The agency said it was creating the new position of creative director to reflect its growing digital output. As a result of the move, Claydon Heeley's executive creative director Peter Harle and digital creative director Maxine Gregson have left the agency.
"We were looking for someone who was passionate about creativity but also about data-driven insight, marrying the traditions of Claydon Heeley and Targetbase," said Steve Grout, the agency's chief executive.
Targetbase Claydon Heeley was the result of a merger between UK DM agency Claydon Heeley and US-based data agency Targetbase in July 2008.
"We interviewed a number of good creatives but one of the challenges was finding someone who was a) a great creative but b) doesn't switch off when you start talking about segments," Grout said. "Chris is a creative with a lot of experience who also gets excited about insight."
Martin, who started work this week, recently . He has worked on multi-award-winning campaigns for clients such as Thomas Cook, John Smith's, Vodafone, Vauxhall and Sky.
At Claydon Heeley he heads a team of 18 creatives and has "hit the ground running" working on a major launch for mobile brand 3 and new business pitches.
"Two days in and I've had a couple of late nights already working on great creative," Martin said. "They've got a lot of magic tricks here that help, on the data side coming from Targetbase. It's not just about doing pretty websites - it's good behavioural stuff supported by insight."
His six years at Bright were "brilliant fun," Martin said, but he was looking forward to Claydon Heeley's bigger resources. "I was playing 'Sevens' at Bright - where you have to do a lot of running around - but here there's a full team."
The agency is also interviewing to fill another new role, that of customer insight director, to bring Claydon Heeley's insight team to seven.
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