King takes a break, Connan James sharpens his lance, Clemas returns for another stint in OMANZ chair, Film Construction signs two up-and-coming Kiwi directors and Derek Handley snuggles up with Richard Branson.
After heading south to take up the role of general manager at Ogilvy Wellington a couple of years ago following the closure of Saatchi & Saatchi’s digital arm DGS, Tony Gardner will be heading north again to take on the role of chief executive of events specialists The Orange Group in Auckland. And his replacement has been named, with current general manager of M&C Saatchi Wellington Aaron White set to man Ogilvy’s fort.
MediaWorks TV said goodbye to its director of sales Linda Farrelly earlier this year. And it’s found an able replacement in the form of Liz Fraser, up until recently the general manager of MSN NZ and chair of IAB NZ, who will take on the newly created role of director of sales and marketing.
A few big switcheroos in Wellington, with Assignment Group, Saatchi & Saatchi and Clemenger BBDO ringing the changes, Naked lures one of its own back home, Rachel Broadmore swaps banks for booze, Ben Rose swaps bureaucracy for banks, the Orange Group ups its events arsenal, and Random House announces a new publicist.
Jon Ramage moves into PR, DDB feels like four, Nicky Bell joins the new Kea board, Paul Kenny launches a new media company, and PriceMe wins a big Asia Pacific accolade.
He’s helped DraftFCB New Zealand go from middle of the road to top of the pops in pretty quick time. And now, after being promoted to the role of group executive creative director for Australia and New Zealand last year, James Mok has been given a chance to dabble in the Asia Pacific with a new regional role.
Changes afoot for ZenithOptimedia, Vivaki takes flight, local McDonald’s man receives top burger honour, Firebrand skims The Pond, The Press announces its new editor, George Mackenzie gets an international call-up, Waitemata smells the roses, the downlowconcept gets it Phil, The Sweet Shop nabs a New Yorker, Spikes Asia entries on the upward trajectory, We Can Create announces its line-up, and the end of an era for TVNZ.
The news that Andrew Stone had departed his post at Droga5 came a few weeks back, with consultancy, fishing and family time taking precedence over his position with agency he helped set up with Mike O’Sullivan and Jose Alomajan in 2010. And his consultancy work has taken him back to a client he knows very well from his time as chief executive at Saatchi & Saatchi: Telecom.
The newly renamed and rebranded Sugar & Partners has added to its haul of Ogilvy employees, enlisting creative director Dave Nash as its new creative partner, where he will partner with recently appointed creative partner Damon O’Leary.
Alana Schultheis joins The Pond, Michael Cornwell takes Samsung NZ’s top marketing gig, Mango nabs a triple, Luke Shanahan goes global with Robber’s Dog, and VeNA looks on the Bright side.
When we sat down for a chat with DDB’s new executive creative director Andy Fackrell a few months back (see full interview below) he said he was enjoying being back in the Kiwi countryside and was pretty keen to stick around if he was enjoying himself. And that’s exactly what’s happened, because he has signed on to become the permanent ECD eight months into his 12 month contract.
Shine’s Julian Andrews goes free range, APN announces its new Herald line-up, DDB welcomes back a prodigal duo, Admission admits many, TradeMe seeks out Vivaki, DraftFCB activates a rising star, Komli launches its mobile ad network, Ngage gets its FIX and Steve Price spruiks Panasonic’s smart TVs.
Spark PHD welcomes back an old friend, CAANZ announces its international Effie judge, Healthy Life Media’s allergic reaction, Adshool students have something to crow about, The PR Shop goes corporate, TEDx announces its speaker line-up and Adobe appoints a new communicator.
Whatever the creatives—and creative agencies—can do, so can the clients, because it seems Westpac’s head of marketing Ian Moody has swapped red for blue and joined BNZ.
Word-of-mouth agency Soup launches in New Zealand (and, appropriately enough, starts with a campaign for cat broth), Steve Tindall sleeps with the enemy, two for Tangible as Primary shacks up with PGG Wrightson, Clemenger Group opens up the Young Talent Programme for 2013, greener pastures for Fenella Humphreys, Jessica Mathias joins Pead and Hayden Hare joins Flava.
