Mistress strengthens Los Angeles HQ and Hamburg office with new appointments

Mistress, the multi-disciplinary creative agency founded by Aussie expats Damien Eley and Scott Harris, has made strategic personnel moves in an effort to strengthen leadership at their Los Angeles headquarters and bolster creative services in its Hamburg office.

The agency today announced the promotion of Ben Beale (right) to associate creative director in its Los Angeles office. Originally from Grey UK in London, Beale joined Mistress last year as creative director. In a simultaneous move, Mistress announced today that Rory Forrest (above, left), also a former creative director from Grey UK in London, has been hired as an ACD at Mistress.tech to add creative firepower to the agency’s Hamburg, Germany offices. A partnership between the agency and the pioneering internet and software company freiheit.com, Mistress.tech focuses on creating software and technological marketing platforms for brands.

Forrest and Beale had worked together as a creative team at Grey London, on such brands as Lucozade and Macleans, among others. Graduates of the prestigious Bucks Ad School in London, their work includes print, broadcast, viral video and digital campaigns. They also spearheaded a host of original creative projects, such as an exhibition of social media profile pics in the London Portrait Gallery and the Louvre, and generated royal wedding messages for William and Kate in the form of freestyle raps. Beale’s recent work with Mistress includes the controversial stunt to launch VH1’s Naked Dating series while also leading agency’s PayPal business which has seen PayPal go up against Apple’s iWallet.

Says Harris: “Rory and Ben are two of the most unconventional and inspiring creative directors we’ve ever come across. They’re as much entrepreneurs and brand builders as they are creatives. The impact of their work on our clients’ business has been extraordinary.”

Says Eley: “Rory’s hire at Mistress.tech synchs up perfectly with our creative ambitions outside the US and the need to build our creative services in that office. We have a number of big, exciting new business opportunities coming through Mistress.tech and the European market so it’s important the leadership is in place to handle those opportunities.”