Sydney independent, DDI, has announced two senior appointments following a year of strong growth.
Angie Laxton, a highly experienced planner, has been promoted to lead strategist at DDI. Laxton joined DDI eighteen months ago as strategist and during that time has proven to be invaluable in helping clients discover that mysterious point where creativity and business reality meet, and the wonderful things that can happen when they do.
Originally a suit who moved into strategy, Angie has spent over 15 years at agencies like BWM, Clemenger BBDO, JWT and Leo Burnett working on brands including Diageo, Kellogg’s and Adidas, and has also experienced life on the other side of the fence at Blackmores.
In her new position Laxton will head up the strategy team at DDI working directly with Caroline McLaughlin (managing director) and Chris D’Arbon (creative director).
“Angie has a way of seeing what no one else can see and making it seem so simple. That incisiveness is the gift of a truly great planner, and we’re delighted to have her inimitable firepower at the helm of our Strategy team here at DDI,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s easy to over complicate strategy and underestimate intuition. DDI is a place where solid thinking can lead anywhere without being inhibited or overburdened,” Laxton added.
In a further move at the agency, Stephanie Levy has joined as Client Partner. Stephanie started her career in Sydney at Nielsen working in the grocery retail team helping clients understand their customer’s behaviour. In 2005 she moved to London and joined customer experience firm, dunnhumby (the team in charge of the Tesco Clubcard). In 2008, a move to Abu Dhabi saw her work in a multitude of roles including Manager of Loyalty Operations at Etihad Airways, Research & Planning Manager at Edelman and Account Director at Place Communications, a boutique communications and PR firm within the property sector.
After moving back to her hometown of Sydney in 2016, Levy commenced working at DDI.
On her appointment, McLaughlin said, “We knew the minute we met Steph that she would be a great addition to our collective. She is one of those infectious people whose energy everyone wants to be around. Equally, she’s a consummate professional with global experience that’s a little outside the box for an ad agency including PR, Research and a client-side role – exactly the richness we love here at DDI.”
Levy added, “I’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to great clients while working alongside an amazing team. The people at DDI, regardless of role, are all gurus in their field and passionate to boot. I can’t wait to learn and grow here.”
