fbpx

Movings/Shakings: 30 January

Prime News redundancies

Following on from last week’s announcement that MediaWorks would be taking over the production of Sky-owned Prime News, the Herald reported today that all 15 staff are to be made redundant, with their last day of work falling on 28 February. 

The report says MediaWorks will now use its bigger newsrooms to produce the 5.30pm news show from 1 March and that the Prime News staff would not be carried over.

Rachel Lorimer, the group head of corporate comms, told the Herald’s ‘The Diary’ columnist Rachel Glucina that MediaWorks would be hiring full set of new staffmembers, except for the newsreader, thought to be Eric Young. 

Lorimer did however say that it was likely that former Prime News staffers would apply for the new set of positions that have been created by MediaWorks.      

Two new College Hill denizens

Colenso BBDO has boosted its digital firepower after luring Gavin Becker from New York to head up the digital, innovation and technology offering at 100 College Hill.

Becker is an experienced digital and innovation strategist with 18 years’ experience in his field. Most recently, Becker was the managing partner at Made by Many in New York, developing digital products and services spanning e-commerce, mobile and customer experience. Prior to this, he was part of the global brand strategy team at Twitter creating experiences for blue chip brands including live streaming concerts for Pepsi, broadcast premieres for Fox, and commerce solutions for American Express. Additionally, he has also worked at a number of world-renowned digital agencies including AKQA, Ogilvy and RappDigital.   

Commenting on the new hire in a release, Colenso general manager Scott Coldham said: “Having thought leadership in this space is integral to bettering our strategic thinking and creative product. Gavin is a brilliant hire – he’ll bring experience, inspiration and a fresh, international perspective to our agency and our clients. He’s a bloody nice bloke, too.” 

Becker said the he was drawn to the Auckland-based agency by the quality of work it produces. 

“There are very few agencies delivering both groundbreaking and effective creative solutions to business and marketing challenges as consistently, or as elegantly, as Colenso. The results – and accolades – speak for themselves. It’s an honour to join this hyper-talented team and to continue to push boundaries for some of the most ambitious brands in the world.” 

Colenso has also made a second appointment in Rachel Morgan, who is set to join the agency as international group business director to lead Fonterra’s domestic and global business.

Originally from the UK, Morgan has worked her way up the agency ranks after originally starting out client side. After roles at McCann Erickson and Ogilvy, she moved to Leo Burnett London to work on the P&G account. This stint eventually led to her taking up the role of global brand agency leader for one of P&G’s major hair care brands, based in Hong Kong. 

Nick Garrett, the chief executive at Colenso BBDO, said that the growth of Fonterra led to the appointment of Morgan.

“As the scale of the work we’re doing domestically and abroad for Fonterra has grown so has our need for an exceptional person to lead the business – and Rachel fits the bill perfectly,” said Garrett in a release. “Not only is she extremely talented but she backs this up with a proven track record of driving complex multinational integrated campaigns that deliver incredible results.”

Morgan expressed equal enthusiasm about joining Colenso and moving to New Zealand.  

“The accolades and awards [won by Colenso]speak for themselves, but it was the culture of the agency and the vision of the exec team to showcase New Zealand creative talent throughout Asia and beyond, that brought me to Auckland. I mean… who wouldn’t want to work for the smartest creative agency in the world, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world?” she said in the release. 

Media orbit

Satellite Media has announced the appointment of Owen Johnston to the role of digital art director.  

Previously at Design Works for over three years, Johnston specialises in website design, software/UX, online games, banners, animation and illustration.  He heads up a team of digital designers working across all digital mediums.

He has also previously held roles at Affinity ID (five months) and Born Digital (almost five years), and also has almost three years’ experience working as an industry freelancer for agencies in both New Zealand and the UK. 

“The third best Corey”

Finch has hired Corey Esse in the dual positions of managing director and executive producer, a role in which he will be responsible for coordinating the wider Finch team on integrated projects.

Prior to joining Finch, Esse was the managing director and executive producer at Exit Films for two years after returning from his role of head of production at Fallon in Minneapolis. Before that, he spent 17 years at Mojo where he was the head of production in Australia and New Zealand.

Esse recently oversaw Tourism Victoria’s ‘Remote Control Tourist’ campaign, which went on to win various awards.

To coincide with the signing of Esse, Finch will be opening a Melbourne office to better service the Victorian advertising community.

Rob Galluzzo will continue to oversee the greater company. The hire frees up more of Galluzzo’s time and will allow him to focus on the business as a whole and its divisions of technology, storytelling and entertainment.

Rob Galluzzo stated: “I like Corey. In my opinion he’s the third best Corey behind Feldman and Haim.”

Esse, who starts his new role on 1 February, said he looks forward to “the prospect of working with Finch and helping grow the brand.”   

Industry veteran 

Specialist recruiter Font has appointed branding and communications expert Megan Savory as its New Zealand country manager. Savory’s addition is part of Font’s regional expansion plans to drive growth across Asia. 

Savory now leads Font New Zealand’s business growth, key client relationships, and the hiring and development of the internal team, where she is focused on hiring experts in marketing, digital and creative sectors to fill recruiter roles. 

Font director Jacqui Barratt said that industry experts who shift to recruitment are known to deliver strong results due to their hands-on experience in the industry, and she believes that Savory will be well suited to her new role.   

“Megan is equipped with the experience and know-‐how to drive business growth for Font New Zealand”, says Barratt. “She understands the industry landscape, and its demands and nuances as an experienced marketer herself, which will be key to securing the best clients and top candidates.”

With 15 years of industry and management experience, Savory previously held a senior management position at New Zealand firm Radiation where she executed branding campaigns and developed content for several global brands including Caltex,  Delo  and  Havoline  in  international  markets.  

“Font is experiencing an exciting growth period across Asia-‐Pacific and has established  itself  as  the  go-‐to  business  for  talent  placement,”  says  Savory.  “I’m thrilled to lead the charge and work with experienced talent agents to continue placing the best candidates across marketing, digital and creative sectors.”  

Savory is based at Font’s Auckland office.

About Author

Avatar photo

One of the talented StopPress Team of Content Producers made this post happen.

Comments are closed.