Hear it as it happens. All the latest comings and goings from the local advertising, media and marketing industries.
When Contagion launched a few years back, it was loudly beating the digital and social drum. It still is, but it’s also doing more of what some would call traditional agency work. So is it selling out? Or is getting in on the groundfloor by offering specialist skills that clients seem to be looking for and then gradually taking a bigger chunk of the business a smart strategy?
Rapp welcomes two (and says goodbye to Tribal), specualtion about the new MediaWorks board, another deputy ed for The Listener, APN hunts for new social media editor, Tamati Coffey returns to the nurturing bosom of TVNZ and Adam McGregor takes up some outdoor reins.
Jon Ramage back in the game, DDB goes digital, Thick as Thieves hauls Oates, Super Liquor man moves up the chain, CAANZ believes the children are our future, and Pack & Co adds another impressive establishment to its portfolio.
A digital duo for Colenso BBDO, Fleur Herscott farewells The Radio Bureau, Steve Saussey and Yolande Dewey embark on a new (ad)venture, Goodfolk grows by two, a change at CAANZ, Media Design school gloats, Mi9 welcomes three more new humans, Darryl Edradan joins The Orange Group, PPR gets moving with Zumba and Ad2One adds a few more strings to its bow.
When it rains it pours, and Ogilvy & Mather’s doors have been swinging in recent months. But executive director Paul Manning says exit interviews with those departing showed there is “really no particular cause or pattern”.
OMD’s strategy director Jacquie Pierson has signed up as partner and shareholder in new media start-up Open alongside founder and ex-Naked Communications partner Matt O’Sullivan. And she’s certainly not mincing her words about the state of the local industry and the big media agencies that inhabit it.
A new management structure at Yahoo New Zealand, Contact and Triathlon NZ part ways, PRINZ announces a life member and a few fellows, MYOB names new public affairs manager, ANZ acknowledged again for the National Bank merger, Beyond Wen wins Images and Sound film prize and Purple Sherbert adds some more fizz.
It’s goodbye to the O’Connors, Caulton and MediaWorks go steady, Adshel welcomes a new marketing manager, Haystac adds three to the pile, The Sweet Shop focuses on features with big new partnership, Spark PR and Activate joins The Collective and Aamplify raamps it up with a new hire.
Kiwi in the mix for IT PR awards, new planner on board the Air NZ plane for DraftFCB, Pead brings on more young talent, and fashion firepower for Starseed.
Naked’s loss is Y&R’s gain, Jeanette Paine leaves school, VW’s Denise Goodwin swaps cars for floors, Will Radford gets a fresh pair and the MPA welcomes two new board members.
Changes ahoy at VodaClear, Anthony Gardiner to go it alone, new hires for iSite, Ooh!, Shout, PR Shop and PPR, APN flicks off its southern titles, Madant starts a new experiential division and NZ PC World gets a new editor.
Strategy makes a few changes in Christchurch, Mango adds some fresh fruit, Ideas Shop promotes from within, L’Oréal’s cosmetic kismet, Mulligan readies his quill, Snakk Media names new group chief executive, Reachmedia ups it reach, and Blockhead welcomes a few new troops.
Seasoned news man and former APN New Zealand regional chief operating officer Rick Neville is stepping into a part-time advisory role at the Newspaper Publishers’ Association (NPA).
Lou Kuegler moves up the chain in Asia, Ngage Media finds a new head of sales, Icebreaker focuses on digital, Accentuate adds some academic rigour, Purple Sherbert announces a little addition, and Mi9 adds another.
Melissa Fletcher goes it alone, Y&R adds a host of humans and Guy Kawasaki heads for New Zealand.
Independent media strategy and management agency MBM, which was started in 2010 by Sean McCready and Matt Bale, has been quietly—and fairly successfully—going about its business for the past few years. But it’s got something to shout about now, with ex Sparkie Alysha Delany signing on to become managing partner and shareholder.
The MA announces its board members, Andrew Reinholds gets the Cannes call-up, Hauraki adds a couple of comedians, Impact PR shacks up with House of Travel, Kiwi expat Tom Markham heads to New York, and Prodigy signs Samuel Bennetts.
Spark Group’s silo-breaking, DDB to welcome some senior muscle, Dow Design adds a senior (and musical) creative, Nikki Walker joins Finch, Yukfoo looks overseas, Air New Zealand honoured (again) and Social Media Club gets a jolt.
Wayne Chapman sits on outdoor chair, David MacGregor plays the pay what you want game, GrabOne adds a new role to up its digital ante, iSite reward one of its sales hounds and Orange Group nabs an experienced bean counter.
ZO completes its management team, Clems chief financial officer heads for the rum, Y&R adds to its digital chops, Air New Zealand puts even more emphasis on the customer experience, Dita De Boni heads to PR, The Pond adds a digital heavyweight, Commando gets one back, Southern PR bolsters the line-up, On the Grill takes biscuit and Linda Clark returns to TV.
