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Katie Rigg-Smith appointed Mindshare CEO

New Mindshare CEO Katie Rigg-Smith and new COO Sharb Farjami

New Mindshare CEO Katie Rigg-Smith and new COO Sharb Farjami

Mindshare has confirmed last night’s reports of the appointment of chief strategy officer Katie Rigg-Smith as the new CEO of Mindshare Australasia.

Rigg-Smith is to take the helm of the agency after the departure of boss James Greet to run Ikon Communications was announced yesterday. Mindshare has also promoted chief exchange officer Sharb Farjami to the role of COO but with continued oversight over the trading desk.

Although Rigg-Smith will not be the first female leader of a major Australian media agency – her predecessors have included Belinda Rowe at Zenith Optimedia, Anne Parsons at Mediacom and Tracey Michael at Initiative – she will be the only current one. She will also be among the youngest.

“It’s a testament to the breadth of talent at Mindshare that we can promote Katie and Sharb into these leadership positions,” said John Steedman GroupM CEO and chairman.

“Both Katie & Sharb are outstanding talents and I know they will take Mindshare to the next level and continue to deliver original thinking to their clients.”

Rigg-Smith has been with the WPP agency for 14 years. She joined as a graduate trainee around 14 years ago and was given the chief strategy role two years ago.

“I am incredibly excited by this opportunity and look forward to working alongside the Mindshare leadership team in continuing to focus on great thinking that delivers results for our clients’ business,” said Rigg-Smith.

Sharb joined the company two years ago from Viacom.  Mindshare said it will appoint a new strategy officer “in due course” to replace Rigg-Smith.

Nic Christensen

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