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Movings/Shakings: 24 October

Signing off

TVNZ senior weathercaster Jim Hickey has announced his plans to retire from broadcasting at the end of this year.

“It’s been a tough decision,” says Hickey. “I feel like I’m subbing off at half time. I love my job, especially the interface with people up and down the country. It’s been tempting to carry on, but I’ve hit retirement age and have decided to call it a day. It’s been a great story. Support from fellow Kiwis has been outstanding. I’ve made friends, business colleagues and supporters from Oban to the Cape Lighthouse. I thank them all, and hope to see lots more of them. TVNZ’s been tremendous. Countless opportunities, new projects, my own programmes and live broadcasts have been part of the tapestry of my time with them. It’s a great company.”

TVNZ’s head of news and current affairs John Gillespie applauded Hickey for his contribution to Kiwi television.  

“Jim has made many friends within and outside of TVNZ and I believe he has absolutely set the standard for weathercasting in New Zealand, for so many years,” said Gillespie in an official statement. “He will be missed by us and, of course, our viewers. I know this decision has been a tough one for him, and I know he feels hugely supported by so many friends and colleagues here and by many people around the country. Jim certainly leads a hectic and a very full life and he has decided to spend more time with family, looking after his café business, and no doubt a bit of flying too.”

Hickey has had a varied career over the years. He’s been a high school teacher, has owned various businesses including his current chain of Airspresso cafés, and in 1995 set up Rustic Road Productions – making programmes for TVNZ including Jim’s Car ShowA Flying Visit, and documentaries like How’s the Weather Jim? He has also fronted Country Calendar and several other lifestyle programmes from the TVNZ stable.

He has been TVNZ’s Senior Weathercaster from 1988 until 2003, when he took a break for a few years before returning to screens in 2007. Since 1994 he has worked alongside Senior Weathercaster Karen Olsen, a role she will now share with Daniel Corbett.

Hickey will be on air tomorrow night (Saturday 25 October), and will continue presenting the weather on ONE News until Christmas.

Leaving The Warehouse

Ecommerce solutions company EstarOnline has named Andrew Buxton as its chief executive.

Buxton joins from the Warehouse Group where he held a range of retail leadership, supply chain, and IT roles since 2003.  Most recently he lead the growth of The Warehouse Group’s digital expansion strategy for two years as chief exectuvie of multi-channel for the group, and chief executive of Torpedo 7. Through this period he lead the multichannel growth across traditional brands, as well as development and acquisition of multiple new businesses and brands including Torpedo 7, R&R Sports, 1-day.co.nz, Number 1 Fitness, Shotgun Supplements, Big Bucket Deals, TV International Brands, and pet.co.nz.

He brings over 25 years’ experience in multi-channel environments, gained with Australasian, UK and Asian retailers, including start-ups and global brands, to his new role. 

Prior to the Warehouse Group, Buxton owned a range of businesses, including a successful start-up retail category management business built into a $25m business in three years. He also worked in senior business development and consulting roles in Singapore and Hong Kong with Descartes, a network logistics software company, and established KPMG’s Asia Pacific Consumer and Industrial Markets consulting practice.  

“Andrew is a highly experienced retailer whose experience in New Zealand and our key markets will be fully utilised to help EstarOnline meet our growth potential,” says Stuart Nattrass, the chair of EstarOnline. “His insights into multichannel and supply chain strategy, as well as his perspective on the services and solutions todays retailers require will be highly sought after by our clients.”

From corporate to start-up

Postr, the app that pays users for viewing personalised ads on their Android lock screen, has announced the appointment of John-Paul Randall as the company’s new sales director.

Randall will be responsible for the overall monetisation of the growing business, forming relationships with advertisers, building a sales team and promoting the benefits of the emerging publishing platform, as the company expands its operations.

Postr chief executive Milan Reinartz said: “The Postr App is now being used by over 5,000 people who can be effectively reached on a daily basis. Our users are practically begging us to show them more ads which is a fascinating response and proves that our model really has legs. We anticipate our audience growth will continue to accelerate and we’ll see some very exciting new features within the app in the not too distant future. The Postr App is new to market and to match our ambitions we needed to appoint an experienced Sales Director, who understands the industry and can drive the organisation towards our targets, while allowing the founders to focus on product development and marketing.”

Randall has held senior positions with companies including SEEK, TVNZ, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau of New Zealand (IAB), and he says that he is looking forward to dedicating all his time to the start-up.

“I started as an advisor to Postr quite early on,” he said in a release. “My decision to work full-time on the business was heavily influenced by the unique value proposition and the quality of the team. Postr provides the most effective advertising format I’ve seen, giving marketers the ability to target real people in a solicited, top of mind environment and the founders are smart, driven and ambitious. I look forward to immerse myself in the business, and help the Postr team achieve its vision of connecting consumers with brands in a mutually rewarding way.”

Returning home

Trilogy International has announced the appointment of Angela Buglass as the managing director of Trilogy Natural Products.

 

Reporting to Trilogy International group chief executive Stephen Sinclair, Buglass will be responsible for all aspects of the Trilogy Natural Products business, including setting the strategy in conjunction with the Trilogy International chief executive and the board. 

