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Relocation, relocation, relocation

Another week in marcomms land, another round of new hires, smooth industry moves and media swapsies.

Oktobor reign

After eight years with Auckland-based production house Kaleidoscope, Glen Atkins has joined Oktobor as senior motion and design artist.

Atkins has recently worked on several high-profile motion graphics campaigns including Telecom Global Roaming for Saatchi & Saatchi, where he was responsible for the overall design, story boards, 2D and directing the 3D aspects, several BNZ spots for Y&R Auckland and the highly regarded Lotto Dreams TVC for DDB Auckland, where he directed the stills shoot and took care of the full 2D execution. Atkins has also worked with Kia and TVNZ recently.

“Joining Oktobor is an exciting move for me. It gives an opportunity to work with the best, as Oktobor is a major player on the world stage,” he says. “They have great equipment, a great creative team and a great reputation.”

Oktobor general manager Bruce Everett says Oktobor’s commitment to “design-focused television advertising” is evident through the continued growth of the team.

“Glen is an excellent appointment for Oktobor as he has a great deal of experience in the local New Zealand industry, is a proven talent and flexible self-starter. His reel is as impressive as his client list and we are delighted he chose to join us.”

Governing Interest

Network PR has appointed the former general manager of the National Party, Mark Oldershaw, to the position of director of government relations and advocacy. He will lead the company’s government relations practice, which is based in Wellington.

“Mark brings a wide range of senior level experience from both the public and private sectors to the consultancy,” says Network PR managing director, Dennis Lynch. “He most recently stepped down as general manager of the New Zealand National Party. Prior to that he was chief executive of the New Zealand Hotel Council.”

Oldershaw has worked closely with senior members of the National-led government over many years and with members of the Opposition when they were in government during his time with the Hotel Council.

“Interaction with government under an MMP political environment is becoming more complex and the traditional role of government relations is being challenged,” says Oldershaw. “The key strategy for successful practitioners is to provide collaborative leadership and tangible solutions to both government and industry. The classic win-win situation.”

He says New Zealand faces challenging issues in key areas such as energy, the primary sector, water, aged care, infrastructure and nutrition. And he doesn’t believe these challenges can be looked after by either government or the private sector alone.

“Modern government advocacy facilitates the connection between the two.”

Plunket Appeal

After almost 15 years of ridiculously early mornings in his role as co-host of Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report, Sean Plunket has decided a bit of a sleep in would be a good idea: he’s signed on as the new presenter of TV3’s weekend current affairs show The Nation, replacing Stephen Parker.

His role on The Nation will include a weekly interview which will range across a wide variety of subjects and will be in addition to TV3 political editor Duncan Garner’s political interviews. He starts his new role TV3 on 7 August and his last day at Radio New Zealand is set to be 8 September.

Plunket, a 25 year veteran of broadcast journalism, started his role on Morning Report in September 1996, has worked in the Parliamentary Press Gallery and was a foundation staff member of 3 News in 1989. He has also worked for TVNZ on programmes such as Holmes and Fair Go and is renowned for his tough interviewing style.

Director of news and current affairs at TV3 Mark Jennings thinks Plunket and Garner will make for an excellent team, with their combined knowledge of New Zealand politics and the political system, as well as a “well developed sense of humour” that he believes will surface on the show “at appropriate times.”

According to TV3, Plunket decided to leave Radio New Zealand after they refused to allow him to write a political column for Metro magazine. He took a case to the Employment Relations Authority about the issue but he lost on the basis that it would be a conflict of interest. After announcing his resignation Plunket was given permission to write a “general interest” column in the magazine.

Bobbing for apples

Bob Kerrigan, who has been the copywriting brains behind ASB’s Goldstein campaign for the past 10 years, is the latest creative director to sign on as a gun for hire at The Pond.

“My time at TBWA let me push the dreary boundaries of traditional advertising in ways I never thought possible. Like selling real estate on other planets and writing and performing an original composition for PlayStation Tan. It also allowed me to gain experience in LA, Sydney, Paris and London.”

His work for brands like ASB, PlayStation, Levis, ZM and Oxfam has been widely recognised, with 37 awards at ORCA, the EFFIES, Axis, RSVP and so on (38 if you count a win at the Battle of the Bands). And he’s even made it into Luerzer’s Archive, the bible of “over-art-directed advertising creative”.

More recently, Kerrigan, who’s your man for “radio scripts, TV scripts and BIG campaigns”, has been working alongside film production companies, helping directors to win pitches as well as the hearts of creatives (check out his profile here).

Paper trail

A bit of a swapsie in the central north island media ranks, with Roy Pilott, currently the deputy editor of the Waikato Times, being appointed editor of The Taranki Daily News and its website to replace Jonathan MacKenzie, who has been appointed editor of the Waikato Times.

Taranaki Daily News general manager Mike Brewer says Pilott brings expert knowledge of the media industry to the paper and has the benefit of working in a region with similarities to Taranaki and an understanding of the local readership.

“His experience and appreciation of the role that a daily newspaper and website plays in a region ‘like no other’ will be welcomed by the staff and community alike”.

Pilott says the Taranaki Daily News is a fantastic newspaper with a strong news team, which is in touch with its community in both print and online.

“I am looking forward to developing and strengthening those relationships to ensure we remain the most relevant provider of news in the region.”

Fairfax Media executive editor Paul Thompson says Pilott is an exceptional journalist and newsroom leader. He has done every job in the newsroom, from reporting and subbing through to stints as chief reporter and news editor.

“Recently he has also developed his skills in digital media. He has a particular strength in driving strong coverage of key local issues. He is well-equipped to  work with the talented team at Taranaki to continue to improve both the newspaper and the website.”

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