We are Rival.

Eric Fulwiler has spent 15+ years building brands and businesses, from billion-dollar startups to Fortune 50 companies. Before co-founding Rival, he spent a decade in the agency world - including as one of the first 15 employees and MD of EMEA at VaynerMedia - before becoming Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer at 11:FS, the global fintech consultancy. Today, he leads Rival with a straightforward philosophy: hire the most exceptional people in the industry, then build the conditions for them to do the best work of their careers.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Crocs

Jenna Cummings has spent more than a decade in media and marketing, working across London, Singapore, and New York for some of the world's biggest brands. She was one of the first ten people on VaynerMedia's paid media team and went on to become VP, Media for EMEA, where she met her future Rival co-founders. Before joining Rival, she was Global Capability Lead and VP of Media Strategy & Planning at Jellyfish, working across a business operating in 20+ markets. She knows the media landscape inside out - and has spent a decade building on it rather than being led by it.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Sabah

Dean Aragón has spent 33 years working on some of the world's biggest brands, and his view of marketing comes down to something simple: it's all B2Human. Today, Dean is CEO & Vice-Chairman of Shell Brands International AG and Global Vice-President, Brand for the Shell Group, where he leads brand strategy, policy, and standards across the business. Before Shell, he spent 15 years in senior brand development roles at Unilever across a range of categories and markets. He brings that perspective to Rival - and to every brand challenge that lands on his desk.

Based in

Zurich, Switzerland

Favorite challenger

Degiro

Tim Cawley has worked as a Writer, Director, and Creative Director on some of the world's biggest brands. He joins Rival following the acquisition of HeyLet'sGo - the creative boutique he founded - which was named a winner at Ad Age's 2023 Small Agency of the Year Awards. His work has spanned JetBlue, Dunkin', Major League Baseball, the Boston Celtics, Harvard, Play-Doh, Indeed, and major B2B and fintech brands, earning recognition from Cannes, The One Show, Clio, the Webbys, and Communication Arts. He has also directed hundreds of ads, plus two feature documentaries that have been acquired for distribution and screened in festivals around the world.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Guild Guitars

Lance Koenig has spent more than 20 years helping some of the world's biggest brands figure out what makes them matter. Before joining Rival, he held senior strategy roles at Havas, The Martin Agency, Forsman & Bodenfors, Leo Burnett, and MullenLowe, working with brands including Disney, The Washington Post, TD Ameritrade, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and JetBlue. In 2026, Lance was named the Worick Visiting Professor in Market Research at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. As Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Rival, he believes the best creative work starts with empathy, not assumptions - a perspective he brings to every brand challenge.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Who Gives A Crap

Grace has spent 15+ years inside agencies and consultancies such as R/GA, 11:FS, WongDoody and Leo Burnett; building the systems and teams that make great work possible. Her experience sits at the intersection of operations and people: the belief that how a place is run determines what it can produce. At Rival, she drives delivery - designing an agency model fit for how the industry actually works today, and the structures and conditions that facilitate exceptional talent.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Bold Bean Co.

Kostas Voudouris has spent 15+ years turning emerging technology into products and tools that solve real business problems. Before joining Rival, he led innovation and product teams across WPP, EssenceMediacom, and Choreograph, building AI-driven solutions, commerce platforms, and media technology for global brands including Apple, Google, NBCUniversal, and L'Oréal. His work has taken ideas from early prototypes through to enterprise platforms used by more than 80 clients worldwide. As Rival's Chief Product Officer and Partner, Kostas turns the agency's sharpest thinking into agent-powered products and practical tools that help challenger brands stand out and scale.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Whoop

Jess Martin Nordin has built her career helping fast-scaling businesses and the people behind them navigate growth without losing what makes them special. She developed her operational grounding at VaynerMedia and 11:FS, supporting both through significant periods of change, before working closely with the co-founders of Permutive as the company secured Series C funding and scaled its privacy-first programmatic infrastructure. At Rival, Jess leads the tools, systems, and ways of working that keep the business moving across London, Boston, and Cape Town. From AI-enabled workflows and institutional knowledge to culture, and operational cadence, she works to ensure Rival's teams can do their best work.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Cercle

