Agency

Creative Agency OK COOL Names Benjamin Arnold First Global CEO

Published on July 13, 2026

OK COOL has appointed Benjamin Arnold as its first-ever Global CEO, formalizing a new leadership structure as the agency targets growth across the U.S., EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa), and APAC (Asia Pacific) in 2026. Arnold moves up from his role as CEO of North America, a position in which he oversaw scaling of the agency’s U.S. business over the past two and a half years.

Founded a decade ago, OK COOL has grown from a single-market boutique into a multi-market creative agency working with brands across culture, sport, lifestyle, and technology. Arnold has previously worked in all three of the agency’s current cities, London, Sydney, and New York, before taking on the global remit.

The agency’s three founders remain in place under the new structure. Liz Stone continues as Chief Creative Officer, Jolyon Varley as Chief Brand Officer, and Ben Gordon as Chief Operating Officer, rounding out the global senior leadership team alongside Arnold.

The appointment also marks a further step in OK COOL’s integration with Residence, the creative network that acquired the agency earlier this year. Arnold’s new role reports directly to Residence founder and CEO Ryan Honey, a structure the companies say is designed to create clearer points of entry for group-wide collaboration while preserving OK COOL’s independent culture and creative identity.

“OK COOL has always believed that the most powerful thing a brand can do is to build cultural associations,” Arnold said in an announcement. “We’ve spent nearly ten years proving that model works. This next chapter is about taking it everywhere.”

“Ben has been significant in taking our business to new heights in the U.S. market, and it’s time to bring his talents to a global scale,” said Stone. “He’s the best person to shape OK COOL’s next chapter.”

The appointment follows a broader reshuffle at the network level. In March, Residence named Ben Langsfeld as Chief Creative Officer and elevated co-founder Orion Tait to Creative Chair, appointments that the network tied to its recent growth trajectory alongside the OK COOL acquisition and the rebranding of VTProDesign to ACRONYM. Both Langsfeld and Tait are co-founders of BUCK, the company that anchors the nine-member Residence network.

Residence, headquartered in Los Angeles, comprises nine independent creative companies, including ACRONYM, BUCK, Creative Lives in Progress, GateMaker, Giant Ant, It’s Nice That, OK COOL, Part & Sum, and Wild.