Colenso BBDO has been ranked as the 6th most creative agency in the World in Directory magazine’s annual Big Won rankings. In the individual rankings, Colenso’s Creative Chairman Nick Worthington, was named as the 5th best Chief Creative Officer. This ranking sees Colenso return to the top ten once again.
Contagious Magazine announced their ‘Contagious Pioneers 2016’ with Colenso BBDO being named their number one agency in the world. In their words the list recognises the “best and bravest agencies” in the world and was created to hero those that consistently set the standard for excellence and innovation in marketing.
Scott Coldham, Colenso Managing Director, says “To be recognised by a publication with the objective and increasingly high standards of Contagious, and to be in the company of the agencies we are – is truly humbling. Doing great work across the breadth of both our client base, and in a variety of disciplines is what we strive for, so this result is really rewarding for the team.”
Colenso has managed to lure well known creative Dave Brady back to New Zealand and to 100 College Hill as a Creative Director after a four year stint in Australia where he was Head of Art at Whybin/TBWA. All up Dave has over 20 years experience at both start-up and major network agencies in London, New Zealand and Australia and has collected over 70 local and international awards.
Whilst in Australia Dave was involved in numerous new business wins and helped to create award-winning campaigns for NRMA and the ANZ (to name a few). Prior to heading to Australia Dave was responsible for many award-winning campaigns as Creative Director and Head of Art at DDB New Zealand and before that as Group Head at FCB New Zealand.
But it was Colenso’s reputation for consistent high performance and unexpected work that drew Dave back to New Zealand.
“I’ve had a fruitful time in Australia and have learned so much but it’s great being back in NZ. Over the past few years I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the most talented people in the industry and I’m really looking forward to continuing that streak at Colenso. Nick and the team have a fantastic reputation worldwide. They’re consistently performing at the highest level and are renowned for creating original, refreshing and unexpected work for their clients.”
Nick Garrett, Colenso’s CEO says, “We are always on the look out for great creative talent, and we attract some great people from around the world, but it’s especially sweet when you can get someone like Dave with serious international credentials to return to New Zealand, it great for us and great for the industry as a whole. We know he’s going do an amazing job for our clients and to keep great Kiwi creative work on the map.”
For further information or to arrange a chat with Dave please contact:
Paul Gunn – Colenso BBDO 027 440 9964 / paul.gunn@colensobbdo.co.nz
It was a record night for New Zealand agencies at this year’s D&AD awards in London with a standout moment of the night for Colenso BBDO/Proximity, when K9FM became the first ever New Zealand campaign to win a highly coveted Black Pencil, one of only 5 awarded globally this year.
Not only is this Black Pencil a first for New Zealand, it is also the first time any brand in the Mars portfolio has won this accolade in the 53 year history of the awards – the first Black Pencil that has been awarded in the Radio category in 32 years.
The awards, held today in London, are a celebration of the finest in design and advertising and are recognised globally as the ultimate creative accolade, entered and attended by the best from around the world. This year’s awards saw the most amount of Pencils won in D&AD history with 847 handed out across five levels -Black, Yellow, Graphite, Wood and White.
New Zealand agencies did exceptionally well, with Colenso enjoying their most successful year ever. As well as winning Black & Two Yellow Pencils for K9FM, they also won three Graphite Pencils (the D&AD equivalent of a silver) for NZBCF ‘Breast Cream’, Tip-Top ‘Back to Nature’ and K9FM. They also picked up two Wooden Pencils (Bronze) for BNZ ‘$HRED’ and another for K9FM.
Colenso’s creative chairman Nick Worthington was thrilled with the result saying, “D&AD is one of the toughest and most respected creative institutions in the world, where product design, industrial design, graphic design and advertising all rub shoulders. To be acknowledged as amongst the best creative work in the world across four clients is amazing, and obviously it’s beyond special to win a Black Pencil for our brilliant Mars clients. It’s a great acknowledgement that the kiwi creative spirit is alive and well.”
Colenso BBDO has significantly boosted its digital firepower after luring Gavin Becker from New York to head up the digital, innovation and technology offering at 100 College Hill.
Gavin has an extensive background as a digital and innovation strategist with 18 years experience in his field. Most recently Gavin was the Managing Partner at Made by Many in New York, developing digital products and services spanning e-commerce, mobile and customer experience. Prior to this Gavin was part of the Global Brand Strategy team at Twitter creating one of a kind Twitter-led experiences for blue chip brands including live streaming concerts for Pepsi, broadcast premieres for Fox, and commerce solutions for American Express. Gavin has also worked at a number of world-renowned digital agencies including AKQA, Ogilvy and RappDigital.
Scott Coldham, General Manager at Colenso, explained why Gavin is such a key hire for the agency.
“Having thought leadership in this space is integral to bettering our strategic thinking and creative product. Gavin is a brilliant hire – he’ll bring experience, inspiration and a fresh, international perspective to our agency and our clients. He’s a bloody nice bloke, too.”
