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Movings/Shakings: 6 November

New director

Sweetshop has signed international Emmy-winning director Edward Berger for representation globally. Berger is now available for commercial and long-form projects from New Zealand.

Berger’s Patrick Melrose series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jennifer Jason Leigh, picked up five Emmy nominations, including Best Director and Best Limited Series. He also directed the two-hour series premiere of this year’s AMC series The Terror. Set in 1848 to chronicle a Royal Naval expedition to the treacherous Northwest Passage, the series was an incredible technical undertaking.

Past credits include landmark series Deutschland ’83 and the feature film Jack.

At the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival Edward was named one of ‘Ten Europeans to Watch’ by Variety Magazine.

Edward recently wrapped his next feature film entitled All My Loving, which he wrote and directed and which aims for a Spring 2019 release. He will also direct the psychological thriller Rio starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbatch later in 2019. 

Commercially, Edward is responsible for the satirical ‘Die Limo’ campaign for Granini, starring German TV personalities Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf.

Sweetshop Auckland managing director Fiona King says the signing of Berger is big for the network.

“To get to know the incredible talent of Edward Berger, watch ‘Deutschland ‘83’ first, then switch over to ‘Patrick Melrose’, just for starters and you’ll experience his directorial diversity. We are thrilled to have him on our roster and look forward to sharing the experience with agencies and clients.” 

Berger says he’s looking forward to getting started.

“As I love to dive into different aspects of filmmaking on every new project I embark on, I am hugely excited to broaden my mind with commercial work and I’m humbled by the endless possibilities Sweetshop’s global network will offer me.”

Digital media agency launch

Richard Thompson and Alex Radford have launched a new digital media agency called D3.

Thompson and Radford left their corporate media roles nine months ago to set up New Zealand’s first digital marketing consultancy, Future State Consulting.

With over a dozen transformational projects undertaken for businesses including Barfoot & Thompson, Mitre 10, Frucor Suntory, Disney, TVNZ, JUCY Group, My Food Bag, Tourism New Zealand and NZ Wine, it’s been confirmed that there is a need and a gap in the market for in-depth digital strategy.

Thompson says clients highlighted the issue to them.

“We’ve had businesses wanting to understand how they can get clarity in their digital goals, a clear roadmap, and confidence in the execution across platforms, data, media and especially structure.”

Radford continues it was a no-brainer.

“It was clear we could take the processes and learnings from the consultancy and deliver a unique and truly data-driven media and technology product, designed for ambitious New Zealand businesses that want to operate beyond just moment and message.”

With both Radford and Thompson having held senior-leadership positions in several large agency groups it has been an opportunity for them to build an agency designed for the needs of today’s New Zealand marketing teams. 

My Food Bag CMO Louise Cunningham says they look forward to working with D3.

“We are confident that the D3 team will be able to provide the leadership and collaborative approach to digital media that will continue to grow the My Food Bag brand”

The Co-operative Bank GM of brand and marketing Kate Necklen says, “D3 felt like the perfect partner for us as we continue to evolve our digital marketing to take the Co-op brand to the next level”.

Future State will continue working on transformational digital projects and strategic planning, while D3 will focus on ROI driven digital media planning and buying with data at the heart of the model. “Watch this space for some very exciting news about new hires for both Future State and D3, and partnerships with cutting-edge global technology companies,” said Thompson. 

Data and technology 

Ogilvy has announced the appointment of Emma Cockburn as head of data and technology in media. 

Head of media Rachel Cormack says Cockburn’s experience is perfect for the team.

“Emma’s appointment continues our progression into better use of data, insights, customer journey, advertising and go-to-market strategies to make our end customer experience seamless in this crazy world of digital.” 

Cockburn has more than 16 years of experience in the data marketing landscape and brings a wealth of international experience, having originally begun her trade in London at eSpotting. She has also worked in digital for Razorfish & Ogilvy in the USA, with clients such as Microsoft, Ancestry, Tourism New Zealand, Levis, Dockers, Getty Images and National Geographic. 

She moved to New Zealand in 2017 with Y&R where she worked with Burger King, Jaguar, Land Rover, GO Healthy, Earthquake Commission, Ministry of Social Development, Vodafone and HRV.

Cockburn says she is looking forward to being part of the team.

“It’s an interesting time in the New Zealand market to really make a difference and help clients on the journey of being smarter with data, because it is sexy and the right insight can change an approach. I can’t wait see the evolution and how we create change for our clients.”  

Acquisition completed

Adobe announced last week it had completed the acquisition of Marketo, a software for B2B marketing engagement. With Adobe’s acquisition of Marketo, customers will get a combination of Adobe Experience Cloud’s analytics, personalisation and content capabilities with Marketo’s management, account-based marketing and revenue attribution technology – helping companies further connect marketing engagement revenue growth. The Marketo Engagement Platform will become part of Adobe Marketing Cloud. 

Adobe is based in San Francisco and Marketo has bases in Australia and New Zealand. 

Adobe executive vice president and general manager Brad Rencher says the acquisition is part of Adobe’s vision to reimagine customer experience management.

“The combination of Adobe Experience Cloud and Marketo’s Engagement Platform provides an unrivalled set of solutions for delivering transformative customer experiences across industries and companies of all sizes – making every business an experience business.”

Marketo chief executive Steve Lucas says the acquisition will provide Marketo with the opportunity to take its reach further.

“As a part of Adobe, we see an extraordinary opportunity to further accelerate Marketo’s momentum and deliver combined value to marketers around the world.”

Lucas will continue to lead the Marketo team as part of Adobe’s Digital Experience business, reporting to Brad Rencher. Lucas is based in San Mateo, California.

New clients and office

Independent communications agency Adhesive, which has bases in Sydney, London and Auckland, is celebrating its third year operating in New Zealand by moving into a new office in Britomart.

The agency has also secured The Iconic as a client, following a competitive pitch process. Adhesive will work with The Iconic to build its communications strategy across corporate and consumer media relations, events and influencer engagement. It will also work closely with The Iconic’s creative, content production and social media teams.

It has also retained the Australian and New Zealand public relations account for Changi Airport Group – a role that will include communications strategy encompassing traditional media relations and influencer partnerships; communicating the airport’s customer-centric services and amenities that contributed to the airport’s reputation as one of the world’s most awarded airports.

Adhesive’s NZ team is currently working with Dyson to roll out a series of initiatives in New Zealand, building on its long-running relationship with the brand in Australia. Adhesive also launched its “Jet-Set-Go” program this year, which gives staff the opportunity to work in an overseas Adhesive office for two weeks all expenses paid.

Adhesive NZ head of PR Lwindi Ellis says the agency has achieved a lot in the last few years.

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