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Strategy officer Kate Smither trades M&C for Saatchi & Saatchi after just 18 months

Smither lead the Commonwealth Bank strategy team at M&C Saatchi

Smither lead the Commonwealth Bank strategy team at M&C Saatchi

Kate Smither, one of the initial major hires by M&C Saatchi’s chief strategy officer Justin Graham when he joined the agency is leaving to take on the chief strategy role at Saatchi & Saatchi.

The move comes just days after M&C shocked the market by winning the Woolworths‘ business from Leo Burnett.

Smither, who was with M&C for 18 months, was the lead across all of the Commonwealth Bank’s communications at M&C and has worked on a diverse range of clients throughout her career, such as AFL, Cadbury, AGL and Medibank.

Smither returned from the UK, where she had been a global planning director with Ogilvy, in 2014, to take up the role at M&C Saatchi under Graham as the agency bolstered its strategic offering.

Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Michael Rebelo said Smither’s strategic leadership, working on the famed Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign, had played an important role in its success.

“She is a proven strategic leader who is passionate about creativity that solves client’s business problems. Her international and Australian experience will be a great source of insight for our clients and importantly the chemistry fit with our culture is spot on,” said Rebelo.

Smither said the opportunity to join Saatchi and Saatchi was “too good to pass up”, while M&C’s Graham said Smither had brought “big thinking and ambition” to the role in her time at the agency.

Simon Canning

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