Cecelia Parrish has spent a decade building strategies that give creative teams something worth making. Before joining Rival, she was VP, Global Strategy Director at The Martin Agency and VP, Group Planning Director at Havas Creative Network, working across some of the world's biggest brands. Earlier in her career, she worked at Deeplocal, developing data-driven insights and strategic platforms for brands including Google, Netflix, Too Faced Cosmetics, and Dick's Sporting Goods. Today, Cecelia is a Principal at Rival, where she brings strategy and creative closer together from the start - with a belief that the best work comes from getting to the heart of a problem, finding the tension worth exploring, and giving people something they can actually care about.

Based in

Virginia, United States

Favorite challenger

Athletic Brewing Co

Romain Bonnet has spent more than 15 years in paid media, with a particular focus on paid search and retail media. Before joining Rival, he was VP, Paid Media at Jellyfish and Head of Paid Search at Manning Gottlieb OMD, working across clients including Waitrose, Virgin, Swarovski, TSB, Renault, and Nissan. His work has earned recognition from the Drum Search Awards and WARC, and he has appeared on stage with Think with Google. Today, Romain is a Principal at Rival, where he focuses on finding smarter, more tailored ways to turn paid media into real business results.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Too Good To Go

Eniko Vizi spent five years in tour management and international customer experience at Impact Leisure and British Airways before moving into digital marketing and performance roles at Qatalog and Eco Energio. She holds an MSc in Marketing from King's College London, graduating with Distinction, and has grown at Rival from Associate Consultant to Consultant. Today, she helps challenger brands shape their identities and narratives, bringing a performance mindset to the question of what makes a brand worth choosing.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Little Moons

Adam Hewlett has spent more than 12 years across marketing, consulting, agency, and in-house roles, with a focus on finding what makes brands valuable to people. Before joining Rival, he spent nearly a decade at John Ayling & Associates, progressing from Media Executive to Business Director, before becoming Head of Marketing at the Lawn Tennis Association - where he helped drive 5x growth in digital channels and a 10x improvement in performance. He later founded his own consultancy, advising businesses on brand strategy and sustainable growth. Today, Adam is a Principal at Rival, leading brand and growth strategy while helping build the Cape Town office.

Based in

Cape Town, South Africa

Favorite challenger

Finisterre

Tori Phillips-Walmsley is an award-winning Creative Director and graphic designer with 20 years of experience building distinctive brands through concept-driven design. Her career has spanned global brands including Nike, Lego, Converse, and Apple, as well as fintech startups and high-end independent brands – giving her an eye for both the big idea and the details that make it work. She later freelanced as a brand design consultant before co-founding two London design agencies, where she focused on building identities that help brands stand out and connect with their audiences. Today, Tori leads design at Rival, bringing together strategy, creativity, and a refined visual point of view to build brands that don't look like everyone else.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Surreal Cereal

Shail Shah brings first-hand experience of what it takes to build a brand from the ground up. Before joining Rival, he built and sold his own bedding brand on Amazon in the US, developing a practical understanding of digital commerce, paid media, and the role branding plays in getting people to choose one product over another. He went on to earn an MSc in Strategic Marketing from Imperial College London, deepening his interest in brand strategy, marketing, and consulting. Today, Shail is a Consultant at Rival, where he brings an entrepreneurial mindset to the work, with a particular interest in how strong brands and smart marketing can turn a good product into a business people actually choose.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Ozlo Sleep

