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Movings/Shakings: 27 May

Filling the Wikileaks void 

Earlier in May, Jonathan Milne, who famously published an entire dossier of Wikileaks material, left his post as the deputy editor of the Herald on Sunday to take up the position of Sundays editor at Fairfax. StopPress understands that the position left vacant by Milne has now been filled by Stuart Dye, who most recently worked as a chief reporter for the New Zealand Herald for two years.

As a reporter at the Herald, Dye wrote on a varied range of topics, including sports, international events, human interest and current events.

Before working as a chief reporter, he held a variety of reporting and newsdesk roles over nine years at the Herald, following three years reporting for daily titles in the UK.

Herald on Sunday editor Miriyana Alexander said she was looking forward to the prospect of working with Dye. 

“Stuart was a top-notch reporter and respected chief reporter, and his news credentials will be a fabulous asset to the Herald on Sunday.

Four new Hunches arrive

Indie agency Hunch has had a busy start to the year, adding four new people to the team since January.

Anna Reid was first to join as a senior suit with an eye over everything and a focus on Telecom. Matt Watts picked up a pencil in March, and more recently, Tracy Cunnington started part-time as a data strategist and all-round guru on Westpac and Natalie Cole has rolled up her sleeves as an account manager.

Hunch must be busy right now, because Michael Goldthorpe, the agency’s owner, has been uncharacteristically quiet and non-self-promotional about the new hires, but when contacted by StopPress, he returned to his usual vocal self.

“It’s awesome having more people on hand to help. And I don’t think we could have found better people if we tried. They’re lovely, they’re talented, they get on with each other – and most of them tolerate me.”

After almost a decade of winning awards at Aim Proximity then Affinity ID, Reid has developed skills that caused Goldthorpe to describe her as “one of the best suits around”.  

“She knows her stuff, makes everything easy and has that perfect blend of passion and pragmatism that keeps cogs ticking, creatives creating and clients smiling,” he says.

A release from Hunch gave Watts a tongue-in-cheek review when describing his skill set. 

“Matt is an exceptional writer, reasonable soccer player, average guitarist and crap sketch artist. He learned his craft at TBWA then wrote his way around Colenso and BCG2 before coming back to settle at Hunch. He’s won several national and international advertising awards and is genuinely one of the nicest guys on the planet,” said the official statement from the agency.

Although to a lesser degree, the release also veered from the PR handbook on generic phrasing when commenting Cunnington’s arrival at the agency. She was described as “one of the most sought-after senior DM Gurus in town, [who is] known for her smart strategies, summer sabbaticals and infectious energy”.     

While the other recruits bring experience to the table, Cole is dipping her toes into the industry for the first time. According to the release, “she spent four years working in retail, a stint as an account executive at Brand Spanking and a lifetime as a consumer”. She is working closely with Reid and Cunnington to learn a few tricks of the trade.    

Digital duo added

Auckland-based agency Union Digital has announced the appointment of Lee Burrow (left) and Todd Moody to its senior team.

Stepping into the role of creative director, Burrow, who has 15 years of industry experience,  will be tasked with driving the agency’s creative and design offering. 

New senior digital account manager Todd Moody, is set to expand Union’s capabilities through his extensive exposure to digital planning, marketing, and the creation of complex digital campaigns. Recently departed from Jericho, where he led a number of key accounts, Moody’s work history also includes client-side jobs with AMP, and Associated Newspapers in the UK.

Union Digital managing director Matt Townsend said that it wasn’t easy to find such well-suited candidates  

“We’ve worked hard over the past few months to find the best talent for these roles, and both Lee and Todd bring a superb digital pedigree to the agency, so we’re stoked to have them on board,” he says.

“Under Lee’s leadership, we are committed to growing our offer, and extending our capability. His strategic ability and background in crafting beautiful, innovative digital experiences, as well as content of an exceptional quality, makes him a perfect fit to lead the creative team we’re continuing to build.”

Both Moody and Burrow have expressed enthusiasm about joining the company, which recently partnered with Hyper Island to bring the Open Master class to New Zealand for the first time early next month.

The three-day course aims to enhance industry professionals’ knowledge and understanding of digital culture and media, transformative technology and how these affect clients and business/revenue models, through a series of collaborative workshops, and presentations by international digital talents.

Limited spaces are still available for the OMC, taking place at Orakei Bay in Auckland from 4 – 6 June. For more information, or to register, visit the website.

MDS gloats

​DDB’s Jake Barnes, son of Daniel Barnes from Barnes, Catmur and Friends, has won an internship to work at Wieden + Kennedy for seven months.

