…as Image Centre Group fills up some space with a few newbies, The Research Agency appoints an associate director direct from London, Pead PR prints out four new swipe cards, Interbrand adds an exotic foreigner to the mix and Spark PR & Activate wins the Dermalogica account.
The Gospel of St Lukes
Image Centre Group did the big shift from Grey Lynn to Mt Albert last week and it’s started off life in the new premises by adding a few new faces to the roster.
Aynsley Scott will be leading the merged creative functions of Image Centre (previously known as Toot Suite), Tangible Media and &some. He will be responsible for the leadership of this team, production management and resource planning.
Scott brings sixteen years of design studio, publishing and agency production experience with him to this pivotal role.
He will report to director Craig Polley and work closely with Tangible’s Martin Bell, Hotfoot’s Juanita Neville-Te Rito, &some’s Maya McNicholl and the wider team to enhance the company’s print and digital production capability.
Across the hall, Trudy Dickinson has started as Tangible Media’s research manager and will be identifying opportunities within categories as well as with clients.
Dickinson, who has worked at ZenithOptimedia and Mitchells, is exceptionally passionate about magazines and in particular researching and databasing around media.
And at Hotfoot, Julie Crowhurst has joined the team as account director, taking over from Casey McPike, who is off for maternity leave. Crowhurst has most recently been a member of the Liquorland Marketing team and prior to that was with the Progressive Enterprises marketing team.
Linda Geary has also returned to Hotfoot in the role of client services strategy.
Arti history
Arti Badiani, a qualitative specialist with over six years experience, has been appointed as associate director of The Research Agency.
Badiani most recently held manager and associate roles at Synovate and Incite Marketing Planning UK in London. She has managed numerous multi-country projects for a range of high profile brands including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, HSBC & Procter & Gamble across the telco, finance and FMCG sectors.
She started her career with Litmus in Wellington, where she entered the world of social and public sector research. Over the years she has worked for a range of government clients both in New Zealand and the UK on complex issues such as obesity prevention, sustainable transport, organ donation and terrorism.
Quad Pead
Pead PR keeps dishing out new swipe cards, with four staff joining recently as a result of strong growth in the past year (and a new office opening in Sydney).
Helen Meade, B.Sc. (Psych) has been appointed account director on the Pead PR beauty team in Auckland, replacing Leanne Wilkins who is on 12 months maternity leave (an interesting time to join, considering the recent hullaballoo over exclusive deals and questionable editorial integrity).
Educated in England, Meade entered the industry in 1996 and has worked in healthcare, FMCG and animal welfare PR. Her most recent position was as communications manager with Fonterra’s rural retailer RD1 in Cambridge where she was head of internal, brand, corporate and media communications.
Joining Pead PR’s tech team are senior account manager Sonia Robinson and junior account executive Rachel Howard.
Robinson has extensive experience in technology public relations having worked in the digital arena since graduating from AUT with a Bachelor of Communications Studies in Journalism in 2001. Most recently she worked as a digital communications manager for Telecom and as a marketing and communications executive for The NZ Breast Cancer Foundation.
Marlene Lasova rounds out the hiring, appointed as a senior account manager in Pead PR’s food team.
Lasova has a diploma from the London School of PR in her Czech Republic homeland and a Bachelor of Business Studies in Communication Management from Massey University in Auckland. She has worked in PR/event management for companies such as Nokia, Intel, Oki, O2, T-Mobile, Nike, Oakley, and Stihl and also on several music projects.
She was a partner in a PR business in Prague and her most recent role was as an event manager and marketing communications specialist in the medical industry in New Zealand.
Aye, Colombia
Interbrand New Zealand has appointed Colombian Manuel Payan as its senior designer. He joins Interbrand from Twenty Limited and has worked for DDB Worldwide Colombia, Natcoll Design Technology, Interactiu Media and Ogilvy & Mather Colombia on brands including Volkswagen, Mazda, American British Tobacco, Sab Miller, Kia Motors and Energizer.
Payan says his forte is high contrast vector illustrations and animation and he looks forward to offering his skills to further his Interbrand clients and working with managing director James Bickford to lift its creative profile.
Bickford says his impressive history in the industry and worldly outlook make him a valuable addition to the team.
“This is a great hire for Interbrand and the wider DDB NZ team. Manuel will no doubt propel his team to further success and be beneficial in helping Interbrand NZ as we position the business locally as a world class design and brand strategy leader,” says Bickford.
In new skin
Spark PR & Activate has been named as the new PR and activation agency for Dermalogica in New Zealand, following a competitive pitch in April 2011.
“Dermalogica is in a concerted growth phase and the strategic thinking demonstrated to us by the Spark team, along with their creativity and obvious passion for our business, made it an easy decision for us”, says Dermalogica’s general manager of sales, marketing and education, Mark Luty. “Spark shares our pioneering spirit and with their considerable communications expertise, we’ll be in good shape to meet our business objectives going forward.”
Dermalogica has been operating successfully in New Zealand for over 17 years. And with a flagship store based in Westfield Albany, Dermalogica on the North Shore is one of only seven Dermalogica flagship stores worldwide offering a full range of Dermalogica products and skin treatments.
