Affinity has been named Australia’s most effective digital agency in Warc’s Effective 100 2019 and to maintain its difference, the agency has removed the account management layer between itself and its clients. The agency now has ten client-facing strategists underlining its commitment to great thinking from beginning to end of the process and strengthening its ability to keep its focus glued to business outcomes for clients.

The shift to this new agency model means that it has made three senior appointments.

Russell Smyth has joined as creative director, bringing with him something rare for a creative. Smyth has been a long-standing creative at agencies in his 20-year career. He was creative director at Ogilvy for eight years, a creative director at The Campaign Palace for seven years and a creative at Batey for seven years. He has worked for Vodafone, Pfizer, Milo, Kimberly Clark and Telstra, State and Federal government departments, including Transport for NSW’s Drink Driving Plan B, Drug Driving MDT and Double Demerits, and on numerous Australian Government campaigns.

Lisa Christie has joined as group media director, Giorgia Butler as senior strategist and brand director.

Luke Brown, chief executive officer of Affinity, stated, “We’re proud to have attracted the calibre of talent in Lisa, Giorgia and Russell. They’re already demonstrating their exceptional talent in working with our data-driven approach and are making a huge difference to our clients on a daily basis.”

The new appointments complement those of the existing leadership team – chief executive officer, Luke Brown; chief strategy officer, Angela Smith; senior strategist and digital director, Rob Mills; and Senior Strategist and CRM director, David Ryder.

Brown added, “Clients are loving having access to critical thinking across every single conversation and appreciate our ability to constantly add value while streamlining the process.”