Lida recruits 'mega-brain' Calvert

M&C Saatchi’s direct agency Lida has appointed Simon Calvert – claimed to have the brain the size of a planet – as chief strategy officer to free up Matthew Heath to concentrate on his chairman role.
Calvert joins the agency in August from Gyro, where he has been chief strategy and technology officer since October last year.
He started his career as an account man at McCann in 1986, then moved into planning with spells at – among others – Saatchi & Saatchi, EuroRSCG, Michaelides & Bednash, Carat, Proximity, DraftFCB, Digitas and Mindshare Worldwide.
In his new role, Calvert will sit on the Lida management board and report to chief executive Victoria Fox. Working closely with clients such as O2, Ikea and Land Rover, he will be responsible for the agency’s planning department and strategic capabilities.
Heath will also focus on the Lida’s global growth, which saw its first international agency open in Sydney last year. This business now has 50 people, after winning work from Lexus, IAG, Google and CommBank. Plans for other key international markets are already well underway.
Fox said: “With technology and data flooding the market the direct industry is rapidly changing. We are set to continue our growth and we have hired Simon to help lead the way. There aren’t many in this business with Simon’s track record and his rich knowledge and experience in CRM, advertising, digital, media and technology will help us decode the opportunities for true personalisation across channels and translate these into strategies that can provide real commercial advantage for our clients. He also has the brain the size of the planet, which helps.”

Lida recruits ‘mega-brain’ Calvert

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