LIDA Welcomes Simon Calvert as New Chief Strategy Officer

Direct agency LIDA has appointed Simon Calvert as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). He joins the agency in August from gyro where he was Chief Strategy & Technology Officer.

In his new role at LIDA he will report into the agency’s CEO, Victoria Fox, and will be responsible for the agency's planning department and strategic capabilities. He will work closely with clients such as O2, IKEA and Land Rover.

Bringing a wealth of agency experience to LIDA, Calvert joins the senior management line-up alongside Matthew Heath, Nicky Bullard and Victoria Fox. He will sit on the LIDA management board.

Mathew Heath, LIDA’s current Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer, will continue in his role as the agency’s Chairman, focusing on widening the agency’s technology and data offering, to drive true personalisation across channels and will continue to push LIDA to the forefront of the changing Direct Marketing industry.

Heath will also focus on the agency’s global growth which saw its first international shop opening in Sydney in 2014 – now 50 people strong after winning major appointments from Lexus, IAG, Google and CommBank. Plans for other key international markets are already well underway.

Victoria Fox, LIDA CEO, commented:  “With technology and data flooding the market the direct industry is rapidly changing and it’s an exciting time for all at LIDA. We are set to continue our growth and we have hired Simon to help lead the way. There aren’t many in this business with Simon’s track record and his rich knowledge and experience in CRM, advertising, digital, media and technology will help us decode the opportunities for true personalization across channels and translate these into strategies that can provide real commercial advantage for our clients. He also has the brain the size of the planet, which helps.”

Simon Calvert, LIDA’s incoming CSO commented:  “LIDA have a phenomenal reputation and the agency has a fantastic set of clients. I look forward to helping to continue new impressive growth and development”.

Calvert has had a long agency career, working at shops including Mindshare Worldwide, Digitas, EuroRSCG, McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi, Michaelides & Bednash and DraftFCB. During his time, he has worked across a variety of multi-national brands including HSBC, Unilever, American Express, VW, Nestle and NIVEA.

Whilst at Mindshare, he was responsible for the group’s strategic direction across a variety of sectors including FMCG, automotive, financial services and technology. He doubled the size of the agency’s digital strategy and delivery team in two years through organic business growth. 

When Calvert worked DraftFCB, he was also the brains behind the team of strategists that were central to winning the $700m Beiersdorf-owned global NIVEA account from TBWA in 96 countries.