Media, customer experience, and digital agency Affinity has appointed Will Nichols as chief strategy officer.
Nichols was previously director of strategy and innovation at DDB Sydney’s customer experience agency, Track, and has also held roles at TBWA and BMF.
He steps into the role that was held by co-founder Angela Smith, who becomes chief brand officer. Group media strategist Rob Mills has also been promoted to head of digital after two years with the agency.
Nichols was previously at DDB Sydney’s Track
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However, Nichols was hard to pin down, according to chief executive Luke Brown.
“At Affinity, we have an approach we believe is very different from anything else in the market, so it was critical we find a thinker who embodied that,” said Brown.
“Will brings the kind of commercial, collaborative and creative thinking we’ve always championed, and we’re lucky to have him. It’s taken almost a year to track him down, but it was well worth it.”
Nichols has worked in strategy and client-side roles in both the UK and Australia, servicing clients such as Volkswagen, MYOB, and the Commonwealth Bank. In his new role, he will be responsible for the “day-to-day thinking”, working with both Brown and Smith.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Affinity. They have a unique combination of capabilities from media to data to creative and technology, but always focused on delivering business outcomes for clients,” Nichols said.
“This has never been more critical than today, as brands have been so challenged by recent events.”
Smith added that “we’ve been seeing a substantial ripple effect from the work we’re doing on the overall performance of the brands we work with. The evolution of my role is to maximise this”.