Ian Moody switched from Westpac to BNZ to take up the head of brand role in early November last year, which made for a fairly difficult acceptance speech when he was named as marketer of the year while between jobs. And he has resigned just a few months in to the new job due to what external relations manager Emily Davies calls “personal reasons”.
TBWA\ welcomes more new blood, Brendan Hewitt gets the nod as a rising media star, Marlen Smith pushes the CAANZ advertising barrow, Beat gets growing and Hotwire launches new analytics tool.
Forbes to the fore on Maori TV, Susan Wood makes a TV comeback, Young & Shand & Growing, Clemenger Group welcomes its annual influx of young’uns, The Sweet Shop adds some more talent, The Blue Rose shifts timeslot, and jobs.co.nz hunts for a new way.
It’s all go at TBWA\ at the moment, with Todd McLeay set to step into the big shoes of Dave Walden soon and Toby Talbot set to take over from Andy Blood in March. And, following on Steve Kane’s shift, it’s added two more DDB scalps, with Lisa Fedyszyn and Jonathan McMahon joining as creative directors.
Lisa Carrington adds another healthy endorsement to her list, Fluxx gets it on with Get! Communications, Mark Copplestone takes the reins at the IAB’s mobile advertising council, Pead PR rearranges the troops, mediaR feels the warmth with Bradford Gold, Duncan Stuart returns to the land of indie, Media3 stays up late and Arielle Tai joins Datamine.
Rapp Tribal welcomes some new blood, ApolloNation introduces itself, OMD finds a digital director, The Radio Network makes some changes in ChCh and Jetstar names its new NZ head.
Admission grows like topsy, Fuse gets a Christmas present, Oddbird takes flight, Firebrand joins the Salt stable, Komli signs up The Economist, Josh Moore, Philip Andrew and Dave King get jury nods, Matt Palmer joins The Feds and Lance Kelleher re-signs with 8com.
The new Mother of the Nation returns to primetime, Yellow adds a digi-double, DraftFCB in full production, Air New Zealand’s new people person, Homestyle finds an editor, Allied Press shakes hands with a rival, and Anthony Reardon heads online.
After seven years with DDB Group, and three in the role of experiential creative director, Steve Kane has taken a role as “a senior, multi-faceted creative director” at Whybin\TBWA, where he will work under executive creative director Andy Blood.
Back in the day, as those with a bit of length to the tooth might tell you, gold dust could be found in advertising in general as it was something of a mystery to those paying the bills. Then marketers went to school and eventually figured it out, which seemed to spell the end of going to lunch at 12 and not coming back. Digital and data are where much of the gold dust seems to be these days, as evidenced by the types of acquisitions international holding companies are making and the types of agencies that are growing rapidly. And in New Zealand, where there’s a bit of a digital skill shortage, expertise in this field is especially sought after, so indie agency Affinity ID is understandably stoked to have secured the services of Greg Doone, a Kiwi who has worked in the digital industry for over 15 years and has returned home from the UK to take up the role of general manager – discovery and development.
Less than one year into the role and just before the launch of the new primetime news show Seven Sharp, TVNZ’s head of news and current affairs Ross Dagan has followed in the footsteps of his Australian predecessor Anthony Flannery and resigned to return to his homeland. He will depart the network in March.
The ham has run out, the afternoon naps are no more and the working masses are now mostly staring forlornly at their screens once again. Here are some of the moves and shakes that occurred before, during and after the Great New Zealand Slow Down, including new things for Guy Cousins, Renee Parsons, Kenny Yeon, Starseed PR, Bullseye, Senate, Mi9, and DB Breweries.
Fresh from Rapp Tribal’s hiring of ex-BMF Sydney creative director Tim Wood, DDB Group NZ has made it a double, with Shane Bradnick, the current executive creative director at BMF Sydney, joining DDB in February 2013 as creative director.
Rob McGregor accentuates the positive, Jane Guthrie and Gregor Whyte chosen as the University of Otago/NZ Marketing Magazine Outstanding Marketing Students for 2011 and 2012, Tamati Coffey departs Breakfast, and Goldie joins LIVESport.
Run the Red promotes from within, Toni Street gets back on the couch, Sports Tonight draws to a close and AWARD School names its top students.
It’s been a rough few years for Christchurch, but when we spoke with Harvey|Cameron’s managing director Neil Cameron for NZ Marketing magazine a few months back (see interview below), he said the agency had managed to come through relatively unscathed after moving out of the CBD and into its new Merivale offices just before the Earth shook. He also mentioned the fact that a few curious souls were being drawn to the area as a result of the city’s potential and now, with Iain Harvey pulling back from the business slightly, “brand builder” Cam Murchison has added his name to that list of imports to become managing partner.