R/GA Tokyo hires Ex-AKQA London ECD Masaya Nakade in Executive Creative Director role

R/GA Tokyo has lured Masaya Nakade to the role of Executive Creative Director. Nakade leaves AKQA London after 16 years leading creative teams globally and will join R/GA Tokyo to helm the agency’s multidisciplinary teams.

Nakade will be responsible for leading the creative vision for R/GA Tokyo and driving transformational work across its agency roster.

A creative veteran in the industry, Nakade brings with him over two decades of experience globally in the field. He was most recently the long-standing Executive Creative Director at AKQA London, for 16 years, leading work for some of the agency’s biggest clients including Forevermark, VSCO, Ford, Bvlgari, Verizon, Kotex, Muji, and most notably, a global suite of Nike cross categories such as The Olympics, Global Nike Women, Nike Training Club, Nike Run Club and more. Over the years, Nakade has been highly awarded at international award shows including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, CLIO, LIA, Eurobest and more.

“I’m excited and honoured to have Masaya join us to lead our creative teams and bring transformative ideas to life for our clients,” said Yosuke Suzuki, Managing Director, R/GA Tokyo. “We have been experiencing exponential growth and success since we started in 2017, working with Japanese and global clients alike. Masaya’s addition to R/GA Tokyo is sure to give our clients a distinctive edge in this competitive landscape,” he added.

Seamus Higgins, VP Chief Creative Officer, R/GA Asia Pacific said: “Masaya is a globally recognised leader in our creative industry and we’re incredibly excited to have him join us. His roots in design and technology coupled with his passion for creating news ways for brands to connect with their audiences makes him an absolute asset to our creative talent bench. I can’t wait to see the incredible work and thinking that’s going to come out of the Tokyo team with Masaya’s leadership.”

Nakade said: “Change has constantly been at the heart of R/GA, and they stand by this principle with the transformation of their agency model every nine years. Their transformational nature resonated with me, and it’s refreshing to see their work and thinking constantly evolving and adapting. It’s an exciting time to be back in Japan and now with R/GA. I look forward to getting started with the team.”