Edwards previously spent nearly eight-and-a-half years at M&C Saatchi Group customer agency LIDA.
M&C Saatchi has appointed Rich Edwards as head of planning for its O2 business.
Edwards will manage the team of strategists working on the O2 account and take the lead in creating and maintaining customer relationships.
Before a short break from agency life, Edwards was most recently executive strategy director at creative agency Iris, where he built and ran the integrated strategy team in London, and led the development of the agency’s approach to customer and brand experience. As part of the role, he oversaw customer, loyalty, digital and innovation strategy for KFC, and also led planning for clients including Formula E, Suzuki and Haven Holidays.
Edwards previously spent nearly eight-and-a-half years at M&C Saatchi Group customer agency LIDA, which merged with M&C Saatchi in January 2020, holding various account handling and planning roles between 2004 and 2012. He was part of the LIDA pitch team that originally won the O2 business.
He started his career in a brand management role at LV= and has also spent time at agencies RKCR/Y&R and Blast Radius.
The announcement follows Ogilvy’s Chris Jones joining M&C Saatchi as managing partner for the O2 business earlier this year.
Camilla Kemp, chief executive of M&C Saatchi, said: “We’re delighted that Rich has chosen to return to the M&C Saatchi family. Not only does he have deep customer expertise, but he also brings a much broader, more connected view of communications, which will help us to bring brand and customer thinking together for our clients.”
Kemp added that the appointments of Jones and Edwards come at a “hugely important time” for O2 due to its merger with Virgin Media.
