Former Saatchi DGS general manager Tony Gardner takes GM role at Ogilvy Wellington
Ogilvy Wellington has appointed former Saatchi DGS general manager Tony Gardner as the agency’s new general manager, who will be on deck at the agency from Monday morning (18 October).
Fresh from three years as GM at Saatchi DGS – he left back in June – and, before that, several years in Australia and Asia with Publicis, his appointment marks a significant shift in Ogilvy’s operations in the capital. “Tony is a perfect fit”, says Ogilvy managing director Greg Partington. “He is a digital/data specialist and his appointment signals our intention to create a real digital capacity in our Wellington office.”
“I’ve just spent the last three years pretty successfully in the digital space”, adds Gardner. “It’s the biggest change in our industry and will remain so for the next few years.”
One of the biggest attractions for Gardner is the size and scale of the Ogilvy operation. “It’s great to be joining an agency with so much capability. I’ve been genuinely impressed by the depth and breadth of Ogilvy’s business,” he says, referring to the company’s full service fully integrated operation that has everything under one roof.
“Ogilvy is a bit of an untold story in New Zealand and, unless you’re close to it, you don’t realise how strong it is,” Gardner says.
Replacing former GM Fraser Holland who has returned to Hawkes Bay for lifestyle reasons, Gardner is unfazed by a return to the capital. “I was in Wellington for several years in the Nineties with Saatchi’s in its heyday. I love the city.”
He will be providing support for leading Ogilvy Wellington clients such as Kiwibank, Ministry of Education, EECA (Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority) Open Polytechnic, Department of Labour and Public Trust.
12 Comments
Out of the frying pan.
Good luck mate… I hope you did your homework.
Good luck Ogilvy Wellington!
Poison chalice.
oops – Fraser’s legacy was a bit of a fizzler.
Ogilvy Wellington and Tony sound like they deserve each other.
Congratulations Tony – Ogilvy Wellington are lucky to have you!
I love it how releases talk about ‘lifestyle reasons’ when they’ve been given the boot.
Partington has these ‘releases’ pre-drafted and ready to go – just insert name and date and you’re there.
Congrats Tony – think you’ll do really well in this new role, and will probably find that going back to a ‘new’ Wellington will be a whole lot more rewarding than the turmoil and infighting at Saatchi over the past year or two.
On a more strategic matter, Tony, I think you should have worn a belt for this otherwise nice publicity shot. Alternatively, you could have lost the jacket and not tucked in. But, in saying that, it is a nice jacket so I think the belt would have been the answer. Black with a nice shiny buckle. Maybe get one retouched in and get them to re-post the shot. Just a thought.
Hey Tony, best of luck. Take care
For us, cool knowledge ends ridiculously.
Why not just skip straight to the employment relations authority hearing, the subsequent court case and then the out of court settlement because you can’t afford the same highly paid lawyers Ogilvy can? Good luck mate!