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Movings/Shakings: January 20

It is out with the old, and in with the new, in another exciting installment of “Who Goes Where?” TV3 loses feisty reporter Mihi Forbes to Maori TV, VENA NZ snaffles Grant Hyland from VIM, all the news from Fuse, NZ Geographic gets taken over internally – ouchies, a large benign growth in Traffic leads to Parnell relocation, viva la VivaKi, Botica Butler Raudon PR joins the Oriella stable, and this year’s new black – please welcome Tangerine Tango, soon to be seen everywhere.

Grant Hyland, general manager of Valued Interactive Media (VIM) since 2010, has resigned to take up the position as managing director of VENA NZ.

“I have poured my heart and soul into the launch and running of Valued Interactive Media in New Zealand. It’s been an amazing experience that has taught me countless lessons and has challenged me at every turn. However, everything must come to an end and in this instance it is time for me to move on from VIM.

“Video, entertainment, social media and gaming present a truly exciting area for the continued growth of the online advertising industry and VENA are at the forefront of this throughout Asia.”

Fuse News

The little start-up that could. In three short years Omnicom’s youngest agency Fuse has evolved from a two-man band to a ten-strong agency as the doors swung open on 9 January 2012, with growth forecast to continue.

Stephanie Lowe has taken on the newly established role of account director in the Fuse Activation department, bringing to the position five years’ experience in the communications industry. Stephanie returned to New Zealand in September 2011 following two years spent working in consumer PR, communications and FMCG B2B relations in Canada and London. Prior to this, Stephanie worked as an account manager across media relations and event management at Auckland’s Goode PR.

Rhian Bedford fills the highly anticipated position of account manager in the Fuse Social Media team. Having spent the past four years working as an online communications assistant, e-commerce specialist and marketing coordinator at Noel Leeming, Ezibuy and Pumpkin Patch respectively, Rhian is well and truly up for the role.

The final new arrival for the moment is Tamsin Savage, who has taken up the graduate hot-seat as account co-ordinator reporting directly into the Fuse Activation department, whilst also supporting the greater Fuse team.

Further to the new arrivals, internally Anjana Mani has been promoted to business director overseeing the day-to-day operation of Fuse whilst also maintaining a finger on the PR team pulse, and Ashleigh Adair has been promoted to account director running the social media team.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be able to promote Anjana and Ashleigh within the business.  We are a young agency with a strong, yet fresh team. These two practitioners have shown a continued dedication and outstanding commitment to this business and their own professional development which is testament to our culture of fostering and developing our talent,” says Fuse general manager Jeremy Leonard.

Inside Job: New Zealand Geographic seized by production team

As of January 9th, New Zealand Geographic will be owned and operated by editor James Frankham and art director Marc Backwell, trading as Kowhai Media Ltd—New Zealand’s newest independent publishing company. The pair bring with them plenty of experience in media production, publishing, customer publishing and decades’ of involvement in online and social media. Both have had a long involvement with the title; Frankham being largely responsible for the turn-around in fortunes for the magazine since taking up the editorship in early 2008, and Backwell leading a change of direction in design from his first involvement mid-2009.

James Frankham and Marc Backwell

Together they have already shifted New Zealand Geographic from a magazine with a 20-year tradition into a brand with a rich story and loyal following across a number of media platforms. Today New Zealand Geographic is the country’s most prestigious photographic journal, the convener of an immensely popular annual photography competition, publisher of high-quality hardback books, active in the social media sphere and most recently responsible for a brave new foray into education.

This 2012 New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition will include a four-month long exhibition in Auckland Museum’s large Special Exhibition Gallery, representative of the brand’s new relevance and direction in an otherwise crowded marketplace.

“A key focus in the last four years has been to enlarge the activity of the brand from the publication of the magazine to a wider relationship with the market,” says one of the new owners, James Frankham. “This takes in a greater diversity of readers and connects with them in many more ways over many more mediums.”