Grant Frost has spent more than 10 years in marketing, with the last seven focused on paid media and paid search. Before joining Rival, he progressed through paid media and search roles at Jellyfish, managing Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising accounts with monthly budgets exceeding £1 million across global markets. He has also held marketing and communications roles at Excellerate Services, Zimbali Estate Management Association, and Full Circle Communications, giving him a broader view of how paid media fits into the wider marketing mix. His work has earned recognition from the Drum EMEA Marketing Awards, including a Silver award. Today, Grant is a Senior Consultant at Rival, combining data, automation, and AI to find smarter ways to drive efficient growth in a paid media landscape increasingly shaped by black-box models.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

From Software

Owen Phillips-Walmsley has spent more than 20 years building brands through design, with work spanning identity, packaging, signage, editorial, events, and retail. In 2012, he founded Bread Collective, a multidisciplinary studio whose debut at the London 2012 Olympic Games led to commissions from Nike, Lacoste, and Converse across the UK and US. A decade later, he co-founded Oat Studio, focusing on brand transformation for businesses ranging from social-enterprise coffee roasters to fintech startups and high-end restaurants. Today, Owen leads design at Rival, bringing a concept-led approach and a belief that the best challenger brands should be as distinctive in how they look as they are in what they stand for.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Liquid Death

Christiaan Smith has built his career in finance, progressing from SAICA trainee to Chartered Accountant before joining Rival. He spent more than three years at Colenbrander, where he qualified as a CA and developed his experience across financial management and project work. Today, Christiaan is Finance Manager at Rival, where he is building the finance function across the group, strengthening financial controls, reporting, and processes as the business scales. He brings a commercial and analytical approach to the role, with a focus on building the financial foundations that give a growing business room to move.

Based in

Cape Town, South Africa

Favorite challenger

Switch Energy Drinks

Byron Collier brings a background in computer science, statistics, and fintech to the business of building brands. He started his career engineering and optimizing technology solutions in high-pressure, regulated environments, developing a data-driven approach to solving complex problems. He later co-founded South Africa's first Amazon agency, combining that technical foundation with hands-on experience in e-commerce, marketplace growth, and brand development. Today, Byron works with challenger brands at Rival, bringing together data, technology, and commercial thinking to help businesses grow beyond their home markets without losing sight of what makes them relevant.

Based in

Cape Town, South Africa

Favorite challenger

Zero Skateboards

Mikayla Belson is a Creative Director whose work has earned recognition across advertising, including being named the most awarded Art Director at the 2023 New England Hatch Awards. She has built her career across retail, tech, finance, education, toys, home services, travel, and insurance, working her way from Art Director to Creative Director across HeyLet'sGo, Sleek Machine, and Rival. Her work has appeared in Communication Arts, Archive, Ads of the World, Adweek, and Muse by Clio, with additional recognition from The One Show. Today, Mikayla leads creative at Rival, bringing a broad category perspective and a sharp eye for ideas that make brands stand out.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

The Ordinary

Matt Ruscio has spent more than a decade in film and video production, working across branded content, commercial production, filmmaking and promotional storytelling. Before joining Rival, he built his career as a line producer, agency producer and production manager, leading projects for clients including CBS, Disney, PayPal, Kellogg’s and many others across consumer, B2B and entertainment marketing. Today, Matt is a Senior Producer at Rival, where he leads projects from production through delivery, balancing ambitious creative ideas with the practical realities of getting them made. He brings a collaborative, solution-focused approach to the work, focusing heavily on building talented teams, empowering creators and fast problem solving.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

A24

Yuri Carvalho has built his career around making stories work, from hundreds of music videos to commercial campaigns for brands and agencies. Earlier in his career, he produced and edited music videos, developing a sharp instinct for rhythm, pacing, and visual storytelling. He went on to lead commercial projects as an editor, shaping campaigns from raw footage through to final delivery, while also directing and shooting when the work called for it. His work has earned recognition including a Bronze Hatch Award and features on Ads of the World. Today, Yuri is a full-time Filmmaker at Rival, bringing the same attention to story and craft to every frame, whether behind the camera or in the edit.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Rockstar Games

