MAJOR CREATIVE AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES AT JWT IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA

JWT has made sweeping changes to its management and creative lineup in Australasia, affecting Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne.
Current Sydney managing director Simon Fitch will now oversee New Zealand, replacing John Gutteridge, who will come across to take up the new role of Managing Director of JWT Melbourne, while Richard Muntz departs George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne to take the executive creative director gig of JWT Melbourne.
In Sydney, Noel Magnus, who has just left the MD post at Draft FCB Sydney, has been appointed Sydney CEO, while current deputy CDs Andy DiLallo and Jay Benjamin (pictured above at Soul, Auckland at the CB Legendary Lunch), who were lured from Saatchi's Auckland late last year, have been appointed as joint executive creative directors, partly replacing national ECD Andy McKeon, who is leaving to form his own shop, Bulldozer.
Says Australia and New Zealand regional CEO Amy Smith: “Over the last 15 months we have put the building blocks in place we need to engineer the next generation agency model. We have overhauled our creative and strategic product, attracted some great talent, invested in digital, brand experience specialists and design, and are inviting the best young talent from both here and overseas to join a newly invigorated JWT.
“The work has improved dramatically and we have won both local and international business, including Sheridan, Thrifty, Olympus, Band-Aid, Reach and more recently, Nokia. And now I am shifting the agency up to the next level. The key is to integrate the diverse capabilities we have created into the new generation agency that will deliver Magic for our clients. To this end, I have assembled my dream team."
Says DiLallo and Benjamin: "Chances like this are few and far between. We feel that our entire careers have been spent in preparation for this next challenge. We are excited by the chance to apply the knowledge we have gained.”
Says Gutteridge: “I want this to be a watershed moment for JWT Melbourne, this is about creating an environment that wholeheartedly embraces creativity and smart thinking from every facet of the business. Ultimately I expect our clients to rely on us not as an advertising agency, but as a genuine business partner, who demonstrates the same passion and aspiration as they do for their business and their brands.”
“John was instrumental in creating a fully integrated creative agency in New Zealand and his experience and talent will be invaluable to me in Melbourne”, said Smith.
Adds Muntz: "“With an impressive list of icon brands, new heads of business in all markets and a worldwide creative mandate from Craig Davis, this was an agency I just had to be a part of.”