Masaya Nakade relocates back to Tokyo and joins R/GA Japan

16 September 2020 Consultancy.asia

Creative veteran Masaya Nakade has relocated back to Japan after spending sixteen years in Europe. 

Back in Tokyo, Masaya Nakade has joined R/GA as Executive Creative Director of its Tokyo office, one of the firm’s five locales in Asia Pacific and sixteen globally. “It’s an exciting time to be back in Japan and now with R/GA. I look forward to getting started with the team,” he said. 

Japanese-origin Nakade brings with him over two decades of experience in creative marketing and consultancy to the firm. Most recently, he was the long-standing Executive Creative Director of rival AKQA in London, where he led the work for some of the agency’s top 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. 

His track record has seen him awarded recognitions at several international award shows including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, CLIO, LIA, Eurobest and more.

Masaya Nakade, Executive Creative Director, R/GA

Seamus Higgins, Chief Creative Officer of R/GA Asia Pacific and Yosuke Suzuki, Managing Director of the Tokyo office, both took the time to welcome the high-profile signing to the team. “Masaya is a globally recognised leader in our creative industry and we’re incredibly excited to have him join us,” said Higgins. Suzuki added, “I’m honoured to have Masaya join us to lead our creative teams and bring transformative ideas to life for our clients.” 

Nakade has been made responsible for leading the creative vision of the Tokyo team, helping clients with creating news ways to connect with their audiences, while optimising existing approaches and channels. 

Asked why he picked R/GA as his agency of choice – Japan’s is home to most of the world’s leading players – Nakade pointed at R/GA’s dedication to continuous innovation, practising what it preaches towards its clients. “Change has constantly been at the heart of R/GA, and they stand by this principle. Their transformational nature resonated with me, and it’s refreshing to see their work and thinking constantly evolving and adapting.” 

Leveraging his long spell at the other side of the world, Nakade hopes to inject some of London’s diverse culture into R/GA’s work locally, while respecting the Japanese culture and heritage he knows so well. “I’d like to open up conversations here in Japan,” he said.

R/GA’s Tokyo office launched in 2017 and has seen strong growth since, building relationships with a roster of clients including Equinox, Nike and Shiseido. Other leaders in the domestic office include Anthony Baker, Kumi Tominaga, Tuomas Peltoniemi, Jessica Knight and Jehan Leanage.

Last month, R/GA’s Singapore office won a bid to work with one of Asia’s fastest growing startups.

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