M&C Saatchi’s chief executive Darryn Melrose has resigned from the agency to pursue opportunities outside of the advertising industry and he will be replaced by his old AIM Proximity buddies Tony Burt and Dave King, who will be joint chief executive officers.
NZ Lotteries is in the money, Metro announces a new art director and Mi9 names one of its own as sales manager for its new ad network.
TVNZ’s Eric Kearley joins Rick Ellis at Telstra, Air New Zealand shifts some troops, Copper prepares for growth with a double, Rory Carter opens the doors of Red Dennis, Getty bolsters its APAC marketing team, CAANZ welcomes a new recruit, Kip Brook heads into academia, and James Mok and Kelly Bennett get the call up for Spikes Asia.
When Colenso BBDO’s head of planning James Hurman decided to expand his horizons and take a role as planning partner at Ogilvy Shangahi, he said he’d probably be back in the homeland eventually. But he’s returned much sooner than expected, with the bearded one cutting short his OE to take up the role of managing director at Y&R, where he will be working alongside one of his old cohorts Josh Moore.
After a bit of a rough patch, the newly rebranded ‘global boutique’ Y&R NZ has been slowly getting back on the good foot, with some nice work for the likes of HRV, Shapes Roadies and ACC, and some big names being added to the staff roster, among them Josh Moore as executive creative director, Ross Goldsack returning as non-executive director and Scott Henderson manning the fort in Wellington. And now there’s another big change to announce, with the chief executive of seven years Jon Ramage stepping down and being replaced by Moore.
MediaWorks adds some more integration, Gordon Jon Thompson takes a gamble on Sky City, APN names Peter Hunt as its director and chairman of the board, and DB opens up its newly-renovated Monteith’s Brewery in Greymouth.
After leaving Saatchi & Saatchi to set up the local outpost of Droga5 in April 2010, it’s believed business partner Andrew Stone has left the building after a few eventful years at the helm.
APN shuffles staff into senior appointments thanks to sales restructuring, M&C Saatchi’s hire at first sight, Wright Communications acquires a new trio, The Research Agency expands by two, Fairfax feels Droga5’s creative spirit and Dentsu eyes up Aegis.
As is often the case in the advertising biz, losing big clients usually means losing staff. And after Sugar decided not to go back for a BNZ booty call, managing director Jeremy Johnston says it has said goodbye to approximately four full-time equivalents over the past few months. But now that the “recalibration” is complete, he says the newly restructured business is on the upward trajectory, as evidenced by the arrival of ex-Ogilvy executive creative director Damon O’Leary, who has joined as creative partner.
Sentia Media welcomes a new general manager, Cooper Street Media aims for the Sky, AD2ONE adds one, Insight goes global and JWT gets a move on.
He was up on stage a few months back collecting a trophy for best production company at the AXIS awards. But George Mackenzie, who spent three years with The Sweet Shop, most recently as managing director for NZ/Asia/MENA, has decided to try his hand elsewhere and will join Robber’s Dog as managing director.
Saatchi & Saatchi officially welcomed ASB into the building at the start of July, along with around 12 new staff across its account service, digital, production and creative teams. And while there’s no title on his business card, Philip O’Neill—ex Mitchell’s and TBWA\ managing director and self-proclaimed “adman at large”—has joined the agency as the main man on the account.
Colmar Brunton has promoted Jacqueline Ireland to the position of chief executive officer, replacing Harry Papafloratos, who passed away earlier this year. She was previously managing director of Colmar Brunton Auckland.
TVNZ’s new chief executive Kevin Kenrick has had his feet under the desk for a few months now and Jeremy O’Brien took over from MediaWorks-bound Paul Maher as its new head of sales back in May. And now it’s announced five new senior appointments, four of them coming from within, that “herald a new era for the company and recognise the changing needs of consumers and customers in the modern media landscape”.
Barnes, Catmur & Friends gives a high five, Donovan and Boyd go solo, Toa Fraser joins the 8com roster, First Rate and Market United become one, Radio Rhema names its new chief executive, Massey stalwart professor Philip Gendall receives a new title, online retail advertising network iNC launches in New Zealand, Datamine hires a new geek, and Sam Neill puts his name to short film comp Tropfest.