SAATCHI'S SNARE TEAM FROM GEORGE PATTS Y&R MELBOURNE

Saatchi & Saatchi has snared creative team Hilary Badger and Rob Beamish from George Patterson Y&R Melbourne, no doubt part of a series of new creative appointments in the coming months. Before Patts, the pair did a short stint at Grey Worldwide Melbourne. Prior to teaming up, Badger was a star at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, where she co-created the Dulux 'Ghost' spot (MADC Best of Show and AWARD Silver) while Beamish was at Leo Burnett, Melbourne.

OFFICIAL RELEASE: DDB APPOINTS AUSTRALASIA’S NUMBER ONE CREATIVE AS NEW EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

DDB has lured top ranking creative Toby Talbot from Saatchi & Saatchi to take the helm as its new Executive Creative Director.
Currently Creative Director at Saatchi, Talbot is ranked by industry magazine Campaign Brief as Australasia’s number one creative director.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DDB New Zealand and Australia Marty O’Halloran described the appointment as a major coup for the DDB Group.
“We’re delighted to have secured someone of Toby’s calibre to take up our top creative role,” he said.
“Toby is one of the best creative directors in the Asia Pacific region. He’ll lead an award-winning creative team here who, I know, will be delighted to welcome him onboard. We have major plans for 2007 in terms of business growth and creative expansion and Toby will be a key part of this strategy.”
DDB Group Managing Director Sharon Henderson added: “The DDB role is undoubtedly one of the most attractive in the industry. Our blue-chip client base provides some of the best creative opportunities in the New Zealand market. From a business perspective, someone of Toby’s exceptional talent will be invaluable in making a tremendously strong business even stronger.”

TALBOT TO ECD OF DDB

After weeks of speculation, Saatchi & Saatchi creative director Toby Talbot has indeed taken the ECD gig at DDB, left vacant after the departure of Paul Catmur to the Y&R empire. More on this as details come to hand...

CHANGE IS GOOD

by Mike O'Sullivan

It's time to officially confirm what everyone is talking about.
Jay, Andy, Stacey Lee, Rosita, and Toby Talbot will be leaving us in January.
“Oh my God, why are all they all leaving?” I hear you say.
Well I’d reply by firstly saying, have a look at where these people are
going.
For a start, five Saatchi creatives have become Creative Directors in 2006.
Anybody who’s taken that leap knows you just have to give it a crack.
Then there’s Toby who is stepping up to become Executive Creative Director
of DDB Auckland. If you read the paper this will not come as a surprise.
There are only two people in our industry that could do the job.
If ever there was a guy who should be an Executive Creative Director, it’s
Toby.
He’s done a great job here, not just as a Creative Director, but creative
partner and all-round good mate. Bar a short break we’ve been working
together for eight years at Colenso and then Saatchi. We have had a roller
coaster ride of a trip but now it’s time for him to head off and do his own
thing.
“To be honest, it’s a great relief for me. It’s been eight years and now
finally, I don’t have to go fishing any more. I hate fishing,” says Talbot.
“Actually, it’s been great. The last two years at Saatchi have been hugely challenging and also very satisfying. Mike and Rocky have been great leaders, but the time is right for me to step up. I wish the guys well.”
All of the above are moving on to bigger, more challenging jobs.
And what about Matty, Dave, Stacey and Rosita?
They are not crossing the road to another agency in town.
No, these people are only going to two of the greatest hotshops in the world – Droga 5 and 180 Amsterdam. What a great success story!
Just 18 months ago Rosita was a junior art director at Adworks Ogily, she teamed up with Stacey, had a great year, and now they are off to creatively head Adidas Woman wear at 180 Amsterdam. How cool is that?
Losing people all so close together is a bugger, but it’s not something you can control. People move on. Most of them we’ve helped, some we haven’t.
That’s what happens with a good creative department. A creative department that in one year helped Saatchi win 5 Cannes lions, 14 AWARD pencils, a Grand Effie, Grand Axis and B&T, Campaign Brief and Admedia Agency of the Year.
Change is good, particularly when you plan for it.
Over the last few months you may have noticed we’ve changed our model and a few people. Quite a lot of people. The extremely observant may have noticed that Toby and I been quietly replacing people. In fact today we can announce that Hilary Badger and Rob Beamish will be joining Saatchi NZ, from George Patts Y&R, Melbourne.
Earlier in the year we hired Adam Oliveira, Levi Slavin, Dave Govier, then more recently Tim Huse and Hywel James. In January another four seriously awarded creatives will be announced.
As we become fully integrated we will continue to attract great ideas people and we’ll get used to the fact that they may only be with us for a short period. This year we’ve hired 40 new people, bringing out staff numbers to a staggering 202.
These people have joined to be the best they can be.
So yes, there are big changes at Saatchi. It's not a pitch, we've not lost business, and we're not making redundancies. It's just great people coming and going.
Next time you see any of the people I’ve mentioned, give them a pat on the back. They have taken their next big leap. Good on them.
Have a great Christmas and roll on 2007. I reckon it’s going to be a beauty.

