Published on: August 18, 2026
TBWA\Australia has appointed Ben Nilsen as Chief Strategy Officer, marking the Australian strategist’s return home after a decade working across the US advertising market.
Nilsen joins TBWA\Australia from BBDO New York, where he most recently served as Head of Brand Experience. He relocated to New York around 10 years ago after beginning his international journey with roles at UM Australia and MEC.
He spent more than six years at Droga5 New York between 2017 and 2024, working with clients including Atlassian and establishing and scaling a global media practice that was later integrated into Accenture Song.
Nilsen subsequently joined FCB New York as Head of Brand Experience, where he developed a hybrid creative and strategy function designed to respond to changing audience behaviours, platforms and technology. Following Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG and the closure of the FCB brand, he moved into the corresponding leadership role at BBDO New York.
At BBDO, Nilsen most recently contributed to the agency’s Pringles work featuring Sabrina Carpenter and ‘Pringlelina’. His wider portfolio includes award-winning campaigns for brands such as The New York Times, Meta, Lululemon, Pringles, Airbnb, Chase, Atlassian, Spotify, Hyundai, The Whitney and Christie’s.
Nilsen succeeds Michael Hogg as CSO. Hogg had joined TBWA’s leadership team alongside Managing Director Elektra O’Malley in early 2025. Matt Keon was subsequently appointed Chief Creative Officer. All three senior leaders departed the agency earlier this year.
The appointment comes as TBWA\Australia continues to build its creative and leadership offering. During 2026, the agency has launched campaigns including ‘The Sunburnt Car’ for My Car Tyre & Auto and Croser Wine’s ‘Vignettes of Australian Luxury’. It also appointed inkfish co-founder Darren Borino as Creative Lead.
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