Browne leaves the TVNZ whānau
Annemarie Browne has, after three years, left her role as TVNZ’s GM of marketing to take up the role of marketing director at Orion Health. Prior to her position at TVNZ, Browne spent two years and 10 months as the general manager for Seek NZ, a role she moved into after a three-year stint as the general manager of programming at TVNZ.
At this stage, TVNZ has not appointed a replacement, but the broadcaster says that the recruitment agency Gaulter Russell is currently managing the hunt to find someone to “fill Annemarie’s very big shoes.” Early speculation suggested that Jeremy O’Brien would be taking over her role, but TVNZ denied these rumours and said, “Early next year our marketing team will come under Jeremy’s oversight – and that’s why his title will change to reflect this. From January he’ll be our Head of Sales and Marketing.”
Garry Ferris heads south
Fairfax Auckland editor-in-chief Garry Ferris has been appointed editor at The Southland Times. This moves sees him leaving The Sunday Star-Times and Sunday News to take the retiring Fred Tulett’s place in Southland.
Tulett was compilmentary of his successor, saying, “I am confident I will be leaving The Southland Times in very good hands.”
Ferris, who is originally from Dunedin, told Stuff that being closer to family was one of the main reasons why he accepted the new position.
Fairfax Media group executive editor Sinead Boucher said, “In his time as Auckland Editor-in-chief Garry has made an enormous impact, spearheading the revamp of Sunday News and building a strong newsroom during a time of great transformation.”
Ferris has a long editorial history. He has worked in Queensland with News Limited, in Brisbane the Sunday Mail, in Queenstown as the editor of Mountain Scene, and he has also enjoyed stints with The Press and Otago Daily Times.
His career has included senior editorial roles in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. He was editor of the Mountain Scene community newspaper in Queenstown from 2004 to 2010 and has also worked at The Press and Otago Daily Times.
The departure of Ferris follows the departure of ex-Sunday Star-Times news editor Miriyana Alexander, who took a role as the editor of rival paper the Herald on Sunday. The Herald said that she would be replacing Bryce Johns, who has moved to a new role that is focused on developing a closer relationship between advertisers and editorial.
Radford puts his digital media hat on
Alex Radford, who has previously held roles at VivaKi, Omnicom and SureFire search marketing, has been appointed the general manager of digital media at Aegis Media New Zealand. This new role will see him take the reins at Catch! and performance marketing business iProspect.
Robert Harvey, CEO of Aegis Media New Zealand, was optimistic about Radford’s arrival, saying, “I am excited to welcome Alex to the Aegis Media family. Alex will be responsible for overseeing the digital media output of all Aegis Media agencies and will take direct responsibility for a reinvigorated iProspect brand.”
Harvey also commended the contribution of departing John Schofield by adding, “John is one of the pioneers of New Zealand’s digital media industry and on behalf of Aegis Media, I want to thank him for all of his passion and dedication to the group over the past seven years. We wish him all the best for his new endeavours.”
Radford, who started his new role on 18 November, will be ushered into his dual management responsibilities by Schofield, who will only be leaving the business in December.
In with the familiar
It’s “back to the future” for Scott Woolley who has joined the team at Octane digital print company as. This move renews Woolley’s relationship with Octane’s director Richard Nugent, with whom he has collaborated on various projects over the years.
Woolley brings a broad experience range with him. He has worked as an employee for like G/S/I, Rialto and Meares Taine, as well as starting his own print production facility in 1986. For the next decade, Woolley’s company managed the likes of Fletchers, Fuji, Xerox, Timberland, Wang, TVNZ, Ansett Airlines, Merlin and TV3.
The success of his business venture can in some ways be attributed to his early industry experience, which includes a local stint at Colenso and one across the ditch at Burton Street Advertising in Sydney. Woolley, who returns to action after a sabbatical, is looking forward to the challenges of the new role and says, “They [Octane] are doing some of the most amazing new stuff as well as good old fashioned things like bling embossing. I’m going to track down all the good art directors and designers. I look forward to acquainting myself with the new talent. And catching up with old mates.”
19-year-old flexes his entrepreneurial muscle
Andre Schellenberg hasn’t even celebrated his 20th birthday, but the young Kiwi has already racked up more than seven years of entrepreneurial experience. Having locally won the NZ Entrepreneurs’ Organisation’s (EO NZ) Global Student Entrepreneur Award (GSEA), he is now setting his sights on global opportunities with Flexed, a gym and bodybuilding apparel brand.
Andre began his entrepreneurial journey at age 12, salvaging old computers to rebuild and sell them. He continued with his online trading – working part time jobs on the side – until he finally registered his first company at 18, providing him enough capital to start his new venture.
On 11 November, Andre presented his business and growth plan for Flexed to a panel of leading entrepreneurs – including Tony Falkenstein, CEO of Just Water and communications chair of EO NZ.
After the presentation, Falkenstein said, “Part of our role as entrepreneurs and business leaders is to recognise and nurture young entrepreneurial talent in New Zealand; Andre showed great initiative and drive – his enthusiasm and maturity in business are certainly something to celebrate and reward.”
As the winner of the New Zealand GSEA, Andre travels to Washington DC to compete against top student business owners from around the globe. While in the US, he has the opportunity to gain media exposure, win cash and a share in more than $150,000 in donated business services.
Andre leaves for Washington DC on Tuesday 19 November to spend two days competing against other student business owners before the winner is announced on November 22. If he does win the competition, he will however have to keep the cork in the celebratory bottle of bubbles until he arrives back in New Zealand.
Google snatches Nealie
Iain has taken his creative talents from Saatchi & Saatchi to Google NZ, where he has taken up the role of associate creative director. Nealie started working for Saatchi in 2012, after a three-year stint with WhybinTBWA.
