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Movings/Shakings: 28 February—UPDATED

Permanent seats at WhybinTBWA

Senior planners Clare Leitch and Steve Clark have joined WhybinTBWA Auckland in permanent roles, rounding out the agency’s offering headed up by David McIndoe.

Clark, originally from the UK, has held a number of senior planning roles locally and abroad, including having spent time at BBH London, as a founding partner of Starcom Motive in the UK, and also Publicis Mojo. His work has won awards at Cannes Lions, the Effies and CAANZ.

On the decision to join WhybinTBWA permanently, Clark says that the new-look team was a big factor. “TBWA has a new energy that’s infectious and some serious talent to make things happen. I’m excited to be a part of that,” he says.

“I’ve always believed in the power that context can add to content. As a planner with a strong media background, in today’s expansive media environment, that means seeing opportunities for brands to disrupt everywhere.”

Leitch, also from the UK, has held senior positions abroad including time at Leo Burnett, Starcom and CIA, as well as New Zealand (Mojo) where she looked after strategic and channel planning.

She has a wealth of experience across a range of industries, including FMCG, alcohol, media and tourism brands and in her role she will be using these expertise with regard to many of TBWA’s clients.

“WhybinTBWA has a really captivating energy with an impressively collaborative culture that really gets how to connect brands to people in a meaningful way. With increasingly blurred lines between media and creative disciplines, communication becomes less about spin and more about authenticity and utility. Understanding how brands can be at the heart of this is a really exciting place to be,” she says.

McIndoe says he’s pleased to have both joining the agency and that he’s excited about the depth and level of experience they bring.

“When it comes to strategic planning, it’s not just a case of working across all the channels available, but incorporating the unique power of the moment and interaction they can create into the creative process,” says McIndoe. “It’s about creating ideas that people invite in. You have to consider the experience our ideas create for people in that fleeting moment, the reaction it elicits, and how that experience plays back to the role of the brand in their lives.”

Targeting Australia 

APN NZ Media has recently appointed Lee Staples to the role of account manager in their Australian office, representing APN’s New Zealand media brands in the Australian Market.

Staples comes from a strong media background, his last role being at News Corp in London, where he worked across The Sun, The Times and Sunday Times publications.

“I’m very excited about working with Australian advertisers and offering them creative multi-platform opportunities across APN NZ’s well established and respected brands,” he says.

Staples will be reporting to Australian sales manager, Shane Rudzis, who has been in the role since September 2012.  

Commenting on the appointment, APN NZ Media’s group sales director David Hoath said that a number of multi-national brands are now strategising, planning and buying out of Australia, creating an increased demand for representation of New Zealand media in this market.

DNA doubles down on Customer Experience Design

DNA has appointed Chris Jackson as the service design lead based in Wellington and Marie Bowes as an engagement director based in Auckland.

Jackson, who has over twelve years experience initiating and leading design-led projects in the UK and New Zealand, has worked in the public, private, academic and research sectors, and most recently held a senior role in the service design team at the Ministry of Justice.

As service design lead at DNA, Jackson will be required to orchestrate the best possible service experience for customers who engage with DNA. 

“It’s exciting to be part of an agency with the pedigree and history of DNA,” says Jackson. “Their customer-centred design approach is a culturally engrained and their business and technical knowledge is formidable. There’s a diverse and talented team here and having the opportunity to help shape it for the future was one that I couldn’t pass up.”

Bowes was similarly enthused about the prospect of joining the DNA team.

“In my view there is no agency in NZ that genuinely puts the customer first … the way DNA does it. It’s great to be part of something that is changing the way design is used to better effect – for our clients,” she says.

Before joining the agency, Bowe held senior roles across advertising, digital and brand, and most recently had a stint at Designworks. Prior to that, she had two years at Westpac leading their introduction to design thinking on both retail and customer projects.

In her capacity as an engagement director, Bowe will lead DNA’s engagement and project management team and to work with them to continuously to evolve DNA’s design thinking approach and improve the effectiveness of the work they are doing for clients.

Finch member receives recognition from the north

Nick Ball, the director who shot Colenso’s most recent spot for Burger King, has been signed that by UK-based production company Blink.

In addition to introducing Kiwis to the British bluebloods Poppincock and Cravat, Ball has also worked on videos for Wrigley, Snickers, Kia and Yellow Pages.

Ball’s work in advertising over the years has been recognised at major award shows, including D&AD, Cannes, ONE Show, CLIOS, Spikes, AWARD and AXIS, and his short films have also won numerous awards on the festival circuit around the world. 

Ball is currently in pre-production for a project shooting in New Zealand with Finch.

Finch has also announced that US director Brian Aldrich has officially signed on to work across the Australian and Kiwi markets. 

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