Movings/Shakings: 13 September

New MO for ZO head

ZenithOptimedia’s general manager Ryf Quail is set to leave his post and is heading back to academia.

“Off to Otago to do my MBA, moving the family down to Dunedin for a year out. Bloody excited!” Although he is disappointed they’ve cancelled the Undie 500. 

Quail, who is also a media committee member at CAANZ, moved to ZO from Carat at the end of 2010. He’s leaving in October. But no word on a replacement yet. 

Sophie Greer has also left ZO to take up a role as a media buyer/planner with Total Media. 

Taking flight

Following on from its TradeMe win, VivaKi has been appointed as Flight Centre New Zealand’s search business after a competitive pitch. 

“We are really excited to be working with Flight Centre. They are a great team who are passionate about their company and their customers so we’re looking forward to our future partnership with them,” says Alex Radford, VivaKi director.

“The intention was always to create a centre of excellence for VivaKi in the region, and the fact that this is being recognised by independent clients seeking the best solution in the market is testament to the high caliber of our team and our product,” says Kevin Malloy, VivaKi country chair. 

Flight Centre’s general manager marketing, Jodie Burnard, added “we are looking forward to working closely with the VivaKi team and to draw on their experience to continue to grow the Flight Centre brands in this area.”

Gone burger

McDonald’s New Zealand senior brand manager Chet Patel has just returned from McDonald’s Worldwide Hamburger University in Chicago where he was awarded the ‘Tony Award’ for highest academic achievement amongst almost 100 top marketers from around the world.

Hamburger University, often referred to as the Harvard equivalent of the quick-service restaurant industry, was founded in 1961 and today more than 5,000 students attend the esteemed institutions around the world each year.

Patel was first selected amongst the Dean’s List of the top ten percent of participants, then ultimately as the top overall participant.

“This is a huge achievement for Chet and for McDonald’s New Zealand,” says McDonald’s New Zealand managing director Patrick Wilson. “We now have one of the top ranked marketers within McDonald’s worldwide—amazing recognition given the scale of the company and the size of the brand. Chet is a real asset to the team.”

There are seven Hamburger University campuses around the world: Munich, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Brazil, Beijing and the 80-acre, 130,000 square-foot facility located at McDonald’s corporate offices in Oak Brook, Chicago, where he undertook his training.

“It was an amazing experience, and the training I received is invaluable to my work in New Zealand,” say Patel. “It’s truly an honour to be recognised by the global McDonald’s team.”

Patel has been part of the Kiwi marketing team for more than five years. And his marks at Hamburger University were scored across course work, tests, team work, leadership and other key competencies.

93 of McDonald’s top up-and-coming marketers from around the world attended the eight day course which saw them complete a mix of work including group projects, lectures from senior marketers and ultimately a presentation to a panel of senior management, including global chief brand officer, Kevin Newell.

On fire

After six years at The Pond working
extensively in the creative sector, Clinton Ulyatt has joined Firebrand’s
Auckland office in the newly created role of digital talent agent for New Zealand.
Talent has been at the heart of his work for the past 20 years after
starting in talent agencies and making the move to agency in a variety of
production and suiting roles.

 “I’m delighted to join [country manager]Julie Prentice and
her dedicated team. Firebrand is a standout in the market place. They are an
international operation with eight offices in seven countries worldwide. Although new
in New Zealand, the digital recruiter role is one that has existed for some time
throughout the Firebrand network. I’m looking forward to sharing in the
wealth of information within the network. The systems and ‘pipeline’ that
Firebrand has for bringing talent to the market is leading-edge.”

Ulyatt will be working closely with Cath Fournier, who focuses on creative. And Prentice says his focus on digital creative and
production roles adds depth to the team’s digital offering, with Jane Carolan’s
focus on digital marketing and communications and Jo Bayley’s work with digital
account management and strategic planning.

Press pass 

Joanna Norris has been named the new editor of The Press, taking over from former editor Andrew Holden, who is now editor-in-chief of The Age newspaper in Melbourne. 

Norris, currently digital editor of dompost.co.nz in Wellington, is a former chief reporter at The Press and has worked as a journalist and senior newsroom leader on daily newspapers in Britain and the Middle East. Sheis the first female to take the editor’s role. 

“She is very focused on understanding our audience and how we develop our portfolio of products to meet their needs,” said Press general manager Andrew Boyle on Stuff.co.nz. ”I am sure we would all agree that there has never been a more important time in the history of The Press for us to have an editorial leader with this capability.” 

“This is an important time for the region and to be given the opportunity to play a leading role in the community as we all navigate the rebuild of this city is an incredible privilege,” said Norris. “The team at The Press has played a central part in supporting and leading Canterbury over several generations and I intend to continue to drive the evolution of our journalism to ensure we continue to deliver to our whole audience the high quality we all expect.” 

She starts on 15 October.

By George

Robber’s Dog is everywhere at the moment, and so is its newish managing director George Mackenzie, it seems: he’s been appointed to the Adfest Collective, a group of international gurus from different fields working in Asia-Pacific that will advise AdFest on future of the awards show.

A Rose by any other name

Australian director Anthony Rose has joined the New Zealand roster of Waitemata Films. 

“We’ve always enjoyed Anthony’s work, particularly his Fiji Me spot for Barnes Catmur,” says executive producer Johnny Blick.

On the down low

Auckland-based producer Phil Leifting has departed Finch and joined thedownlowconcept, the production house responsible for 7 Days, Hounds and the recent Publicis Mojo campaign for Lawson’s. 