Hadley Kaeyer is a graphic designer whose work spans the home, food, healthcare, tech, nonprofit, and arts industries. Before joining Rival, she built her experience across graphic design, social media, and communications, including roles at Fresh LLC and Elon University's Kernodle Center for Civic Life. Her work has appeared in publications including Graphic Design for Dummies, New England Home, and NorthShore Magazine. Today, Hadley is a Design Associate at Rival, where she brings a hands-on approach and a sharp eye for visual storytelling to work that helps challenger brands stand out.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Olipop

Giovanna Milora brings a performance-minded approach to paid media, grounded in marketing analytics and a belief that the sharpest thinking beats a bigger budget. A summa cum laude graduate of Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business, she has worked across CPG advertising, paid media, and large-scale email marketing, running campaigns across Meta, TikTok, and Amazon and managing Salesforce Marketing Cloud automations. Before joining Rival, she also led a 30-person student creative agency, gaining hands-on experience in creative leadership and team building. Today, Giovanna is an Associate on Rival's paid media team, where she helps challenger brands build smarter strategies that cut through complexity and drive results that outpace their budgets.

Based in

Boston

Favorite challenger

Rhode Skin

Dakota Steyn has spent five years working across content, social media, brand strategy, and conceptual copywriting, with a background in Literary Studies and Media and Writing. She began her advertising career at Publicis Groupe Africa, working on Heineken, before joining LePub as a Junior Conceptual Copywriter across global brands including Oreo, Stimorol, and Dentyne. Today, Dakota is an Associate Content Strategist at Rival, where she leads Rival Media's written voice and social presence - turning thinking on challenger brands into storytelling that's as precise as it is distinctive.

Based in

Cape Town, South Africa

Favorite challenger

Bookshop

Clement Mphethi brings a background in physics, mathematics, and data science to the world of marketing. Before joining Rival, he worked as a Data Science Intern at Sand Technologies, building predictive models and segmentation tools for telecommunications data and using Python, SQL, and statistical modeling to turn complex datasets into practical business insights. His work improved model accuracy, reduced computational costs, and helped optimize network planning and tower placement. Today, Clement brings that analytical mindset to Rival, using data, machine learning, and AI to help build smarter marketing strategies and solve problems in ways that create real business impact.

Based in

Cape Town, South Africa

Favorite challenger

Bathu

Josh Lace has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of media, technology, and data. He began his career in platform management at Videology before moving into client strategy at Publicis Media and then account and platform roles at Finecast, where he developed a deeper understanding of the technology behind modern media. Most recently, he was Associate Director, Solutions Development at GroupM, helping turn complex media and technology challenges into practical solutions. Today, Josh is a Data Planner at Rival, where he brings that experience to developing the data offering and turning insight into media and technology strategies that give clients a measurable edge.

Based in

London - UK

Favorite challenger

Monzo

Paige Hoffman has spent more than six years working across advertising, media, and agency life, moving from operations and culture into content production and consulting. Before joining Rival, she held agency services and experience roles at Mediahub and MullenLowe U.S., where she helped teams run better and supported the people and processes behind the work. She later moved into content production at MullenLowe, working with creatives and strategists to bring ideas to life across channels. Today, Paige is a Senior Consultant at Rival, where she brings those perspectives together - moving from brief to finished work with an understanding of what good production and good strategy share: a clear point of view and the discipline to follow it through.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Rhode Skin

Cherese Nolan brings more than 15 years of experience across industries, both in-house and at agency level, to her role as Operations Associate at Rival. Based in Cape Town, she supports the operational infrastructure across people, finance, and IT to keep it running with a systems-builder's approach - anticipating needs before they become problems and executing with consistent precision.

