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Paul Manning to leave 99

Clemenger Group New Zealand has announced 99 managing director Paul Manning will be departing the agency for a new venture outside of the industry.

The move will happen over the next few months and in Manning’s place, Troy Fuller, currently managing director at Raydar, will take over the responsibility of 99. Fuller will retain his current position at Raydar.

99 and Raydar will not be merging. 

Manning joined the agency from Ogilvy & Mather in 2015, taking on the managing director role and since then, the agency has formed a Newsroom offering for clients and picked up accounts including those for Spark Digital and Kiwi Property.

He will now be working with Helius Therapeutics, a start-up he invested in last year, advising it on its brand and go-to-market strategy.

The start-up specialises in the cultivation, research and manufacturing of medical-grade nutraceuticals.

Given it’s influenced by government and change of legislation, Manning says it began to move at pace when the government changed last year.

He says it was a difficult decision to leave the agency but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to dive into the new venture.

“I started my career with a start-up business, I am an entrepreneur at heart and I knew I always wanted to return to start another business.”

He adds that he leaves knowing the agency is in good hands, saying Fuller is a “class act” in terms of his leadership style and having done great things with Raydar, he’s capable of building on what 99  has been working on in the last couple of years.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved as a team in the transformation of 99 – and the quality of the talent in that building,” says Manning. “The agency is in a great place to capitalise on the CX capabilities we’ve built, complementing 99’s retail DNA. I have enormous respect for Troy. He’s a class act and a pleasure to work with. I have every confidence that 99 will go from strength to strength under his watch.” 

CEO of Clemenger Group New Zealand Jim Moser says he’s sorry to see Manning leave 99 as he has driven the transformation of the agency, introducing customer experience expertise in the context of a contemporary retail environment.

However, he adds Fuller is a new breed of agency leader with a proven track record in agency leadership and management.

“He has developed an agency capability that delivers tremendous commercial results for his clients, which he will now apply to our clients at 99. We have high expectations for Troy in his new dual role and expect great outcomes for our valued clients from both 99 and Raydar.”

Fuller has been with the Clemenger Group for six years. Initially, he started at Colenso BBDO launching in-house shopper marketing agency Clemenger Shop.

Tapping into Colenso BBDO’s client list, Clemenger Shop grew rapidly and successfully. In 2015, it merged with Raydar to form the pre-eminent shopper marketing agency in New Zealand. Since then, Raydar has expanded its offer and grown 50 percent year-on-year.

Fuller is incredibly humbled to have been given the opportunity to take on the leadership of 99 in addition to his current role with Raydar.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that this will be a huge challenge, but with the group of smart and talented people I have around me at both agencies, it’s a challenge I’m exceptionally excited about.”

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