movie Maker enabled online participants to create their own animated film using assets and inspiration provided by Ben and the AKQA team. Ben led the overall experience design and directed a team of artists and illustrators, including an extended team at Passion Pictures to produce animated shorts and other elements (settings, characters, music, and effects) users could apply to their own unique creations.

Nike+ Running

A community powered digital running companion.

Over the course of 8+ years working together with Nike, Ben led a number (and variety) of initiatives for the Nike+ Running experience and platform.

Ben worked with Nike to establish a running experience that enables athletes to run more and run better, giving them audio-guided runs, weekly, monthly and custom-distance challenges, customized coaching, and non-stop motivation from friends and the greater Nike+ running community. From leading teams to conceive and develop new features and functionality, to interface design and asset creation, Ben played an integral role in continually improving and evolving Nike's running offering.

Every Step of the way

Supporting Team USA and communities across the country.

While at Publicis, Ben led the design and development of a Citi-sponsored digital experience that both celebrated Team USA on the road to the 2012 London Olympics and also gave back to the communities that supported the athletes alongside Citi.

Working with Citi, in honor of their partnership with the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, Ben helped create Citi's "Every Step of the Way" program. The program enabled Citi customers, employees and fans alike to support the US Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls as well as the organizations that helped them on their journey. Participants engaged with the program through various digital means, online and on mobile, to guide where Citi's donated 50 million ThankYou Points ($500,000) were directed.

Triple Double Record? Why Not?

Celebrating an epic achievement with the world.

During the 2017 NBA season, Ben led an R/GA team (working together with Jordan Brand) to develop a story and TV spot that celebrated Russell Westbrook's epic season and pending new record for most triple-doubles in a single season.

As soon as the old record was broken and a new one set, the spot ran. Set to Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," the ad intersperses historical footage of Oscar Robertson (the previous record holder) and modern-day footage of Westbrook, ending with Westbrook's signature line, "Why not?" Because, why not?

Nightlife Exchange Project

The day the world swapped nights.

In 2010, Ben led a team, working with Smirnoff, to develop Smirnoff's Nightlife Exchange project — a single night during which the world could swap nights.

Ben led the digital design and development of the online experience that enabled consumers to submit ideas, dictate how various cultures could collide, and ultimately orchestrate the biggest global party.

The makings of various cultures and nightlifes were packed into crates and physically exchanged across cities. And while this allowed people to feel as though they were attending the same party across the globe, the celebration truly came to life online. The online after-party allowed partygoers to witness then epic collision of cultures, art, and nightlife.

Air.Jordan

When a blog takes flight.

Working again with Jordan Brand, Ben led the launch of the brand's first-ever online blog — a celebration of the brand proudly worn by musicians, influencers, and athletes alike, the sneakers that redefined both performance and fashion, and Michael Jordan's unique legacy in sports and in culture at large.

The blog consolidated the conversation around the brand, providing fans a central destination to immerse themselves in rich brand storytelling, retro and recent releases, and all things Jordan. Ben and his team defined and developed the overall digital experience including the vision, design system and content strategy, and production-ready assets.

More about Ben.

In addition to being recognized at award shows including Cannes, D&AD, The Clios, The One Show and The Webbys, Ben has been featured in a number global publications, judged a variety of award shows and spoken on stage at some of the most well-known industry events include Cannes, SXSW and Advertising Week in New York.

Prior to TBWA, Ben spent a number of years at both Publicis and AKQA. Most recently however, Ben spent a decade at R/GA with the last couple of years serving as Global Chief Experience Officer. During his tenure at R/GA, Ben partnered with a wide range of brands including Nike, Jordan Brand, Converse, American Express, Verizon, Equinox, and Samsung.

Before moving to the US from Australia, Ben partnered with agencies large and small before founding his own design studio that represented brands such as Ford, Yellow Pages, Toyota, Kraft, Subaru, Quiksilver, and Sneaker Freaker magazine. In what now feels like a previous life, Ben spent 10 years leading the design and execution of various digital experiences for the biggest touring music festival in the world — Big Day Out.