New Zealand Geographic has 267,000 readers, according to Nielsen. While annual magazine sales in the general interest category have been in moderate decline, New Zealand Geographic has been growing in circulation, and readership has rocketed representing better and better value for advertisers.

“There is a noticeable swing back to understanding the machinations of the world that exert such pressure on our civil liberties, climate and wallets,” says Frankham. “And in response, magazines that offer something substantial, something that transmits a country’s cultural inheritance or explains the wider social or environmental context are proving increasingly popular.”

Large growth in Traffic leads to relocation

New Zealand’s leading business-to-business growth specialist, Traffic, kicked off the New Year with a growth spurt and an office move. Due to expansion they’ve relocated to a larger space with better facilities at 287-289 Parnell Road. Joining the creative quarter, they bring with them associated companies Refresh Renovations, a design and build specialist renovation provider, and New Zealand Renovate magazine, the country’s first and only magazine dedicated to home renovations.

“2011 was a difficult year for most businesses,” says Chris Caiger, one of a triumvirate of directors at Traffic.

“But we managed to create outstanding business growth not only for ourselves, but also – and most importantly – for our clients.”

Viva la VivaKi

The VivaKi Search & Digital Hub has kicked the year off with three new hires. James Julian from Draft FCB and Samuel Soo from Carat join the Hub as senior campaign managers; working on New Zealand search and performance digital business as well as running the search accounts for Australia’s leading digital agency; Amnesia Razorfish.

Murtaza Fidahusen also joins us from Clicky.com running search accounts including Sony and Blackberry for Starcom Sydney.

The hub has also taken two graduates from the CAANZ media internship scheme and in mid-March will be expanding the VivaKi Digital intern programme to five, expanding the team to over 20 digital media specialists running Trans-Tasman campaigns in Paid Search, SEO, AOD (Ad Exchange), Facebook and other performance digital media.

Alex Radford, director of the VivaKi Digital hub says “with these hires we cement ourselves as a world class digital engine room for some of the most digital savvy agencies in the region, as well as a continued commitment to grow and nurture local talent”.

Botica Butler Raudon PR joins Oriella stable

Oriella PR Network has added two new agency partners – Botica Butler Raudon Public Relations in Auckland, and Buman Media in Moscow, Russia – to its global agency alliance. The new additions extend Oriella’s reach for companies wanting to interact with audiences in Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific. Both agencies are independently-owned firms with senior counselors, known for their strength in business and technology communications.

“In today’s fast-paced, always-on world, communications are truly global,” said Giles Fraser, co-founder of both Oriella and Brands2Life. “Oriella is now in its fifth year and by welcoming Botica and Buman Media into the network we’re continuing to bring together the world’s best independent PR agencies.”

“We were initially impressed with the global industry leadership demonstrated by Oriella in publishing its annual digital journalism study,” said Allan Botica, chairman of Botica Butler Raudon.

“Looking further we quickly identified other areas of common interest. And joining the Oriella network made good sense to our clients: New Zealand is a small country with an export-lead economy, so innovative companies have to gain access to international markets in order to grow. Oriella allows us to put our clients in touch with agile, like-minded PR companies in key markets.”

Oriella is a tightly knit alliance of 15 agencies in 20 countries around the world. The network was co-founded in 2006 by Horn Group and Brands2Life — the top independent agencies in the US and the UK respectively – to address the hole in the market for effective global public relations.

Multi-national PR agencies are stifled by inertia, while most boutique alliances operate simply as a referral network. Oriella is the antidote — with global senior strategy teams, imaginative regional execution and results, and centralized global account management. The network is also well known for its annual Oriella Digital Journalism Study, a global survey of more than 500 journalists now going into its fourth year.

Oriella agencies specialize in integrated PR, social media and creative content. The network represents global brands and startups in business and consumer technology sectors across The Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Tangerine Tango is the new black

News just in, this year’s ‘new black’ is, drum roll please… Tangerine Tango. “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, who decides such things. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

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