Announcing the appointment, Sinclair said Buglass’ appointment followed a global search. 

“Angela has had a long and successful international career in the beauty and skincare industry in our key growth markets, working with leading brands including Aveda (part of Estée Lauder), L’Oreal and Charles Worthington, as well as global beauty giant, LF Beauty,” he said. “We believe that this experience, combined with our existing team, will help accelerate our growth and further strengthen our brand and business.” 

Buglass also expressed enthusiam about joining the company, saying: “Having recently returned from more than 15 years working overseas, I am excited about the opportunities to help an already successful New Zealand business take its natural beauty products to even more people around the world.” 

Buglass will be based in Wellington.

Ready to disrupt

Greg Doone has left his position as the general manager of Affinity ID to dedicate his full energy to Disrupt, a consulting service that he founded in October.

This move brings an end to an almost two-year stint at Affinity ID, during which he led the multi-awarding winning Symphony programme for Westpac New Zealand. Prior to working at Affinity, he held senior management roles in London at Collective and Accenture.

According to the company website, Disrupt will focus on providing “consultancy and leadership on digital strategy, data and disruption, from simple advisory services to benchmarking, optimisation and strategy development.” 

Finding the pioneers

An elite team of over 100 of New Zealand’s most experienced direct marketers have been secured to decide on the finest examples of direct marketing this year. 

Click here to see the full list of judges.

The NZDM Awards comprise the RSVP Industry, Channel and Craft Categories and the Nexus Awards. The latter recognise excellence in creating the foundations on which measurable campaigns are based. In addition, there are two special awards – the Direct Marketer of the Year, and The Keith Norris Direct Marketing Organisation of the Year, recognising individuals and organisations who are doing amazing things in the direct marketing space. The winners of New Zealand Post’s Student Marketer of the Year Award will also be acknowledged on Awards night.

RSVP Chief Judge Trevor Moodie, the director of The Department of Marketing, says the judges will focus on how well entrants have articulated the success of their campaigns.

“With an unashamed focus on measurable results, it’s important to let the numbers speak – it’s simply not good enough to claim a paradigm shift”, he said.  “Avoid industry jargon and ‘fluff’, pay attention to what’s been asked for in each section of the entry form, and explain how the campaign or activity will build, deliver or influence strategy and you’ll impress the judges.”

For the first time this year judges will be able to award Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in the Craft categories. Previously only the winner and runner-up were acknowledged in each of these categories.  Additionally, the categories in this section have been streamlined to reflect the skill required to deliver on-brand, relevant messaging across multiple channels. 

The Nexus Awards’ new Chief Judge, Martin Bremner, chief executive officer of Super Liquor, is expecting his team of judges to have an exciting challenge on their hands determining who the winners will be. 

He said: “Today’s customers can interact and converse seamlessly with brands and audiences. The joy of judging the Nexus Awards is the opportunity to see how the best marketers lend strategy, technology, insight and creativity to deliver outstanding experiences to their customers, and success to their organisations”

The deadline for entries is today at 5pm, but an extended deadline to 31 October is available upon application.

Recruiting a MasterChef

Zomato has appointed former MasterChef New Zealand finalist Kirsty Cardy as the country manager of New Zealand, making her responsible for leading the kiwi team and overseeing all operations and expansion at a national level.

Prior to joining Zomato, Cardy founded, developed and grew HomeKit into one of New Zealand’s major online kitchen appliance retailers.

In addition to this, Cardy also previously ran a successful catering company and managed a restaurant supply business throughout New Zealand.

A promotion

AUT Bachelor of Communication studies graduate Lauren Mitchell has been named as the 2014 recipient of the Porter Novelli Joseph Peart Scholarship.

Now in its second year, the scholarship recognises the outstanding contribution Joseph Peart made to the field of public relations in New Zealand over many decades.

Porter Novelli’s managing director Strahan Wallis said that the team was pleased that Peart, who passed away this year, got to personally hand over the inaugural scholarship last year.

“We’re thrilled to be able to honour his memory and his contribution to the PR industry in New Zealand in such an appropriate way,” said Wallis. “It’s also great for us as it helps in our quest for an unfair share of the best talent.”

Last year’s successful recipient Kaya Arai has been promoted to senior account executive at Porter Novelli.

“We’re chuffed that Kaya Arai, the inaugural scholarship recipient, went on to be employed by us,” said Wallis. “She has since worked on some of New Zealand’s leading PR campaigns and has now been promoted before her first anniversary with us.”

Wallis also said that the quality of this year’s entrants indicated that the future of Kiwi PR was in good shape.

“Judging by the quality of this year’s entries Joseph’s legacy continues at AUT and is reflected by the numbers of bright, emerging PR professionals,” says Strahan. “This year’s scholarship recipient Lauren Mitchell was up against a strong group of candidates who submitted excellent applications and went through a rigorous testing process. Ultimately, Lauren really impressed us with her education, tenacity in getting relevant work experience while studying and her fit with Porter Novelli values.”

The scholarship is a fully paid six week internship at Porter Novelli and a $1,500 contribution to further training and development over the next 12 months.

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