Todd McLeay has resigned from his position as chief executive of Whybin\TBWA, making way for Andrew Scott who is returning to New Zealand to lead the Auckland office with newly appointed executive creative director Christy Peacock.
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StopPress revealed a few weeks back that Whybin\TBWA’s executive creative director Dave King was departing (along with Jodi Willocks, who moved to Assignment) and it’s been announced he’s heading back to Australia to join Innocean Australia in the newly created role of executive creative director. Now chief executive Todd McLeay has confirmed that TBWA\ Melbourne creative director Andy Lish has stepped in to the breach in Auckland.
Whybin\TBWA’s chief executive Todd McLeay had a go at industry rumourmongers telling tales of senior departures in a story in the NBR last week, and while he told StopPress he definitely wasn’t doing that in an interview in April, it has lost a couple of other senior staffers: executive creative director Dave King and client service director Jodi Willocks. But it’s added around eight more after a merger with Starseed PR.
There have been plenty of changes at Whybin\TBWA over the past few years, both in terms of staff and clients. But after winning a few pitches, including the Auckland International Airport business, trying to establish the right model and operating as part of a trans-Tasman team, chief executive Todd McLeay and chairman Scott Whybin reckon it’s on the right track.
Marketers have more access to information and research about their customers than ever before. And more than ever they’re relying on it (and only it) to make decisions. But that’s risky, says Todd McLeay.
Whybin\TBWA has been through a fair amount of change since Todd McLeay took over in early 2013, both in terms of clients and staff. But, much to the agency’s relief, it has retained its biggest client after ANZ re-signed its trans-Tasman contract. PLUS: Yellow also picks the agency for a brand refresh.
Just over a year after he arrived at Whybin\TBWA, Toby Talbot is departing the agency, with ex-M&C Saatchi executive creative director and chief executive Dave King coming on board as the replacement chief creative officer.
Yesterday, APN released a new campaign to promote the addition of OPTA, a rugby analytics tool, to its recently launched rugby portal, which serves as a discrete hub for anything related to the sport. In the campaign, titled ‘Talk like a rugby pro,’ the laconic observations of a rugby novice are juxtaposed to the in-depth analyses of a fan who has access to extra rugby intel (possibly thanks to the information available on the Herald). PLUS: read about which agency lost APN’s creative account.
A couple of senior departures from DDB, an addition at DraftFCB, Julie Elstone joins Waitemata Films, Charles Miller takes the reins at Mailshop, Belowtheline shows its stripes at APPA and announces new clients, Siobhan Keogh joins Datacom, Voice Brand Agency opens up in Oz, InMobi announces a new Australia/New Zealand leader and Ecoya chooses a new PR agency.
TBWA\ got a big slap in the face a few weeks back when it lost the 2degrees business to Special Group. But, in what chief executive Todd McLeay says is “some consolation”, it has picked up the TradeMe business.
There’s been plenty of change at TBWA\ over the past few months, with Todd McLeay and Toby Talbot coming on board to take over from David ‘I’m not fucking retiring’ Walden and Andy Blood. And now there’s some more change, with Eleven PR’s founder and managing partner Kelly Bennett leaving to set up his own corporate public relations business.
It missed out on the big Foodstuffs account recently, but the new executive team at Whybin\TBWA has chalked up a welcome win after being appointed as the new creative and strategic agency for the Bell Tea & Coffee Company’s (BTCC) stable of tea brands.
It’s all go at TBWA\ at the moment, with Todd McLeay set to step into the big shoes of Dave Walden soon and Toby Talbot set to take over from Andy Blood in March. And, following on Steve Kane’s shift, it’s added two more DDB scalps, with Lisa Fedyszyn and Jonathan McMahon joining as creative directors.
David Walden stepped down as the CEO of Whybin\TBWA yesterday, after 14 years at the agency’s helm. Although many had predicted his resignation following a massive sell off of shares last year, very few picked former APN chief operating officer Todd McLeay to replace him.
Resigning Whybin’s boss David Walden scotches rumours he’s retiring, predicts tremendous years ahead for agency and self.
It’s been a watershed year for APN NZ, with the Herald’s shift to tabloid and the resulting campaign by DraftFCB, a new nzherald.co.nz, the launch of The Listener’s digital subscriptions and restructures of the IT, editorial and marketing departments. Chief operating officer Todd McLeay, the man who swapped the comparatively easy job of selling Lotto tickets for positioning a newspaper for the rather uncertain future, looks back on an eventful 2012.
With the relaunched New Zealand Herald now simmering along, APN is turning some of its attention to the imminent launch a new website that will be dedicated to all things food and cooking, called foodhub.co.nz. The digital offering will house APN’s new and archival recipe and food content, showcasing more than 6,000 recipes drawn from APN’s newspaper and magazine publications including the NZ Herald, its regional newspapers, and magazines including the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and the New Zealand Listener.
200 of the industry’s brightest eyed and bushy tailed young things turned up to the Marvel Grill in the Wynyard Quarter last week to kick off the Young, Bright & Broke group’s inaugural event. And we’ve got the photos by Courtney Herbert to prove it.
When Todd McLeay shifted from NZ Lotteries to the role of chief operating officer at APN NZ, one of the first things he did was go and talk with a bunch of ad agencies and media buyers to see what their feelings were about newspapers. The general consensus was that there was a lot of sparkle about digital but there wasn’t too much love for print, mainly because “no-one was making a good case for it”. And so the campaign to launch the compact version of the NZ Herald and redesign the website was born, and with the big launch day on Monday, the piece de resistance, a TVC by DraftFCB that shows the important role the paper has played in New Zealand’s history, goes live tonight.
There is no question the media landscape is changing and the pace of technological advancements means that change is happening more rapidly than ever. This is changing the way people live their lives and the way that they consume media. At APN we spend a lot of time listening to consumers and understanding the affect these changes have on their relationships with our news and entertainment brands. There is no denying that more and more people are reading, watching and listening to our content across print, digital and mobile platforms. But rather than seeing that as a negative trend, we believe this is a strong signal for a positive future.
The Death Star has landed a couple of big fish, won some big awards, launched some big ideas and welcomed—and farewelled—some big creative boffins this year. DDB’s managing director Justin Mowday dives into the choppy waters of 2011.
Last week he was talking about Lotto’s new digital signs. But, as of January, New Zealand Lotteries Commission chief executive Todd McLeay will be talking about publishing in the new role of chief operating officer of APN News and Media in New Zealand.
NZ Lotteries has given the digital signage sector a big fillip with the roll-out of LCD promotional screens to 600 of its top Lotto stores around the country, the biggest roll-out of its kind in New Zealand. And so far, the enticing new technology is doing the business.