R/GA appoints Drew Klonsky to the role of executive director, business transformation

R/GA is excited to announce the appointment of Drew Klonsky as executive director, business transformation. He will work with the agency’s interdisciplinary team of consultants, experience designers, strategists and branding specialists across its Sydney and Melbourne offices.

VP managing director, R/GA Sydney and Melbourne, Rebecca Bezzina, described the key appointment as one which formalised and expanded R/GA’s in-demand consulting offering in Australia.

Says Bezzina: “Drew adds even greater firepower to our goal of enabling client’s businesses to grow. He’ll be instrumental in helping equip clients with the tools to become more customer-centric, data-driven, purpose-led and creatively-fueled. We could not be more excited to have him spearheading our core mission.”

Klonsky brings with him nearly two decades of innovation expertise. He joins R/GA from Fahrenheit 212, where he held the role of managing director for the company’s San Francisco office, and prior to this was an Entrepreneur in Residence within Nike’s Innovation Accelerator.

He also founded the independent Portland-based design and product innovation consultancy, Citizen Inc, grew it to over 80 employees, and worked on projects with brands including Intel, Disney and Samsung. Earlier in his career he served as CMO at Chockstone where he built the largest gift and loyalty card platform of its day, which was eventually sold to Subway.

In the new role, Klonsky will also work closely with R/GA’s global Business Transformation practice, which was launched in 2015 and now spans five offices across three continents. Unlike the traditional, siloed approach employed by management consulting, R/GA marries consulting practices with 40-years of experience in technology, design, and advertising which has resulted in transformational work for clients including Walmart, Banco Bradesco and Siemens.  

Klonsky said his focus would be to ensure the delivery of innovative, integrated solutions in the market via this unique proposition.

Says Klonsky: “R/GA’s promise is ‘transformation at speed’, which we’re able to make by combining a consultative approach with the ability to execute. I’m excited to work with clients on developing the strategies, products and services to help derail disruption and drive the kind of large-scale, deeply-rooted change that makes transformation transformation, not evolution.”