Taking the lead
Digital agency Touchcast has appointed Will Joyce as General Manager of its Auckland office.
Andrew Hawley, Managing Director of Touchcast New Zealand, is excited by the appointment, which comes after “months of searching”.
“We’ve identified a fantastic internal candidate in Will Joyce, currently our head of strategy,” says Hawley. “We believe he is the best long-term culture and capability fit for Touchcast and our Auckland clients going forward, especially as we look to evolve our capability in a number of key areas.”
Before joining Touchcast as head of strategy earlier this year, Joyce held two consecutive general manager roles across the ditch at independent agencies Decoder and Guerrilla Digital.
Prior to these roles, Joyce began his digital career as chief operations officer for video and content application developer Net Ventures (also in Australia). He worked with brands such as Telstra, AFL, NRL, Macquarie Bank, National Press Club and internationally with banking and telco firms such as DBS Bank in Hong Kong and British Telecom, as well as Yahoo in the US.
The appointment becomes effective from 1 September, with Joyce and Hawley working through a transition plan to continue bolstering the insights and strategic capabilities within Touchcast. Hawley anticipates that Joyce will shift into full general manager mode by 1 October.
Stepping up
In response to recent growth, independent publisher Healthy Life Media has promoted founding editor of the Healthy Food Guide magazine Niki Bezzant to the position of editor in chief, making her responsible for the content and direction of the company’s three brands: Healthy Food Guide, Green Ideas and Allergy Today. The publisher is currently on the hunt for a new editor for Healthy Food Guide.
“After nearly ten years working on Healthy Food Guide, this is a very satisfying next step for me”, says Bezzant. “I’ve loved every minute of Healthy Food Guide and it has been a great thrill to see how it has made such a positive impact on people’s lives. And now this is a chance to stretch my creative and intellectual abilities, to use what I’ve learned—especially about connecting with readers—to help guide our editors and keep improving our magazine brands, as well as develop new areas of content in the digital and video areas. It will give me more opportunity to represent Healthy Food Guide in the media and at speaking engagements, and to explore some of the wider and deeper issues around food, health and environment, where I think we can really have an influence.”
Healthy Life Media general manager, Pip Mehrtens congratulated Bezzant on the new role and says she looks forward to seeing her take on the challenge.
“She has played a key role in the success of Healthy Food Guide, and her experience and expertise will be extremely valuable to our other brands,” says Mehrtens. “We’ll also be able to better leverage her skills as we continue to expand into new content and media platforms.”
Healthy Life Media owns the Gluten Free Food & Allergy Shows and has recently acquired Health TV, the nationwide TV service that broadcasts health messages and programmes into medical centres and hospital waiting rooms.
Healthy Food Guide magazine was founded in 2005 and is the top-selling food magazine in New Zealand. Healthy Food Guide is also published under licence in Australia and the UK, with syndications completed in Holland and Greece.
Nothing to do with advertising
Flying Fish and CAANZ have announced that eight agency bands will be performing at this year’s edition of the Battle of the Agency Bands (BOTAB) event, which has been themed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles visit to New Zealand.
With reigning two-time champions Barnes, Catmur & Friends officially out of the running this year, the coveted title will this year be handed to a new contender among the following entrants:
Pegasus and The Job Numbers – Colenso BBDO
The Gypsy Thieves – DDB
Foote Cone – FCB
Building 7 – Flying Fish
OG Villains – Ogilvy & Mather
The Chased – OMD
The Expendables 5 – Sugar & Partners, along with String Theory
Dooya – WhybinTBWA/DAN
The seventh edition of the competition will see agency bands rock out in an epic band play-off on Thursday 11 September at the Kings Arms in Auckland during a spectacle that will see each entrant perform an original, a cover and a Beetles tune to be revealed on the night.
This year, BOTAB adopted The New Zealand Music Foundation as its official charity, and it will be auctioning off three stunning prizes on the night involving Neil Finn, Justin Timberlake, Simon Gault and Dave Dobbyn.
This year’s event is being organised by Flying Fish and CAANZ, with sponsorship support from Citroen DS, Apex Insurance, Hauraki Radio, Liquid Studios, Mandy Studios, Fuzed, Asahi, and Prego & Much Moore Ice Cream.
Tickets can be purchased via EventFinder.
Coming to judge
CAANZ has announced Paul Feldwick as the international judge for this year’s edition of the New Zealand Effie Awards, and this will see him joining the executive judging panel in the final round of judging.
Feldwick spent 30 years in advertising at Boase Massimi Pollitt/DDB, as an account planner. Fifteen of these were in a global strategic training and development role for DDB Worldwide. He left the agency in 2006 and now works independently as a strategic and business consultant.
Feldwick was convenor of judges for the IPA Advertising Effectiveness Awards in 1988 and 1990, has been chair of the APG and of the AQR, and is a fellow of the IPA and of the MRS.
He is also an author who has published extensively on brands, advertising, and communications.
Working on both sides of the ditch
Blockhead has announced its new roster of 10 colourists, in a move which executive producer Josephine Mackenzie says has been made in response to increased market demand in New Zealand.
“Directors, DOPs and editors are already working between New Zealand and Australia, so it makes sense that colourists operate in the same way,” said Mackenzie in a release.
Owner and VFX Artist Nigel Mortimer also sees this as positive move that aligns the business more closely with the model used across the ditch.
“Australia has seen this model go from strength to strength over the last few years,” he says. “It’s the way forward for the industry and allows people to hand pick the right person for the job. Stef [Mackenzie] and I are really excited by the move”.
Joining locals Pete Ritchie and Clare Burlinson are the following colourists: Christine Trodd, Billy Wychgel, Martin Greer, Ben Eagleton, Yoomin Lee, Scott Maclean, and Fergus Hally.