Mike O

FEMALE SAATCHI TEAM SNARED BY FACKRELL - HEADING FOR 180 AMSTERDAM

Saatchi & Saatchi Mid weight creative team Rosita Rawnsley- Mason and Stacey Lee have been signed by Kiwi expat Andy Fackrell, ECD of one of the world's hottest shops, 180 Amsterdam, the agency in charge of Adidas worldwide and now Sony. Fackrell is currently in NZ and obviously is not here just to see his folks.
Rosita Rawnsley-Mason and Stacey Lee have been teamed for a year. They picked up a Cannes Silver Lion for their Finding Nemo DM piece, an Axis award, a Gong and were runner’s up in the Fairfax Young Creative Competition in 2006.
As a team their work has been featured in Campaign Brief, Shots, Ad Media, Best of Direct Marketing 2006 and they are soon to have two pieces published in The Work ’06.
Outside of work, Rosita is a fine artist working towards her first solo exhibition later this year. Stacey is passionate about dance and has choreographed and performed to national level in numerous competitions, productions and stage shows. Together they also team up outside of work to collaborate on a number of projects including a children’s book as well as other design initiatives.
The pair follow in the footsteps of Matty Burton and Dave Bowman, another Saatchi team who have headed for the big time. In the latter's case, it was to join Droga 5 in New York.
It is believed Saatchi's has employed a top creative team from Australia, and other key appointments, which may be announced later today.

SAATCHI'S DILALLO AND BENJAMIN TO JOINT DEPUTY CD GIG AT JWT SYDNEY

After four years with Saatchi & Saatchi, first in Sydney, then in Auckland, one of Australasia's hottest teams, Andy DiLallo (top) and Jay Benjamin (bottom), are leaving the network to take the role of Deputy CDs of JWT Sydney under Andy Mckeon.
While at Saatchi & Saatchi, the team - currently ranked third in the CB Creative Rankings - played a role in garnering four Campaign Brief Agency of the Year titles in three years. Three of the titles were with the Sydney office and one was with the Auckland office.
Before Saatchi’s the pair worked together at Bozell New York, the third most awarded agency in the world at Cannes in 2002. It was also there where they first worked with creative mentor David Nobay, who was responsible for bringing the duo to the region.
Most recently the team has been at Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland where they have worked on high profile work for such clients as Toyota, Tiger Beer, Eta, Fonterra, Young Guns, and WWF.
Says DiLallo: “It has been an amazing run with Saatchi, but the time has come for us to look towards new challenges. The opportunity to be a part of building a new legacy at JWT is an exciting one and we can’t wait to hit the ground running. With the support of Andy Mckeon, Amy Smith (CEO) and (worldwide CD) Craig Davis we feel that we can help take the network to new heights in the region.”
When asked about leaving Saatchi, Benjamin says it was a very hard choice: "We have and will always have a special place in our hearts for Saatchi & Saatchi. Their dedication to excellence is something we hope to carry with us. It has been a privilege to have worked with so many talented people. But after meeting Andy Mckeon and his team at JWT we look forward to working with many new talented people.”
McKeon says the two are just who has been looking for “super talented, hungry and crap at karaoke.”
They join new recent world-class hires including Julie Rath, who worked at Goodby Silverstein & Partners with Andy, Paul Bruce from The Glue Society who has been freelancing there for a few months, Jeffrey Oley, a designer from New York and the Miami Adschool teams (associated with Crispin Porter + Bogusky) JWT is hosting to work with their AWARD School juniors.

PUBLICIS MOJO, SAATCHI STAFF SHAKEUP

The rumours have been flying thick and fast over the last couple of days about retrenchments and/or changes at both Publicis Mojo and Saatchi & Saatchi. In the case of the former, one source says at least a dozen staffers have been let go, but we expect details on this from ECD Nick Worthington soon. As to Saatchi's, it appears a senior creative team has resigned to take up a gig in Sydney, but is being replaced, and other staff may or may not have left, with exact details expected later today.