 

“Congratulations Jake, we know you’ll do really well and we bet you’ve made a certain Barnes of Barnes Catmur as proud as punch,” said Media Design School’s course leader Kate Humphries. 

Barnes graduated from MDS in 2011 with the DDB scholarship and he has been with the agency ever since. 

Given that there were only five places awarded to applicants throughout the world, the internship at Wieden & Kennedy has often been referred to as the ‘creative lottery for juniors.’    

“Jake not only gets to work at one of the most creative agencies in the world, Wieden & Kennedy are also covering his travel expenses and providing accommodation for his seven-month gig,” says Humphries.

But the jovial mood at didn’t end there, because it has also been announced that MDS alumni Nicole Hetherington and Simon Fowler (who currently work at Havas PR in Sydney) won a black pencil at this year’s D&AD awards for TheMostPowerfulArm.com, a Facebook-based campaign that aimed to raise awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a debilitating disease occurring in young males, resulting in death by the age of 25.

Humphries also congratulated former MDS graduates, now Colenso BBDO Ben Polkinghorne and Anna Stickley, who picked up a yellow pencil for Trial by Timeline for Amnesty International, an idea that has picked up so many awards that surely somewhere a carpenter is being employed fulltime to build extra shelves to hold them all.​

Humphries also says that the impact of MDS has also gone full circle at Starseed PR, where 2003 graduate Karen Maurice-O’Leary (the creative director at the agency) has announced the appointment of 2013 graduates Priya Ratan and Kirsty Hithcock.   

Government mag reinvigorated

NZ Local Government Magazine is being relaunched under new ownership, new management and with a new editorial and advertising team.

Contrafed Publishing has bought specialist business publication NZ Local Government Magazine from the receivers of its former publisher Mediaweb.

Contrafed will launch its first issue of the magazine at the Local Government NZ annual conference in Nelson on July 20-22.

General manager Kevin Lawrence says Contrafed Publishing has been producing magazines for New Zealand’s infrastructure industries for more than 30 years.

“The new title will benefit from our existing strong relationships with a number of key organisations including NZ Contractors’ Federation, Roading NZ and The Aggregate & Quarrying Association. Local government leaders are responding with increasing professionalism to the enormous demands and responsibilities placed upon them. We are reflecting this by repositioning the magazine from its origins as a trade magazine into a professional business magazine. Local government leaders play a significant role in helping make New Zealand a better place,” he said.

The new magazine aligns well with several of the publishing company’s existing magazines including Contractor, EnergyNZ and Quarrying & Mining (Q&M).

Newly appointed editor Ruth Le Pla has over 25 years’ experience as a business writer and editor in a career spanning New Zealand, the UK and Asia.

Business development consultant Peter Corcoran has 15 years’ advertising sales and account management experience across print, websites and e-newsletters.

The new independent business magazine will be delivered into the hands of the leaders of all New Zealand regional, district and city councils, council controlled organisations, and relevant central government departments and organisations. Its readership will also include associated suppliers, consultants, business partners and contractors.

Published 11 times a year, the magazine will be supported by a growing range of online products and services.

NZ Local Government Magazine was first published as Local Body Review in April 1965.

Picking up Bras n Things

Bras ‘n Things has awarded the New Zealand side of its Australasian business to Auckland-based PR company Lily & Louis.

This comes at a good time for the PR shop, which earlier this year added Overland Footwear to its roster.

The partnership with Bras N Things will see the agency take care of the company’s PR planning and showrrom requirements across five Auckland stores.  

“We are thrilled to add Bras N Things to our stable as we continue to grow during what is shaping up to be an exciting year for us,” said Jacqui Ansin, managing partner of Lily & Louis. “They have one of the strongest retail names in Australasia and it is a truly exciting partnership to be a part of.”

The brand advisor

E-commerce company EstarOnline has appointed Richard Berridge as executive account manager to advise New Zealand and Australian brands on how to maximise their online and mobile retail channels.

“Retailers are seeking advice and solutions to enter new markets and protect existing ones,” says Andy Brown, chief executive of EstarOnline. “Richard’s online marketing experience and entrepreneurial mindset will help our clients more aggressively compete online and in mobile commerce.”  

Prior to joining the EstarOnline team, Berridge operated a boutique software business, which focused on SaaS developments and custom software builds for mid-sized companies. After selling the business in 2012, he focused on e-commerce consulting projects providing advice on customer acquisition, repeat purchase, SEO, SEM, social media, usability, freight policy and pricing strategy. 

Established in Christchurch in 1998, EstarOnline is an Australasian e-commerce company whose clients include EziBuy, Country Road, Briscoe Group, and Rodd and Gunn.

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