DDB has been on the hunt for a creative director since Adam Kanzer departed in mid-2010 and, just as it did when Justin Mowday shifted from DraftFCB to take up the managing director role, the Death Star has managed to secure the services of another senior DraftFCBer: creative director Chris Schofield.
“Chris is the real deal,” says Toby Talbot, group executive creative director DDB New Zealand, who will soon head off to work at DDB London for a year. “He is one of the most exceptional, respected and awarded creative talents in the country and we are incredibly pleased to have him on board. He has a great track record with big brands and more awards than it is decent for any one chap to hold. He is also quite bald so he will fit right in with his fellow CDs, Steve Kane and Aaron Goldring.”
Schofield has won an impressive amount of awards in his six years at DraftFCB, including gold and silver wins at last week’s Effies for the ALAC ‘Infuencers’ campaign.
“I’m incredibly excited about joining DDB,” says Schofield. “I’ve known Toby for years and have watched everything that he’s achieved at DDB with interest—and at times with envy. I’m so keen to be a part of DDB’s future. Most importantly though, I’ve been riding a bike to work recently and DDB will bring me about 400 metres closer to the Newton cycleway. Which is also incredibly exciting for my trick knee.”
During his time at Colenso BBDO from 2000, and Generator in 2003, Schofield—who, like Mowday, Todd McLeay and Jason Paris is yet another deep southerner in a position of extreme power—worked on big brands such as BMW and Sony, and claimed gold wins at The One Show and Young Guns for his work on TV3 and Amnesty International.
In 2004, Schofield moved to Saatchi & Saatchi where he was able to boast launching a truly crap film festival, The Telecom Rubbish Film Festival, for which he won another two Gold Lions. Schofield was also a a judge at Cannes in 2010.
DraftFCB’s James Mok says a replacement has yet to be made.
“Taika Waititi is in the middle of lower Mongolia writing a movie and we’d have to sell our grandmothers to try and woo Nick Worthington so it’s plan C for now. Chris is a one-off so we’re better off looking for a woman with a full head of hair just to avoid comparisons.”
And, as for Talbot’s ECD replacement, an announcement is apparently “imminent”.