HYWEL JAMES, TIM HUSE SNAPPED UP BY SAATCHI & SAATCHI 'IDEAS DEPARTMENT'

Saatchi & Saatchi has scored the services of multi-award winning Tim Huse (bottom left) and Hywel James (top left) to be group heads in its new-look ‘Ideas Department’.
“Tim Huse always got ads, but a big attraction for us is that he totally gets the new media landscape too,” says Auckland Creative Director, Toby Talbot. “He’s one of the new breed of creatives who can do anything from a website to a billboard. He may be a good-looking lad but, reassuringly, he’s a bit of a geek on the inside.
“Hywel James has been freelancing with us for a few months now and he’s really impressed the agency. Personally, it will be fantastic to have someone in our department whose name gets mis-spelled even more than my own.”
James has won some serious awards in a very short space of time, including an elusive Gold AWARD pencil and an even more coveted D&AD Yellow Pencil, as well as three D&AD Yellow Pencil nominations.
Talbot says the pair will be joining the new look department alongside the agency’s other recent hirings, Levi Slaven and Dave Govier, the ex Colenso BBDO creative team behind the Tip Top ‘Undies’, Fresh Up and Frank ad campaigns: “The return of Sonya Berrigan and the arrival of Adam Olivera as Interactive CD makes for a great starting line up for next year," adds Talbot.
“On a sad note, we also have to announce that after 12 years at the agency, Basil Christensen and Damon ‘O Leary are leaving us to pursue a whole new challenge as creative directors of Ogilvy. I guess that’s a long time to be working in the same agency,” says Talbot.
“Though they know the DNA of Saatchi runs through them, Bas and Damon feel that the time is right to move on and they are looking forward to working once more for the guys who first hired them here in 1994, Roy and Jeremy.
"They are family and we will miss them. And so, might I add, will Cibos.”

CHRISTENSEN AND O'LEARY HEAD TO OGILVY AS JOINT CREATIVE DIRECTORS

Following a 12 year stint at Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland, Basil Christensen (pictured) and Damon O'Leary have been lured to Ogilvy as joint Creative directors. They fill the vacuum left after the departure of Jamie Hitchcock and Josh Lancaster to Colenso BBDO in late October.
"As part of our total commitment to develop and nurture world class creative product, I'm knocked out that Bas and Damon are joining us in this role," said Ogilvy ECD Roy Meares. “I've followed the boys' careers over the last few years and always felt it would be great to work with them, as I never got the chance when I was at Saatchi's (I got fired before I could)”.

WORLD PRESS AWARDS ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JANUARY 12

The inaugural World Press Awards, the brainchild of Neil French (left), have extended the deadline for entries to Friday, January 12th 2007. Entry forms are available only online at www.worldpressawards.com
Predictably, the World Press Awards had many requests for an extension to the November 30th deadline and since the entry-system is working so well, and the entry-collation organization in Singapore seems to be clicking along nicely, it's no big headache.
Remember, the jury panel for the World Press Awards is a formidable lot indeed. Pick up any creative awards book and you will stumble over their names again and again and again:
Jeremy Craigen – Executive Creative Director, DDB, London
Tham Khai Meng – Co-Chairman and Executive Regional Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Board
Marcello Serpa – Executive Creative Director, AlmapBBDO Brasil
Mark Tutssel – Worldwide Creative Director, Leo Burnett
Erik Vervroegen – Executive Creative Director, TBWA/Paris
Graham Warsop – Chairman and Executive Creative Director, The Jupiter Drawing Room, South Africa
Neil French (Unemployed ex-Creative Director of no particular interest)
All of them, without exception, have won every advertising creative award worth winning.
All of them, without exception, have propelled their agencies to a new level of creative excellence.
All of them, without exception, are brutal and hard on work that is derivative, trite and hackneyed.
Their individual credentials, not to mention their list of awards, would fill too many pages. Suffice then to say, each member of the jury was chosen for his talent, expertise and experience.
ENTRY KITS AVAILABLE ONLY AT www.worldpressawards.com
ENTRY DEADLINE: Friday, January 12th, 2007

OXFAM UNWRAPPED BY TEQUILA

A bit of fun for Oxfam this Christmas, and the chance to make a
difference to some people who really need it. Also, could be the
perfect pressie for that CD who's got everything (other than a Donkey
in the Sudan).

