Rival Marketing Consultancy Names Tim Bildsten Creative Director

Feb. 18, 2026

Rival, the independent, integrated marketing consultancy, has recruited Tim Bildsten to serve as Creative Director of its creative department. 

Bildsten brings a unique and expansive knowledge about marketing that includes senior roles on the client side and at a number of top creative shops. He most recently served as Group Creative Director at BJ's Wholesale Club and his resume includes roles at such leading hot shops as Carmichael Lynch, Fallon, Hill Holiday, Mullen Lowe, Martin, Johannes Leonardo and Arnold. Bildsten has partnered with global, blue-chip brands such as Subaru, Google, Volkswagen, JetBlue, Burger King, Royal Caribbean, Chewy, Progressive, Cadillac and E-Trade. He has taken home hardware from the industry’s most prestigious awards shows, such as the Cannes Lions, the One Show, the Clios, the Effies, the Webbys and more. 

Tim Cawley, Rival Partner & CCO said:

"Tim has done huge productions. But he is scrappy and street smart. His work is modern and atypical: sometimes ad-like, sometimes not. He’s been client-side and agency side. He’s done his best work on his biggest assignments and is that rare creative who’s delivered the goods everywhere he’s worked. What a great addition to our growing team."

 

Bildsten joins an agency on a hot streak: Rival’s 16 new business wins (project or AOR) in 2025 include Tumblr, Burger King, Kuerig Dr Pepper, Plante Moran, Webflow and Xerox. He will direct a creative department that has more than doubled its headcount in the last six months and immediately takes the leadership helm for clients such as Lawn Doctor, Xerox, Plante Moran and Goodfoods. The fast-growing agency has just relocated to a new, larger headquarters in an historic mansion just outside of Boston.

Rival, with offices in Boston, London, and Cape Town, empowers brands to challenge and disrupt the conventions in their categories to deliver outsized and innovative solutions. The agency’s capabilities include brand development, go-to-market strategy, media planning and buying, data and martech management and creative production. The agency also publishes “The Rival 50,” an annual list of the 50 global brands that are rewriting the rules of modern marketing, in conjunction with Imperial College Business School, London.