NZ digital whiz Mark Addy joins George Patterson Y&R Melbourne as digital creative director

George Patterson Y&R has bolstered its Melbourne digital team with a raft of new hires including Kiwi Mark Addy as digital creative director.

Addy has over 16 years of global and NZ based award winning experience, have worked in New Zealand at Saatchi & Saatchi, Colenso BBDO and JWT. For the last year, he has been creative director/design director consultant at NZ Lotteries.

He’s worked with brands including Air New Zealand, Vodafone, V-Energy drink, Snickers, Ford, Nestle, BMW, Mini, Pepsi, Absolut, Vodka, IBM, NOKIA, Mars and Jack Daniels.

With an impressive awards roll, Addy has been awarded by Axis, Effies, Clio, The One Show, South African Loeries and Cannes Cyber Lions, and has been a judge/grand jury at New York Festivals, South African Loeries, Axis and the Effies.

“We’re very excited with Mark joining the team, he brings not only great experience, but an amazing amount energy, enthusiasm and thought leadership within digital,”says Matt Farrugia, director of digital, George Patterson Y&R.

Other recent hires include Brendan McMahon (technical director), Travis Linton (senior producer) and Phon Vongdara (copywriter). There have also been several promotions including Luke Tellefson to UX Lead.

Says Farrugia: “Our specialists are now interspersed throughout our agency, and have areas of expertise that continue to expand our capabilities within digital. They each bring a wealth of experience in their respective field, which will amplify George Patterson Y&R as the creative agency we’ve always been, although now with a much sharper lens.”

Farrugia says the growth is reflective of George Patterson Y&R’s shift from its roots as a creative agency into one that is truly multi-disciplinary: “Our agency culture is still very much alive and reflective of our roots. There’s just a whole lot more of us for Friday night drinks.”