Matthew Barnes new Riverbed chief creative officer

(Image supplied) Matthew Barnes has joined Riverbed as chief creative officer

“I’m excited to join Riverbed, an independent agency that has done some amazing work.

“More importantly, I resonate with the agency’s philosophy that seeks constantly to create a positive impact,” says Barnes.

Bill Bernbach’s famous aphorism, “Clients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” sums up much of Barnes’ philosophy, and he jokes he would like to win the Nobel Prize for Creativity—if it only existed.

He brings this spirit to Riverbed.

Evolution of the agency

Monalisa Zwambila, CEO and Founder of Riverbed, says this appointment signals an important phase in the agency’s evolving growth strategy.

“Matthew’s huge talent as a creative dynamo will be invaluable.

“His considerable experience and drive are already making an impact at the agency and will ensure that our value proposition is fully reflected in our creative output. I do not doubt that we’re on the right path to enabling our belief in the power of care, to create a positive impact,” says Zwambila.

Barnes career

Barnes joins Riverbed with more than 100 international and local awards, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clios, Effies, and Loeries, and has held leadership roles at Ogilvy and Publicis.

Before moving to Riverbed he was the executive creative director at Publicis Machine_ since July 2022 where he worked on brands such as Heineken, PepsiCo, L'Oreal, and Spotify.

He started at Ogilvy in July 2015 and worked with the agency for just over six years, of which the last two years were as its chief creative officer, in Johannesburg.

During his time at the agency, it went through one of its most successful periods, with clients such as KFC, Cadbury, Vodacom, DStv and MTV and being named the Cannes Lions Top 3 Creative Agency of the Decade AME, Agency Group of The Year, Creative Circle 2018 and Large Agency and Overall Agency of the Year 2018, Adfocus / Financial Mail, amongst others.

The agency was the top-ranked SA Creative agency at Cannes during this period.

He has been consistently ranked at the Loeries.