Vice President
With more than 25 years of both agency and corporate experience, Riff brings a seasoned, balanced and fresh perspective to Padilla Speer Beardsley clients. He is adept at selecting and effectively integrating various communications disciplines to solve business problems and accomplish business goals.
Riff's integrated expertise stems from several years leading communications planning in agency environments where he had advertising, public relations, relationship marketing, and digital and social media at his disposal. His expertise helps clients understand how to plan and implement strategies in a discipline-neutral manner, resulting in idea-centric campaigns that engage and mobilize customers.
As a vice president at Padilla, he works with clients across industries, focusing on planning and counsel, branding, and positioning and messaging, as well as supporting the agency's crisis communications practice.
Prior to joining Padilla, he served more than 12 years as managing director of Minneapolis-based Exponent PR, working in the business-to-consumer and business-to-business space for clients including DuPont, General Mills, Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle Purina, Iams and Turkish Tourism.
Before that, Riff served as director, corporate communications for Koch Industries, one of the world's largest privately held firms. There he developed and directed corporate, media and crisis communications programs while managing local and national communications agencies, gaining key insights into the client-agency relationship from the client's perspective.
Riff holds a bachelor's degree in English and Education from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and engaged in graduate studies at the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism. He has served on numerous boards, including those for Saint Francis Regional Medical Center, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Special Olympics in Wichita, Kansas, and the Red Cross, Courage Center, Penumbra Theatre and Jenny's Light in the Twin Cities.