Freemans Bay-based Republik Advertising has appointed Andrew Stephenson as strategy director across its Auckland and Sydney offices.
Stephenson is a 19-year veteran of the industry, starting his career in 1998 at M&C Saatchi in London.
Since returning to New Zealand in 2000, he has held senior agency positions at Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA, and DDB where he has helped to shape some iconic New Zealand brands, including ASB, Toyota, Anchor, Tui, Visa, 2 Degrees, and Lotto.
“Andrew’s dedication to creating effective work has helped to grow his clients’ brands and achieve recognition for his agency along the way at Cannes, Effies, Caples, and WARC,” says Republik director Paul McNamara.
“His pragmatic approach to strategy is the perfect fit for Republik. His depth of knowledge across a wide range of disciplines and industries means he is able to help our clients with anything ranging from research and innovation to communication planning and user experience.”
Andrew Stephenson said: “What excites me about working with Republik is that the business is not bound by the traditional agency model. Republik has been built on adapting the agency to suit the clients needs. This difference has created a culture that can take on new ways of thinking and working without the constraints of more traditional shops.
“Plus, the rumours are true – people at Republik are really bloody nice.”
Logic – and magic at 99
“As 99 continues to forge its position as leaders in CX, finding a strategist who combines the analytic obsessiveness of a CRM planner with the audience and platform knowledge of a media planner has been both a priority and a challenge,” said 99 MD Paul Manning, announcing the appointment of Nicola Henshaw as experience planning director.
“Nicola is an accomplished strategist who joins 99 from Track (Rapp) NZ, and prior to that from her role as planning director at Rapp UK, and earlier, News Corporation. She’s shaped customer experiences and communications programmes for brands including Air New Zealand, AA Insurance, Virgin Media, Dulux, and McDonald’s.
“I’m so pleased to have Nicola join 99,” Manning said. “In 2016 we set a clear vision for our future – to build a world-class customer experience agency. Our agile environment and results-driven DNA has proven to be an ideal platform for this transformation.
“But, it only works with the right talent – Nicola’s curiosity, passion for customer insight, and analytics make her uniquely suited to this role. She has an outstanding track-record in experience planning and is passionate about the role of data and technology in positively transforming the customer’s journey.
“Nicola’s role will be pivotal in designing experiences that connect people with brands.”
Nicola Henshaw said: “It’s such a great time to join 99; there’s a palpable momentum about the office, and a great set of clients who are increasingly looking to 99 to help with customer and data strategies.
“They talk about ‘logic and magic’ here: combining the logic of systems, data, technology and metrics, with the magic of emotion, commercial creativity and disruptive ideas.
“I look forward to bringing my logic to 99’s creative teams and seeing what kind of magic we can create for clients collaboratively.”
Nicola Henshaw reports to director of strategy Dan Bye.
About 99
We’re a customer experience agency operating at the intersection of creativity, content, data and technology. At 99, we see communications as experiences, designed to influence customer behaviour in the moments that matter most. It’s this balanced application of logic and magic that enables us to drive commercial return like no other agency. We are a team of over 100 talented people and our capabilities are delivered through six practice areas; brand, retail, data, technology, experience and content. 99 is part of Clemenger Group. www.99.co.nz.
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