Following departure from The Hallway Simon Lee joins indie agency Enigma as CCO & Partner

Independent full-service agency Enigma has lured creative leader Simon Lee ~ who departed The Hallway last week ~ to the newly created role of Chief Creative Officer & Partner, following an exhaustive six-month executive search process.

Lee takes the creative helm of the agency’s 80-strong team across Sydney, Newcastle, and Brisbane, as Enigma enters an ambitious new phase in its 30 year history.

Lee becomes the agency’s first CCO and the first leader to join as a partner. The creation of the role at the agency is testament to the clout Lee brings, with a 20+ year career helming independent agencies to creative excellence and creating dial-shifting campaigns for some of Australia’s and the world’s biggest brands. Most recently he was the creative architect, leader and joint owner of The Hallway, helping to take the agency to the forefront of the Australian indie scene – winning seven agency of the year titles and a raft of creative awards including Australia/NZ’s only Design Lion at Cannes in 2024.

Says Enigma Founder & Director Lisa Sutton Gardner: “Simon’s appointment is indicative of the scale of our creative ambition and our commitment to achieving it. His breadth and depth of experience, unique creative voice and proven commercial and leadership acumen mean that our clients, and our people are in very good hands. I’m very excited about the extent of what I’m confident we’ll achieve together.”

Says Lee: “With our industry and our clients’ businesses changing at ever-increasing pace, it’s essential to keep evolving the definition of what great creativity means. This is a key factor that has attracted me to Enigma – the opportunity to shape a creative offering that’s grounded in timeless truth, but connects with the relevance of right here, right now. And as an integrated creative and media agency with a 30 year track record of delivering strong commercial outcomes for its clients, Enigma has the scale and pedigree to deliver on this. The agency feels like a tinderbox that’s primed to catch fire, and I’m excited at the prospect of helping to spark the flames.”

Lee’s appointment follows that of Joanna Lilley as Managing Director, Sydney in February and the recent promotion of Justin Ladmore to Chief Media Officer and Amy Dascanio to Managing Director, Enigma Media.

Simon Lee with Enigma Founder & Director Lisa Sutton Gardner and Chief Media Officer Justin Ladmore