Colenso BBDO promotes Worthington to creative chairman; Cochran elevated to executive CD role
Colenso BBDO executive creative director Nick Worthington has been promoted into the new role of creative chairman, with a view to extending the agency’s integrated offering and positioning it for future growth.
As a result long-standing creative director, Steve Cochran (above right), has been promoted to the position of Executive Creative Director and is well equipped for the task, having worked on much of Colenso BBDO’s award-winning work over the past 13 years.
As creative chairman, Worthington (above left) will have broad oversight of the agency business, while continuing to provide creative leadership on major projects and initiatives.
“It’s great to see Nick stepping into this role and taking on a new level of leadership within Colenso BBDO. Transferring his wealth of experience and creative brilliance into this new position will add further value to our clients, who are looking for an integrated approach,” says Clemenger Group CEO, Jim Moser.
With more than 25 years industry experience, Worthington has helped Colenso BBDO create some of the world’s most highly-regarded integrated marketing campaigns, including the Yellow Treehouse/Chocolate and Frucor V energy drink campaigns.
Under Nick Worthington’s creative leadership, the agency has also won multiple international awards and was recognised as the Campaign Brief Agency of the Year in 2009 and 2010 and Agency of the Decade in 2010. Colenso BBDO was also named as the YoungGuns International Agency of the Decade.
“Steve was the obvious choice to fill the role of executive creative director. He has done a stellar job as Creative Director and has a broad range of experience across some of New Zealand’s most successful brands,” says Worthington.
Colenso BBDO managing director, Nick Garrett (near left with Worthington in Cannes), says he is thrilled with the promotions for the pair, which he says is testament to the depth of talent within the agency: “The agency has won a number of effectiveness awards under the creative leadership of Nick and Steve, illustrating their ability to produce outstanding creative work that delivers tangible results for our clients.”
Worthington will continue to oversee the creative output for the agency, with Cochran taking on more day-to-day creative leadership, working across campaigns and overseeing the creative resourcing and department management for Colenso.
13 Comments
Nice one Steve.
Well deserved Steve. Great news.
Can I be the Deputy Chief Group Creative Head of Executive Chair Directors?
Anyone sense a bit of Toby envy creeping in at Colenso?
Nice work Cocky.
So was this decided before or after they had found a replacement for Toby at DDB?
Smoke and mirrors
Creative sofaman? Get out of New Zealand people who imagine you’ve got too bog for your boots. Being ECD of a country with a population of 4 million is the equivalent of being a head of department across the ditch! The budgets we have here are nothing compared to those in Europe and America. And the market responsibility that goes with an ad here is nothing. Basically a title like ECD here is just another term of failure – ‘Oh I can’t make it anywhere else.’ Yes, I’m just head sofa in the living room. Yippee!
Look at Toby people… talented enough to fly the coop. After another year it may well be Chief Creative Chairman, but that will still spell failure. That’s the reality of it I’m afraid.
This is an interesting phenomenon I’ve been observing for a while – I’m going to call it “Title Slippage”. Once upon a time the CD was the top dog, then ECD, now there’s a Creative Chairman (CC?). CDs are the old Group Heads, Group heads are just someone who can tell a Junior Team what to do, and a Junior Team is now called a Senior Team.
I actually can’t wait to see what the next invented rank above Creative Chairman is going to be. Executive Creative Chairman – ECC? This is brilliant and really could be the best thing Colenso has given the advertising world since the Crunchie Ad.
Remember that episode of Cheers when Sam (Ted Danson) gave all his employees new job titles – boy that was hilarious.
Nice work Steve. I miss our chats.
Nice work Steve. I miss our chats.
Nice work Aaron. I miss our Steves.