Auckland digital agency Little Giant, Linked by Isobar has appointed Ian Howard to the newly created position of managing director. The creation of the role follows another period of strong growth for Little Giant which now boasts a team of 45 digital experts.
Howard joined Little Giant as chief strategy officer in October 2016 and will retain CSO responsibilities alongside his new role as MD.
Mark Hurley, founder and ceo of Little Giant, says Hurley has been an integral part of Little Giant’s success over the last two years and it was a natural choice to promote him into this role.
“Ian has done an outstanding job, building out our strategy department, helping us refine Little Giant’s vision as a company and driving excellence across all client engagements.
“As we continue to scale, it’s become clear we need additional leadership support, and Ian has proven across the last two years that he is the right man for the job. I am extremely excited to appoint Ian to this new role and look forward to working side by side with him to help this agency realise its enormous potential.”
Hurley says he is proud of what Little Giant has achieved over the last couple of years; joining the world’s leading digital agency network Isobar; being awarded Campaign Asia Pacific’s NZ Digital Agency of the Year; and developing into a truly rounded digital agency with industry-leading strategic and creative ability alongside world-class production capabilities.
While Little Giant is now too big to be considered an emerging challenger brand, Hurley says he’s keen to hang on to the spirit and culture that’s driven its success so far.
“While we’re now too big to be considered a challenger brand, we’re keen to hang on to the culture that’s driven our success so far.
“One of the things that initially attracted me to Little Giant was the refusal to be constrained by industry norms,” he said. “We’ve always thought a little bit differently, and I think that’s been the secret to our success. That’s something I want to carry across to the MD role.
“Much as we do for our clients’ businesses, I’ll be aiming to strike a balance between creativity and empathy to find new ways of propelling Little Giant forward.
“We’ve built incredibly strong foundations – a hugely talented team, amazing clients and a culture that’s truly special. We’re continually striving to be New Zealand’s leading agency and I couldn’t be more excited about working alongside Mark and the rest of the team here towards that goal.”
Ian Hurley’s previous experience includes strategic positions in both the UK and New Zealand, including at ITV, TVNZ and Interbrand and he is a regular contributor to TVNZ Breakfast as a digital commentator.
About Little Giant
Little Giant, linked by Isobar, is an award-winning digital agency that transforms companies by creating best-in-class experiences that their customers love. They do this by combining strong strategic and creative thinking with expert data analysis and a deep understanding of current and emerging technologies.
Established in 2011 and now with 45 employees, Little Giant was acquired by the Dentsu Aegis Network in late August 2017 and became Little Giant, Linked by Isobar. Little Giant was named one of New Zealand’s fastest growing companies in 2015 (Deloitte Fast 50), one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing technology companies in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (Deloitte Asia Pacific Tech Fast 500) and was awarded Campaign Asia Pacific’s New Zealand Digital Agency Of The Year in 2017.
Little Giant works with leading local and international brands such as Marketo, Visa, Les Mills International , Air New Zealand, ASB, Spark and Rocket Lab.
Issued for Little Giant by JTLPR
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