Mindshare Australia has strengthened its senior leadership team with two high-profile promotions.

Kerry Field (pictured), formerly managing director of Mindshare Melbourne, has been promoted to chief growth officer. She is tasked with driving client and agency growth and business development for Mindshare Australia.

Field has been with Mindshare and WPP for more than 25 years, holding senior leadership, management, innovation and digital roles during her time with the agency and before that with Ogilvy.

Meanwhile, Chris Solomon has been promoted to managing director of Mindshare Melbourne to replace her. He joined Mindshare in 2018 as managing partner and has been leading the NAB business, during which time the agency has significantly extended its remit by taking on data analytics and advanced modelling, as well as search, SEO and social for the bank.

Solomon joined Mindshare from MediaCom where he was chief digital officer for MediaCom China. He will now oversee the day to day running of the agency, as well as driving growth for clients.

With experience across Australasia and APAC, Solomon is a modern media professional with a proven track-record for taking an innovative and digital first approach that delivers innovative and effective solutions for clients.

Katie Rigg-Smith, Mindshare CEO, said: “I’m always thrilled when we can promote from within as it shows a strong pipeline of talent within the agency.

“Chris is a wonderful leader, an outstanding client partner and so managing director is a natural extension of his capabilities.

“Kerry’s lateral thinking, and the fact she has been with the agency for over 25 years and worked across pretty much every part of our business, makes her perfectly placed to drive a growth agenda for us and our clients in 2021.

“Both Kerry and Chris already make a massive contribution with provocative ideas that push our business, our clients and our people forward and I’m excited for the year ahead.”

Solomon added: “I couldn’t be prouder to be leading our Melbourne Mindshare office. Our team in Melbourne is made up of an amazing group of people with a positive and energetic culture.

“Our foundation of working with great clients and delivering great work gives us the momentum needed for a stellar year ahead, one that I am very excited to lead us into.”

Field said: “It’s been an absolute pleasure working in the Melbourne market for the last couple of years.

“An experience that can only help me in my newly-created national role.  I am very grateful to have been able to have such a long-standing and varied career with one company and am as passionate as ever about what Mindshare has to offer clients; a true focus on producing great work that helps them achieve their wildest ambitions.”

Both Field and Solomon will continue to report to Rigg-Smith, and to sit on the Mindshare leadership team.