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Movings|Shakings: 25 February

Food for sport

The corporate shuffle starts at Foodstuffs, where Antoinette Shallue will be returning from maternity leave to continue in her role as the group communications director for the company. This means that Jo Jalfon, who has been holding the position in the absence of Shallue, will depart to take up the role of project manager for World Cup media at Tourism NZ.

In this capacity, Jalfon will be required to manage communications for the FIFA under-20 World Cup and the ICC World Cup, both of which will take place in New Zealand next year (the cricket tournament will be co-hosted by Australia).

“In this position I will be required to maximise opportunities to raise New Zealand’s profile during the tournaments … I’m really looking forward to this new challenge, and it will be great to build onto the tournament experience I already have,” says Jalfon.

Having previously served as the communications manager for DB Breweries, Jalfon worked closely with Heineken, which was one of the sponsors of the Rugby World Cup in 2011.  

In addition to these positions, Jalfon also had a stint at Telecom (now Spark), where she first worked as the acting head of external media/PR (for one year) and then as the senior experiential manager (for seven months).

In the driver’s seat

In November last year, Dave Hewitt left his position as the marketing manager at BMW after over five years to become the senior brand manager at Nestlé Nespresso.

Hewitt’s role at BMW has now been filled by Michelle Sinnott, who joins the German car company after a year and half as the international brand manager at Air New Zealand, where she was responsible for the development and implementation of global brand strategy with regard to core international markets, such as the United States, China and the United Kingdom.

Prior to working for the airline, she worked as the marketing manager at Tourism New Zealand for almost three years and also had stints at JWT, DDB and M&C Saatchi. 

Her longest role thus far has been as an account director at WhybinTBWA between April 2000 and November 2005.

Pursuing new challenges

Pursuit Public Relations has appointed Gavin Ogden as senior account manager. Ogden, who has over a decade’s experience in UK- and New Zealand-based media and communications agencies, previously worked as a technology journalist as well as an editor for high-profile gaming titles Computer and Video Games.com and the Official Xbox Magazine, before moving to Auckland in 2009.

After settling in Aotearoa, Ogden worked as a news editor at TechDay (for one year and three months) before joining Botica Butler Raudon Partners as an account manager, a position he held for almost three years.      

Pursuit director Paul O’Leary believes that Ogden’s unique skill set will serve him favourably in his new role. 

“Gavin’s online publishing and games industry experience, combined with his public relations skills, will enhance our digital offering for clients in NZ and offshore,” says O’Leary.

Boxing fit and fit for radio

Former professional boxer and rugby league player Monty Betham has joined Ian Smith and Nathan Rarere as a co-host of LiveSport’s ‘Breakfast of Champions’ show.

The new format kicked off on 24 February, and programme director Scott Walker seems optimistic about the influence that Betham could have on the show.

“With the addition of Monty to an already strong team, we’re well placed to continue building the station audience which is currently enjoying its highest listenership since the LiveSPORT brand was launched,” says Walker.

Despite being new to radio, Betham also expressed enthusiasm at the thought of furthering his career on the airwaves.

 “I’m really excited about joining the Breakfast of Champions team. Ian Smith is someone I have admired for a long time and I have been listening to Nathan for about a decade – he’s one of the best show pilots in the country,” he said in a release.

Interestingly, this move will see Betham renew his working partnership with the show’s executive producer John Matheson, who wrote the sports star’s biography several years ago. 

In addition to playing rugby league for the Warriors and the Wildcats, Betham has represented both Samoa and New Zealand in rugby league, and also followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a pugilist and fighting in the cruiserweight division before retiring with an undefeated record.

Betham is no stranger to being in the public eye (or ear), having previously featured on Dancing with The Stars and Treasure Island: Pirates of the Pacific, and he also had a stint as one of the early presenters on the Shopping Channel.

Ubiquity gets experience

Theresa Clifford has taken her broad range of experience (which stretches back to 1992) to Ubiquity, where she will serve as the head of sales and marketing.

In the early 90s, when she first started her career, Clifford worked as a politics and economics lecturer at various colleges and universities for five and a half years. Her talents were then snapped up by Cyberia Online, where she worked as the head of production for over year.

Next, she took on another UK-based role as the general manager of marketing at Allcures, where she stayed for just under two years.

After leaving Allcures in October 2000, she joined Clarkswell as the general manager of sales and marketing, a position that she would hold for over 11 years before moving to Auckland in 2012.

After settling in New Zealand, she took on the role of customer engagement consultant at Cucumber (for nine months), after which she ran her own consultancy service for seven months.

