Simon Hadfield, founder of Prime Mover Recruitment and AdNews contributor, in conversation with Lisa Sutton Gardner – founder, Enigma.
I understand Enigma is one of, if not the longest running agency in Australia? That is really quite an accomplishment Lisa.
Thanks Simon. It’s been a journey for sure. Kicked off in 1992, 33 years ago, I tell everyone I was only 10 years old at the time.
A lot of indie agencies have risen and fallen and come and gone in those 33 years. I think the key to our longevity is our ability to evolve and even reinvent ourselves in response to changing client and market needs. With key new hires and a business-wide focus on raising the bar creatively, right now is an exciting evolution point for Enigma. It’s hugely invigorating – like having the drive and optimism of a startup, but with the wisdom of 33 years in business to give us the best chance of getting it right.
You started in Newcastle and have really carved out quite a niche there, you have also been in Sydney now for a few years, how is the Sydney office coming along?
Enigma is proudly Novocastrian – born and bred, and we have a fantastic roster of Newcastle clients that we have grown together with. So, Newcastle and the values that the city and what its people represent will always be a key part of our DNA.
My ambition for the agency has always stretched way beyond our hometown though, in knowing that we have the strategic, creative and media clout to drive significant commercial impact for any brand – regional, national or international.
If I’m honest with you (and myself!) – I won’t be satisfied with my Enigma journey until our work is holding its own, not just in Australia but on the world stage. It’s a bold ambition, but that’s what we’re focused on - and it would be fair to say that I see the Sydney office and team as playing a key role in getting us there.
You’ve recently bolstered the Sydney office with Jo Lilley (MD) and Simon Lee (CCO). That’s exciting and hopefully takes a little bit of the pressure away from you?
My husband is the CEO of an NRL football team, and it’s interesting just how many parallels there are between his business and mine. In advertising as in footy, your success is very much dependent on the talent that you attract and retain – and in Jo and Simon we have two very smart leaders with great track records in building and growing great creative businesses.
Their appointment does take some pressure off me, but as I said before I still have a fair bit of fire in my belly, so I’m still running up and down the M1 each week. Today I’m sitting on a train doing this interview, making better use of the 2 hours 20 minute run each way.
Do you have any observations on the advertising / marketing industry in Australia at the moment?
Can I be blunt here? I think it’s sink or swim time for agencies – not just in Australia, but worldwide.
It’s extremely challenging, but I love the laser-like focus that times like these demand of business leaders. For any agency to have a sustainable future, the absolute focus must be on the key functions that genuinely shift the dial commercially for clients and enabling and augmenting the humans responsible for those key functions with bleeding edge technology.
I think that in Australian agency-land we’re probably all pretty clear on where the true value to clients sits, but some are faster than others in making the tough calls involved in fully shaping or reshaping an agency around this. A shift away from head hours to output based remuneration models is also essential for Adland to rekindle its “hutzpah”.
Any work you’ve seen recently that you admire?
I’ve long been an admirer of Liquid Death’s brand and advertising, and their latest “Liquid Death Hires 1/10” of Tony Hawk execution is a nice addition to their body of work. Simple, bold and utterly unignorable by the audience they’re trying reach. I’m clearly not a skateboarding teen, but if my skateboarding teen ever emerges from his bedroom, I’m sure he’ll agree with me!
I also like some of the work coming out of Uncommon Studio. Their recent work for Britbox really caught my attention. Love the fact that in the age of AI, it was all done in camera – in a single shot. As with a lot of Uncommon’s work – a great focus on good old-fashioned craft.
Finally, closer to home, as an art fan I really enjoyed Bear and +61’s “Into Art” work for Telstra. I’ve seen Sam Jink’s extraordinarily lifelike sculpture work in a few art shows and galleries, and I love the way his talents have been used in this campaign to awaken people to the joys of art.
What advice would you give your younger self?
My favourite saying currently is Measure twice, cut once! I am most likely driving my team mad with it!
Though to my younger self I would probably say something about making decisive decisions faster, and ensuring I always speak clearly. I’ve probably moved a bit to slow in places, overthinking things, though I’ve got better at this as I’ve moved on in my career.
Outside of business, what keeps you out of trouble?
We have a busy home life. My husband with Football commitments, so that means weekends are never boring and we try to get to as many games as we can together. My son is navigating 16 years of age which brings driver’s license, Year 11 study, parties and girls.
We spend time in our Newcastle and Sydney homes regularly catching up with family and friends.
Love to spend some time in the garden when I can, just needs to stop raining currently.
We also travel annually.
What have you learnt in the last 5 years?
Patience.
What are you driving, what are you listening to and what are you watching?
Being on the road all the time I like to be up high, and have plenty of metal around me, so I am an avid BMW 5 Series driver. I’m on my second one given I keep clocking up 100,000 kms fast.
I need to start listening to to more Podcasts, I recently bought a subscription to Audible, and my favourite book so far is Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, it’s a must listen if you haven’t already. I also spend a lot of driving time enjoying Smooth FM and singing along to all the tunes I know staying awake on the M1.
Currently in the middle of MobLand on Paramount, great cast, crazy story line. Halfway through White Lotus #3 I keep stopping and starting. Keep telling everyone they have to watch Land Man.
Where is your next holiday?
Just booked Vietnam. Going to miss all the noise of Christmas Day 2025 and enjoy a week on the beautiful beaches of Hoi an, followed by a week in Hanoi. I’m looking forward to someone else cooking for a change!
.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.