Likewise, it was Colenso’s work that was the major draw card for Gavin.
“There are very few agencies delivering both groundbreaking and effective creative solutions to business and marketing challenges as consistently, or as elegantly, as Colenso. The results – and accolades – speak for themselves. It’s an honour to join this hyper-talented team and to continue to push boundaries for some of the most ambitious brands in the world.”
After an extensive search Colenso BBDO has appointed Rachel Morgan as International Group Business Director to lead Fonterra’s domestic and global business – this includes Fonterra Brands New Zealand and a rapidly growing portfolio of international projects led from New Zealand.
Originally from the UK Rachel has a fantastic track record, having worked her way up the agency ranks after originally starting out client side. After roles at McCann Erickson and Ogilvy, Rachel moved to Leo Burnett London to work on the P&G account where her talent ultimately led to her taking up the role of Global Brand Agency Leader for one of P&G’s major hair care brands, based in Hong Kong. This role involved leading creative, planning and account teams across Greater China, South East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Nick Garrett, CEO at Colenso BBDO, said, “As the scale of the work we’re doing domestically and abroad for Fonterra has grown so has our need for an exceptional person to lead the business – and Rachel fits the bill perfectly. Not only is she extremely talented but she backs this up with a proven track record of driving complex multinational integrated campaigns that deliver incredible results. To say we are thrilled to have her as part of the Colenso team would be an understatement.”
Rachel said, “I’m incredibly excited to move to Colenso and be part of a team who are consistently delivering world class work on the global stage. The accolades and awards speak for themselves, but it was the culture of the agency and the vision of the exec team to showcase New Zealand creative talent throughout Asia and beyond, that brought me to Auckland. I mean… who wouldn’t want to work for the smartest creative agency in the world, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world?”
Ben Polkinghorne was also recognised as the only creative winner in the Australia / New Zealand Young Achiever of the Year category – seeing off four talented young Australian creatives. Ben was named runner up in the category, with the winning title going to Universal McCann’s Michael Gunadi.
New Zealand Digital Agency of the Year is judged by a panel of senior marketers from a broad range of business categories and Campaign’s editors who look at a variety of factors including how the agency has helped to maximise results, drive ROI and gained recognition industry recognition over the last year.
The Campaign Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year Awards celebrates the achievements of the region’s advertising industry across a range of categories that recognise both agencies and individuals alike. The awards and have been held for over twenty years, making them one of the most anticipated regional awards.
Nick Garrett, Colenso BBDO CEO, said, “We’re thrilled to have picked up New Zealand Digital Agency of the Year once again. And whilst digital is a natural consideration for any campaign we do it’s fantastic to be acknowledged for all the effort our clients and the team at Colenso have put into pushing the boundaries in this area. When we are at our best everything we do has digital and social at the heart of it, but we still have a long way to go.”
“I’m also thrilled that Ben has been recognised because he works bloody hard and he consistently comes up with top notch ideas. Over the last couple of years Ben has been involved in delivering a number of world-class campaigns including ‘Trial by Timeline’ for and Amnesty International and Pedigree’s ‘Share for Dogs’ and it’s great that he’s been acknowledged.”
“As a further nod to the strength of New Zealand’s representation across the awards, it was great to see Barnes, Catmur and Friends recognised at the only New Zealand agency in the Independent Agency of the Year category.”
Colenso BBDO has added to its talent pool with the appointment of Ahmad Salim as a Group Business Director.
A native of Scotland, Ahmad cut his teeth at The Leith Agency on Grolsch, Sol, and the pride of Scotland – IRN-BRU. Since then Ahmad’s worked on high profile regional and international brands at TBWA\London and RKCR\Y&R London including Vodafone, PlayStation EMEA, the BBC, Absolut, Jameson and John Smith’s.
Ahmad explained why he chose to work at Colenso when he moved to New Zealand, “Colenso’s reputation for consistently delivering world class work year after year is known globally and the opportunity to move to New Zealand and be part of the team was a no brainer.”
Angela Watson, Head of Account Management at Colenso, said: “We’ve had a fantastic run of new business and creative success over the last year so it’s great to add some fresh thinking and a new perspective to the great team we’ve got at College Hill. Ahmad will be responsible for looking after Samsung, Burger King, Mars and Sky City and taking the work that we’ve done already to the next level.”
Much has been written, said and trolled about the value of awards to creative agencies. And while the industry is still divided between those who choose to enter the slew of international competitions and those who shun them, it’s difficult to overlook how successfully Colenso BBDO has represented Kiwi creativity on the international awards circuit over the course of the last year.
Colenso BBDO and Proximity have further boosted their planning capabilities with the arrival of David McCallen who started this week as Planning Director (Engagement).
Working across a range of clients, his appointment follows the appointment of ex Sid Lee UK Planning Director Paul O Neill in July.