Her most recent role, prior to her appointment as the Ubiquity head of sales and marketing, was at SparkPHD, where she worked as a digital director for eight months.

In order to share her knowledge and passion with others, Clifford also works part-time as a tutor at the Marketing Association and regularly contributes as a writer to the NZ Marketing magazine.   

Subbing in

Lexie Ribot

Former TVNZ brand manager and publicist Danielle McNaughton has been appointed the company’s business marketing manager to cover for Lexie Ribot (pictured here), who is currently on maternity leave.

McNaughton has been with TVNZ for over two years, having joined the broadcaster from BMW (where she worked as the marketing contractor for Mini) in 2011.

Before working at BMW she also had stints at Nickelodeon as a marketing coordinator, at Viacom as a marketing assistant and at the PR Shop as a publicity assistant.

New faces at Image Centre 

There have also been a few additions to the Image Centre family, with Kathryn Quirk, Paul Sajewicz and Duncan McVey joining the fray. 

Quirk joined the publishing group in early February as the general manager of digital, and she brings extensive production and consultancy experience to the role.

Over the past few years, Quirk has been running The Content Company, a business that she founded in December 2009. 

“It was initially meant to be focused on the production side of the business, and although I did get involved in the development of some concepts, I did more consultancy work than anything else. One of the last contracts I did [in the Content Company]was for Image Centre, which now brings here.”

Steve Browning, the chief financial officer at Image Centre Group, says that Quirk initially provided consultation services on various projects during head of production Cat Kay’s maternity leave, but she has now become a full-time member of the team. 

Before running her own company, Quirk had three stints at TVNZ: first as a presentation manager and business analyst between 1999 and 2001; next as a business analyst between 2006 and 2007; and finally as a rights manager between 2007 and 2009.

In addition to this experience, she also worked as a company director of Covet for over three years (between 2001 and 2004).  

        

Following Quirk into the Image Centre building is Paul Sajewicz, who is joining as the technology manager of digital displays.

“Paul joins us with a wealth of best practice technology knowledge and is tasked with using that knowledge to help us deliver and support digital display and interactive solutions for our clients,” says Browning.

The final addition to team is Duncan McVey (pictured here), who has been appointed a senior account manager of DPod in Wellington. This appointment was made, because Ali Rooney, who previously held the same position, left the company just prior to Christmas.   

McVey previously worked as a business development manager for Takanini-based B&F Papers for over two years and as a business consultant for Constructive Personnel for over nine and half years. 

Vodafone Warriors re-sign quartet

The Vodafone Warriors have received a boost ahead of the 2014 NRL season with a quartet of sponsors extending their partnerships with the club.

With TNT Express, dtr, Suzuki and Bendon all announcing that they would continue to support the club in 2014, it comes as little surprise that Vodafone Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah was so enthusiastic about the upcoming season.

“This is going to be a massive year for the Vodafone Warriors and we’re delighted we’re able to continue our relationship with four fantastic brands,” he said. 

Suzuki New Zealand has re-signed for a further three seasons as a shorts sponsor of the NRL team and official vehicle partner of the club, extending a partnership that first began in 2006. 

“Teamwork, commitment and passion are at the heart of the Vodafone Warriors and these are qualities which we admire and why the sponsorship is a great fit for our brand,” said Suzuki New Zealand chief executive Tom Peck.

Global express logistics company TNT Express will continue as sleeve sponsor of the Vodafone Junior Warriors after the side again performed strongly by reaching the NYC grand final last year.

“We’re proud to continue our support of the future of the club through the Vodafone Junior Warriors,” said TNT Express national sales and marketing manager Brent Carter. “A number of last season’s squad such as David Bhana, Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Albert Vete have made the leap to the NRL squad and I’m excited to see who will stand out in 2014.”

Joining TNT Express in renewing their Vodafone Junior Warriors sponsorship is household goods and appliance retail partner dtr, which will once again feature on the playing shorts.

“Our partnership with the club has been fantastic and we’re delighted to continue in 2014,” said dtr managing director Mark Spring. “Both our customers and staff are Vodafone Warriors fans and we’ve seen fantastic returns from all club related promotions.”

The New Zealand brand Bendon will also be continuing its partnership as the official underwear sponsor for a further two seasons.

“Our partnership with the Vodafone Warriors continues to go from strength to strength and we’re delighted to continue our support as the club strives for its first NRL title,” said Bendon chief executive Justin Davis-Rice.

The Vodafone Warriors start the 2014 NRL season away to the Parramatta Eels on Sunday, March 9 before returning to Eden Park on Saturday, March 15 for the second-round two home clash against the St George-Illawarra Dragons.

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