Based in

Cape Town, South Africa

Favorite challenger

Joyride

Lisa Gapinske has spent more than a decade helping businesses solve complex problems, working across agencies of different sizes and bringing strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and operational rigor to the work. Before joining Rival, she was President of HeyLet'sGo, where she led client relationships and built the agency's operating model from the ground up. Her experience spans B2C and B2B brands including Harvard, Bank of America, Toyota, Hasbro, Plymouth Rock Insurance, and Computershare. Today, Lisa brings that experience to Rival - helping clients find smarter, more effective ways forward, with the judgment to know when to push harder and when to hold the line.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Olipop

Raheel Alam is building Rival's IT function from the ground up, bringing an engineer's mindset to everything from infrastructure and security to automation and AI. An IT Systems Engineer and Automation Developer by background, he previously ran global IT for a workforce of more than 100 people, building custom automations across HR, recruitment, and communications. His expertise spans Google Workspace, cloud infrastructure, Google Cloud, and AI-integrated internal tools using Gemini. Today, Raheel leads IT at Rival, where he is focused on building smarter systems rather than simply maintaining the ones that already exist.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Huel

Tim Bildsten has built his career across some of the advertising industry's most respected creative shops and brands, from Arnold, MullenLowe, Fallon, and Carmichael Lynch to BJ's Wholesale Club, where he most recently served as Group Creative Director. His work has spanned global brands including Google, Volkswagen, Subaru, JetBlue, Burger King, Royal Caribbean, Chewy, and E*Trade, from big-budget campaigns and Super Bowl spots to scrappy social stunts. Along the way, his work has earned recognition from Cannes Lions, The One Show, the Clios, the Effies, and the Webbys. Today, Tim is Creative Director at Rival, where he brings experience from both sides of the table and a belief that the best ideas don't need to look like advertising to work.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

The Next One

Quentin Duvergé has spent more than a decade at the intersection of media, technology, and product, moving from media research and programmatic buying into engineering and product leadership. Before joining Rival, he held product and engineering roles at Essence, EssenceMediacom, and Choreograph, building media automation platforms and AI-driven solutions across product, engineering, and data. Earlier in his career, he worked in programmatic media at Essence, Gamned!, and Skaze, using data and automation to make media operations more efficient. Today, Quentin is Lead Product Engineer at Rival, where he builds the tools and infrastructure behind smarter media.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Owala

Lila Berger is an Associate Art Director who has built her early career across art direction, graphic design, and advertising. Before joining Rival, she worked as a Graphic Designer at New Balance and as a freelance designer at Another Thing, alongside earlier art direction roles at Wasserman Next Gen and Boston University AdLab. She also worked as a Teaching Assistant in Design Strategy and Software at Boston University, where she developed her approach to both design and creative thinking. Today, Lila brings that mix of design and art direction to Rival, where she's focused on creating challenger ideas that push brands somewhere new.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Surreal Cereal

Hannah has spent the last four years turning strategy and cultural insight into creative work that gets noticed. Before joining Rival, she was a Copywriter at MMB and Argus, working across brands like Toyota, Hannaford Supermarkets, BIGGBY Coffee, Foster Grant, MassDPH, MassDOT, and MassDCR. She has received recognition for her work at the New England Hatch Awards. Today, Hannah is a Copywriter at Rival, where she comes up with weird, bold ideas for challenger brands.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Grillo’s pickles

Mike Leyne has built his career around making things, from video and short-form content to live productions and even video games. Before joining Rival, he worked in video production and editing across local television and social media for various brands and artists. Today, Mike is an Associate Producer at Rival, where he brings hands-on experience across production, editing, and emerging AI tools to the work.

Based in

Boston, USA

Favorite challenger

Loop Earplugs

Christie Fraser has spent nearly a decade working across graphic design, branding, and freelance creative, building experience across both independent studios and larger agencies. Before joining Rival, he was a Junior Designer at Oat Studio, where he began to build a close relationship with Rival's current Design Directors, having gained earlier experience at Emperor. He has also worked independently, giving him experience across a range of clients from music producers to fashion and jewellery brands. Today, Christie is a Designer at Rival, where he brings a considered design instinct to briefs that ask challenger brands to look and feel different.

Based in

London, UK

Favorite challenger

Nothing