CAMPAIGN BRIEF AGENCY OF THE YEAR AUSTRALIA + NZ: DDB DOES THE DOUBLE

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Creative Group.jpgMatt&Marty.jpgDDB has won Campaign Brief Agency of the Year on both sides of the Tasman with both Sydney and Auckland putting in a stellar effort in 2007 resulting in a great range of work across a multitude of clients. Work that will probably go on to win awards this year, if not already done so in 2007.

Says Marty O’Halloran, chairman and CEO, Australia and New Zealand: “While I have great Managing Directors in both Sydney (Chris Brown) and Auckland (Sandy Moore), both Toby (Talbot) and Matt (Eastwood) report directly to me. Creativity is one of my passions and this is a strong signal to the network that creative excellence is DDB’s number one focus.  Too many CEO’s focus on profit at the expense of the creative product.  We deliberately focus on creative over and above profit. Maybe that’s why we are so profitable!”

Says Matt Eastwood, ECD of DDB Australia: “It’s extremely exciting to win Agency of the Year in both Australia and New Zealand. Ever since both Toby and I arrived at DDB, we’ve tried to focus on nothing but the work. Walk the walk, if you will. Each of us quietly went about rebuilding our departments, with a renewed focus on award-winning work. And it paid off. In Sydney, the team is incredible. Each and every one of the creative department contributed to this win. But there’s no secret, they simply worked incredibly hard, totally dedicated to the quality of our output. I’m very proud.”

Adds DDB New Zealand executive CD, Toby Talbot: “It’s been a real yearof transition for DDB. If you’d asked me who was going to win Agency ofthe Year when I started at the end of January last year, I wouldn’thave picked us to be honest. We still had a long way to go. But we wonLotteries, we hired some great new people and we became a much tighter,more focused agency. All the shit we copped on the NZCC Blog really helpedtoo. Deep down, we’ve all been determined to prove those anonymoustossers wrong.

“But I guess if I was going to put it down to one thing it would haveto be Marty. Matt and I owe him a huge gratitude for supporting allthe changes we’ve made and making stuff happen fast. If there’s anyonewho’s more excited about winning AOY than Matt and I, it would be him.Marty just loves creativity and understands how important it is to anagency’s culture. You can’t ask for more than that in a boss.”

HOT-CHART-1 copy.jpgHOT-CHART-2 copy.jpgThe same AOY issue also includes the annual Agency Creativity/Billings Charts (better known as the Hot+Cold Charts) for Australia and New Zealand.

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