Agency: TEQUILA\ Auckland
Client: Oxfam - Scott Young
Suit: Louisa Leiper
CD: Wayne Pick
Writers: Michael Goldthorpe, Bob Kerrigan, Kim Pick
Art Directors: Mari Pettersson
Producer: Fiona Champtaloup
Music: Bruno Barrett-Garnier, Bob Kerrigan, Scott Kelly
Animation: Krafthaus

LOWE MAKES DRAFT MOVE, PEARSON TO CEO OF AUST/NZ GROUP

Lowe Worldwide has announced the next phase of its investment in growth in Australia and New Zealand, extending the application of its Lowe/Draft concept in Australia and New Zealand, and appointing a new management team in Australia.
The changes will see Stephen Pearson, currently chief executive of Lowe and Draft in New Zealand, become chief executive of the Lowe Group in Australia and New Zealand.
Judi Lewis, currently general manager of Draft New Zealand will become chief executive of Draft in Australia and New Zealand.
Chairman of Lowe Oceania Lionel Hunt (pictured) said that Lowe Hunt Sydney Managing Director, Ben Colman would be leaving the agency.
“I would like to thank Mr Colman for his efforts over the past five years particularly his championing of the agency's Brand Explosions concept and
for helping build the agency's digital capability.“
Mr Hunt said that the appointment of Mr Pearson and Ms Lewis would enable them to bring their skills and expertise to Lowe Hunt and Draft in Australia while retaining oversight to the successful New Zealand operation.
Cameron Harland, currently Lowe’s general manager in New Zealand will be appointed to the Lowe Board and become managing director New Zealand.
Matthew Scott will become general manager of Draft New Zealand.
Mr Hunt said there would be significant investment in the direct side of the business. In time Draft would be superceded within the Lowe group with a creatively-focused direct operation owned by Lowe and rolled out around the world from first quarter 2007.
Mr Pearson and Ms Lewis will be based in Sydney, but will divide their time between Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Pearson said that the opportunity to create a truly integrated direct and advertising agency was very exciting.
“Lowe is in the business of ideas, not ads,” he said. “Expect also much greater integration and collaboration between trans-Tasman creative teams.”
“Australasia is already part of Lowe’s global creative renaissance and we have an opportunity to accelerate that and make an even greater contribution to the network.”
He said the changes would bring benefits to clients on both sides of the Tasman.
“Not only will we extend the model of integrating advertising and direct services, but we believe the sharing of creativity between agencies offers the true power of a great network,” he said.
Mr Hunt said he would remain chairman of Lowe Hunt in Australia to support the new executive team in its integration and development plans.

CB/AWARD LEGENDARY LUNCH

A choice selection of Auckland's finest creative minds came together at the CB/AWARD Legendary Lunch held at Soul last Thursday. The Lunch was truly legendary, with some of us at one point invited on to the NBR boat until their stock of booze ran dry. A great Lunch, generously sponsored by Matt Noonan and Peter Grasse at Curious, together with Jim Hall and Stacey Wah at Soundtrax.

FACKRELL BACK IN NZ FOR XMAS

Only days after Omnicom Group bought a majority stake in independent creative agency 180 Amsterdam, Kiwi expat Andy Fackrell, 180's joint ECD (with Aussie expat Richard Bullock), is taking a month off in New Zealand, starting this weekend.
180 has shared the Adidas account with Omnicom-owned TBWA\Worldwide since 2002, and last month Sony Electronics America appointed 180 and another Omnicom agency, BBDO, to its $56m account. 180 also counts Motorola, General Motors and Amstel among its clients.
The agency was founded in 1998 and has been a staple on the international awards scene, picking up numerous awards at Cannes and D&AD, among others. It recently announced it is to open a Los Angeles office, its first international outpost, next year to handle the Sony business.
180 is managed by founders Alex Melvin, Guy Hayward and Chris Mendola, along with Peter Cline, managing partner, together with NZ Fackrell and Aussie expat Richard Bullock, executive creative directors.

