SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Independent creative, design and media agency Enigma has appointed senior digital expert Chris Richardson to the newly created role of Executive Director of Digital, responsible for boosting the agency’s data and technology offering and leading its national digital team.
As part of his role, Chris will lead the digital function across Enigma’s three offices, increasing the agency’s digital capabilities and continuing to build its national reputation for inspiring growth for ambitious brands.
Enigma’s National CEO John Gutteridge said Chris’ appointment spearheaded the latest stage of Enigma’s ongoing investment in talent and capabilities across its business. He shared, “We’re thrilled to have Chris join our team, a digital leader who knows our vision as an agency and has a brilliant ability to push beyond the norm by using a strong mix of insight, data, creativity, and technology to create inspired work.”
With a career spanning more than a decade both internationally and in Australia, Chris was most recently Chief Marketing Officer at fintech start-up Beforepay, responsible for defining the go-to-market strategy and creating a growth engine to achieve rapid customer acquisition.
Prior to that, he was Director of Digital at Edelman, unlocking customer insights and helping brands prove the impact of their work, and previously in his role as General Manager at iProspect, Chris was responsible for helping brands uncover new revenue opportunities by digitally transforming the way they expand, measure, and optimize their customer engagements.
A first-class digital expert, Chris is known for inspiring his team to deliver innovative and results-driven client solutions through fresh and bold thinking, he brings a passion for data, technology, and creativity to Enigma with deep experience across performance, user experience, CRM, content, and measurement.
On his new role, Chris said, “With strong foundations in regional Australia backed by an incredibly knowledgeable team, Enigma has a clear ambition to become an agency powerhouse in metropolitan markets. I’m thrilled to be taking on this role and look forward to supporting our clients in establishing real relationships with customers through mature digital programs.”
“The digital landscape is particularly complex at the moment. Consumers are demanding experiences with greater personalization and sophistication from brands, who themselves are facing dramatic changes to data collection and privacy that will continue to reshape how these customer experiences are curated, targeted, and measured. My job is to help clients successfully navigate this and exceed their business objectives by connecting the right technology, data strategies, and talented people,” he added.
In a further boost to its talent pool and digital capabilities, Enigma also announced the appointment of Mick Armstrong as Group Director. He brings more than 20 years of experience across media, agency, and client-side digital marketing roles. His talent lies in solving client problems and creating solutions using a mix of traditional thinking and new-age tech marketing solutions.
Most recently with Samsung as Head of Digital, Data & Platforms, Mick has led digital transformation projects, both locally and globally. He will work alongside Chris and the extended digital and media teams adding new perspectives to the agency’s already strong offering.
John concluded, “We are an agency with clear ambitions and we need people like Chris and Mick to build digital experiences for our clients. Their passion for their craft sparks another exciting stage in Enigma’s journey. I could not be more delighted with the strength of our digital team and I welcome them both to the business.”
Chris’ and Mick’s appointments are effective immediately.