One of Australia’s leading media strategists, Katie Rigg-Smith, will be leaving the WPP at the end of May, B&T can reveal.
The popular and widely-respected media executive, who joined the group 26 years ago, will take time off to pursue her interest as a futurist, providing clients and industry sectors with social and strategic foresights.
It’s an area that she has increasingly been exploring in recent times; recently Rigg-Smith presented to a room of more than 1,000 delegates about how current and future global trends, and disruption, would impact the pharmaceutical industry.
Rigg-Smith leaves her role at the end of May and B&T understands that it is unlikely her role as WPP ANZ chief strategy officer will be replaced, particularly as its agencies are well stocked with top strategic talent.
In an internal staff email seen by B&T, WPP country president of Australia and New Zealand Rose Herceg described Rigg-Smith as “strategically brilliant, razor-focused in her thinking” and “quite simply one of the most thoroughly decent people I have ever met.”
“Katie has shaped the way we help clients understand their future and the trends that determine their world,” she said.
“There are people you meet in a career that you hope to know your entire life. They become the person whose counsel you seek above all others. The people that clients always want in a room. The people that make every conversation a better one. “For me, this person is Katie Rigg-Smith,” Herceg.
In that same memo, Rigg-Smith returned the favour, by saying that Herceg had fundamentally changed the course of my career in the best possible way.
She added: “I was straight out of university when I started and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the adventures that would await me for the next 26 years. It has been an absolute blast and I have loved every minute of it.
“I can’t possibly thank every single person who has impacted my career, so I won’t try, but I would like to say a massive thank you to the CEOs (Aimee, PV, Maria, Pippa, Sally, Tom T, BV, Steve, Trisha, Dan, Justin) and the fabulous WPP team (Morag, Tim, Phil, Paul, Brett, Hilary, Lucy, Eva) for all the love, laughs and support in the role over the last three years.”
‘A giant of our industry’
Rigg-Smith joined Mindshare as an intern and climbed the ranks to become chief strategy officer in 2010. There are few (if any strategy execs) in the industry that can hold a candle to her strategic mindset, mentoring ability, empathy and leadership skills.
In 2013, Rigg-Smith was elevated to become CEO of Mindshare – a role that she held for nearly 10 years.
Under her tenure, Mindshare emerged from a GroupM challenger media agency to brand to become one of Australia’s most successful, cleaning up local industry awards and global accolades including the Campaign Agency of the Year at the Festival of Media Global Awards, Campaign Agency of the Year: Australia, as well as winning plenty of silverware for work with Foxtel, which included the development of an AI-powered cricket commentator named “Monty”.
On the new business front, Mindshare Australia was a formidable force under Rigg-Smith’s captaincy, winning some of the industry’s most dynamic brands, including Campari, Foxtel, IKEA, Jenny Craig, NAB, Nike, Tourism New Zealand, Unilever and more. She also led an incredible run of six pitch wins in a row, lifting Mindshare to the very top of the pile when it comes to new business success.
Industry stalwart Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham, who has worked with Rigg-Smith over many years at GroupM, told B&T she was “one of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with”.
He added: “She’s smart, inspiring, has a vision and leads with purpose plus empathy. Over the years we have collaborated on so many new biz pitches and during the tough times had fun and supported the incredible purple people around us. Simply the best!”
She has been widely recognised for her contribution to the industry, which has included serving on the MFA board for eight years, mentoring as part of The Marketing Academy, and lecturing at University of Technology, Sydney.
Testament to Rigg-Smith’s impact on the industry is that she has been a regular feature on the B&T Women in Media Power List since its inception.
Herceg added: “Professionally for Katie, I know she will continue to be a force. The value she provides is immediate and substantive. As a strategist with gravitas and a futurist who reads quantitative data far better than most, I know Katie will thrive.
“Katie, thank you for the indelible impact you have made at WPP these past 26 years. You are a giant in our industry.”