OGILVY ACQUIRES METROMEDIA

Ogilvy is set to expand yet again with the acquisition of Auckland-based advertising and design agency, Metromedia, capping a year of phenomenal growth.
Ogilvy will acquire 90% of Metromedia while existing stakeholders and Metromedia founders, Paul Manning and Ant Hassett will each retain a 5% share.
From 1 January 2007, Metromedia will be renamed Ogilvy Metro, headed by Manning as Managing Director and Hassett as General Manager.
Operating as a standalone business, Ogilvy Metro will continue to run from its Ponsonby premises, sharing the wider knowledge and resources of Ogilvy where appropriate. This includes Ogilvy’s resource units, production technologies, worldwide knowledge base and propriety tools.
Ogilvy Metro will retain existing clients Fuji Xerox, BMW (retail), House of Travel (design) and Auckland City Council, as well as taking on a range of new business from Ogilvy’s vast client base.
“We are thrilled with the addition of this successful young agency to our business,” says Ogilvy Managing Director, Greg Partington.
“This acquisition is about investing in dynamic, young talent. In just seven years, Metromedia has become New Zealand’s largest independent advertising agency, carrying an extensive range of below the line skills.
“It is an agency of the future with great potential for growth and we want to be part of that.”
Partington also believes Ogilvy Metro will enable them to house competitive conflicts should they arise as a result of an increasing level of convergence among clients in the New Zealand market.
One of Metromedia’s key assets lie with the talents of Paul Manning, who has lead the business since its birth in 1999, and was winner of ‘Young Entrepreneur’ at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in 2005.
Manning believes this next step is, fundamentally, the most important move his agency has ever made.
"Becoming an Ogilvy agency is an exciting move that I believe will deliver immense value to our clients,” says Manning.
“Ogilvy Metro will retain the agility and client-centric culture that has made Metromedia so successful, while having the backing of enviable, world-class resources.
"Ogilvy Metro will be a truly unique agency in the New Zealand market. We will deliver turnaround and efficiency never seen before in this country.
“Ogilvy Metro clients will continue to receive the excellent level of service they have enjoyed and they will now have access to wider expertise and resources.”

PAGO AND TBWA\WHYBIN GOES AFTER THE MOBILE DIGITAL CASH

TBWA\Whybin has created an integrated campaign for Pago. Over 1250 colour-coded books of post it notes = over 30,000 individual notes, makes a digital, pixellated replica of an NZ$5 note.
On closer inspection, each note has a call to action on it-to visit pago.co.nz to activate your digital wallet.
The installation was created with the help of artist Maurice Bennet, who became famous after creating a portrait of Jonah Lomu using 'pixels' of colour coded burnt toast.
(The installation itself is in Britomart Railway station in downtown Auckland.)
Campaign Credits:
ECD: Andy Blood
Creatives: Karen Maurice O'Leary, Verity Butt
Account Managment: Sarah Goldring, Tracey Hazelwood
Client: Vicky Chong, Marcus Robbins at Pago

NEW PRINT FOR L&P VIA OGILVY

Ogilvy has created a series of outdoor posters for L&P to run during the summer, written by Tom Paine and Chris Long and art directed by head of art James Bowman. The Craft Shop did the illustrating and the type.

WESTFIELD TO TEQUILA\TBWA

TEQUILA\TBWA is making a strong finish to 2006, having picked up the Westfield account after a competitive pitch. It will commence planning activity prior to Christmas.
Wayne Pick, Creative Director at TEQUILA\, says the win caps off a strong year for the agency, both commercially and creatively: "We've just become the most featured agency in the world in the inaugural edition of Directory, the new global showcase for direct work launched in the UK this month, so to translate that type of international acclaim into local new business is really encouraging. It's an exciting way to end the year and puts us in great shape for 2007," he says.
David Walden, Chief Executive of TBWA\Whybin, is equally enthusiastic about the new partnership and what it means for the agency: "This account win highlights the power and potency provided by our TEQUILA\ TBWA\Whybin integrated offer. It represents the best of breed of both solutions for clients and so we're absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to work with and for Westfield," he says.

SAATCHI & SAATCHI TAKES OUT B&T NZ AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Saatchi & Saatchi has taken out Australian trade mag B&T's New Zealand Agency of the Year title for the second year in a row, while Saatchi & Saatchi Interactive NZ was named Digital Agency of the Year in a lunchtime ceremony held in Sydney yesterday. Saatchi ECD Mike O'Sullivan (pictured) was there to accept the award.
The Australian Agency of the Year title went to BMF Sydney, as well as the Direct Agency of the Year award.
Lowe Hunt Sydney was named Creative Agency of the Year while its brilliant 'LynxJet' work for Unilever won Campaign of the Year.
NSW Agency of the Year went to Saatchi and Saatchi and DDB took out Victorian Agency of the Year.
Marketforce Perth (where Kiwi expat Andrew Tinning is ECD) took the Other States Agency of the Year award for the second-year running while cummins&partners Brisbane was named Emerging Agency of the Year.
AWARD’s trans Tasman co-chairmen Paul Prince and Philip Putnam received the Personality of the Year accolade for their amazing feat in transforming the creative organisation over the last year. Auckland based Prince, who could not be there to receive the award, said that Darryn Devlin, his AWARD co-chairman until June this year, also deserved recognition for leading the drive to independence.