Torres Joins SRW Agency with One Mission: Infuse Fresh Ideas and Creative Fuel into All SRW Partnerships
SRW Agency, an independent, full-service marketing agency with a penchant for growing natural health and wellness brands, appointed Bienvenido “Benny” Torres as its first Chief Idea Officer.
Torres brings his diverse experiences as creative director, copywriter, college lecturer, storyteller and stand-up comic to give life to the agency’s newly created role. He will work across all agency accounts, from Natural Foods household names Simple Mills and Kite Hill to Food 2.0 entrepreneurs like Kitchfix and Phyter bar.
“Benny’s role exists to create space for imagination. He is outlining processes and language to give creative responsibility to everyone in the agency, so we all have the tools to bring our ideas to the agency’s partners. Whether we’re creating a 30-second social media video, or executing a total re-brand, the same amount of creative energy is going into all our projects.
“When you quit advertising, you quit the creative director model where the ‘big ideas’ are reserved for your ‘big’ projects and the processes for creating them are shrouded in mystery,” said SRW founder and Chief Creative Officer, Brian Rolling.
“For the past two years, I have worked with the agency’s team on a project basis and find the ‘quit advertising’ mindset energising. The founders have an ultimate respect for ideas and offer the freedom to have fun, fail forward and create work that excites our clients and consumers. In my role as Chief Idea Officer, I am folding together my passion for creative thinking and my work as a college lecturer and cultivator of young talent.
“The ‘quit advertising’ credo is a thought exercise and challenge. Obviously, we are doing advertising, but how do we avoid the traps of agencies of the past? How can we connect with partners beyond how a traditional agency would, to push them to fresher and funkier places? As CIO, these are the questions I will continue to ask of myself and the agency to help ensure we infuse more creativity into all our work,” said Torres.
Prior to joining the agency, Torres served as a copywriter for Chicago-based Frequency540 working on its Nintendo and Caterpillar Foundation accounts. He also worked with Nintendo as a Senior Strategist and copywriter while at Leo Burnett Worldwide.
Before joining Leo Burnett, Torres served as a Junior Creative Director and copywriter for Denuo, a Publicis Groupe agency, working with brands including Old El Paso and Redbox.
In addition to his agency experience, Torres has held positions as an instructor at the Chicago Portfolio School and a staff writer for a gaming website.
He is currently a lecturer at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, where he teaches a variety of writing and creative classes. He also recently developed and leads two courses on digital creativity and professional coaching.