Noah’s art

The Sweet Shop has added self-taught, New York-based director Noah Conopask to its global roster. 

“Simply put: They
get it. They get me,” says Conopask. “Their roster and track record are exceptional. I love their global reach; their ability to
go weird places, do weird things. They
have a great worldwide team and I am excited to be a part of it.”

Before joining The Sweet Shop, Conopask lived and worked in both Los Angeles and Chicago, creating everything from
music videos to interactive content before settling down in New York to focus
on his commercial work.

“Noah’s
work is representative of the care and quality that has become synonymous with
The Sweet Shop,” says executive producer Fiona King. “His innovative approach
to story and style makes him a perfect addition to our global team.”

 The Sweet Shop’s chief executive/founding partner
Paul Prince added, “Noah is a
contemporary visualist in the true sense of the term. I’m honored that he has
chosen our group to manage his global career. Watch this space.”

And in other Sweet Shop news, marketing assistant Rose Gunn is shifting to Melbourne, but will still be looking after Australia, Asia and New Zealand. 

Entry spike

Spikes Asia, which runs from 16-18 September in Singapore, is the largest creative communications festival in Asia Pacific, and a record number of entries have been submitted this year, with 4,860 received from 23 countries across 16 categories, including new branded content & entertainment and creative effectiveness. 

With an overall 33 percent increase versus last year, the categories which have shown the highest increase
are PR, Design, Mobile, Film Craft, Direct and Promo & Activation. The top
countries participating are Australia (703 entries), followed by India (694),
Japan (594), Singapore (524), China (448) and Thailand (411). Entries from New
Zealand total 171.

“This extraordinary
growth in the number of entries this year is not only testament to the
importance of Spikes Asia to the creative community in Asia Pacific, but is
also an endorsement of the great work being produced in the region which will
ultimately reverberate around the world,” says Terry Savage, co-chairman of
Spikes Asia. “We await with great anticipation the juries’ decision, which no
doubt will provide inspiration and insight, taking creativity in brand
communications to another level.”

The winners will be
revealed during the Spikes Asia Awards Ceremony that will be held Tuesday
evening 18 September at the Grand Theatre, Marina Bay Sands. Other accolades to
be announced are: Agency of the Year, Independent Agency of the Year, Media
Agency of the Year, Network of the Year, and the new Spikes Palm Award
presented to the most awarded production company. P&G Asia will be honoured
with the 2012 Advertiser of the Year award. 

Spikes Asia is jointly
organised by Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and Haymarket,
publishers of Campaign Asia-Pacific. 

Creationism coming

Alternative art and creative industries showcase We Can Create has announced its line up for the one day event on 27 October 2012 in Auckland.

“We’ve curated a thought provoking event with people who have not only changed the world of design, but in some cases changed society. Speakers from Japan, Brazil, Toronto, London, Germany and Auckland will present their diverse mix of thinking and influences. The quality of the line-up is beyond anything we’ve presented in the past,” says event director Jon Raymen of the design agency Goodfolk.

• Three leaders from Adbusters Media Foundation will share how they attempt to change society through communications and design. Ad-free since 1989, its flagship publication, Adbusters magazine, has been instrumental in launching numerous global campaigns including Occupy Wall Street and Buy Nothing Day.
• Then there’s London-based Jonathan Barnbrook, one of the world’s most renowned graphic designers. Barnbrook’s work features in the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Design Museum, London and among others he’s collaborated with David Bowie and Damien Hirst.
• Japanese artist and musician Rockin’ Jelly Bean started his career by helping to define the visual style of the LA Garage Punk scene. His art evolved and he made his name in the Lowbrow art scene in the 1990s. He now works on a range of projects including producing uber-cool artworks for his Erostika shops in Nagoya and Harajuku. 
• German twin brothers, Thomas and Martin Poschauko are the authors of Nea Machina, a book based on a four month creative experiment that examined how creativity is unleashed through the head, guts, hand and computer. 
• Berlin based New Zealander Sarah Maxey is a graphic designer and hand lettering artist with a distinguished career in book design. She has produced award-winning work for literary publishers in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. 
• Auckland’s creative duo Matt von Trott and Johnny Kofoed from Assembly will provide insights into how their thinking is creating award-winning work. 
• Chris Allen, founder of The Light Surgeons from East London, returns to Auckland for a special live performance, Super Everything, an audio visual experience combining a range of different media.  

“It will be a day where you’ll risk sensory overload, but most of all it will provoke and stimulate experienced creatives and the broader communications industry like no other creative event,” says Raymen.

The main one day event We Can Create is surrounded by a programme of related events. These events include master classes with The Light Surgeons, Adbusters and Jonathan Barnbrook, a poster design competition, a live digital art exhibition and other events in the weeks leading up to 27 October.

Tickets are on sale now at 1 Night http://1-night.co.nz.

Avalon gone

TVNZ has advised that the sale of its Avalon Studio facility in Lower Hutt has now become unconditional and the change of ownership to a Wellington consortium, Avalon Holdings Ltd, will take place on March 31, 2013. 

The consortium is made up of local business interests including Wellington businessman John Feast, and two Avalon staff members who each hold a minority shareholding.

The consortium has advised TVNZ and Avalon staff that it intends to retain the facility as a production base for the film and television industry.

“It’s very pleasing that the facility will continue to be available to the industry, and that the new owners are locals with a strong appreciation of Avalon’s place in the history of NZ film and television,” says chief executive Kevin Kenrick. “We offer our cordial best wishes for the future.”