Cundari has appointed Angie Kramer to the newly-created role of vice-president, digital and innovation.
Kramer, who is tasked with leading the agency’s digital practice and spearheading its strategic direction, was hired following a “rigorous selection process,” said Jenn Steinmann, executive vice-president, managing director at Cundari.
“We were really looking for someone that had a serious depth of technology,” Steinmann said. “To be able to speak technology, know technology and be able to work with our front and back end development teams…someone that was going to be able to grab a hold and drive integration and innovation with our head of strategy and head of creative to really work in serious senior leadership and partnership.”
Kramer brings 20 years of experience in digital strategy, analytics and creative consulting to the role, and most recently served as the founder of freelance recruiting platform JobBliss. Prior to that she was VP of strategy, digital and analytics at Aimia. She also worked at Isobar Canada, as vice-president, creative director, digital.
Steinmann said Kramer’s role will include “a hard focus on innovation,” something the agency is focusing on more in the wake of ever-shrinking budgets and advances in technology.
“There’s always a thirst for what’s next from a customer perspective,” said Steinmann. “It comes down to who we are as an agency, driving this desire to continue to look at things we’re doing under the lens of innovation…in these days of limited budgets [and] the need to outsmart versus outspend, I think innovation certainly has to inspire a lot of the thinking that we’re bringing for our clients.”
Steinmann added that the agency is still on the hunt for a new chief creative officer following Andrew Simon’s move to Edelman Canada last month. “It’s a coveted role right now,” Steinmann said. “It’s leading creativity in an independent and entrepreneurial agency, so we’ve had a lot of interest.”
