Colenso move shows lack of options for NZ ad talent

Colenso BBDO's hiring of top young advertising creatives from Britain has highlighted limited options for young New Zealand talent.

Colenso - New Zealand's biggest ad agency - announced last week it had hired London-based staffers Will Bingham and Victoria Daltrey from another agency.

Britain's Campaign magazine named the two graduates of Central St Martin's Art College as Britain's No 1 creative team.

They have worked on big clients such as Levis, British Airways and Audi, have a proven track record and are clearly a score for Colenso BBDO.

Advertising is an international business and a number of the top talents at New Zealand agencies come from Britain. But responses on the Campaign Brief website lamented implications for young New Zealand creatives in a tough job market. One said it showed New Zealanders hoping for a job were "dreaming". Colenso BBDO boss Jim Moser could not be reached for comment.

NO XENOPHOBES

Veteran adman David Walden of agency TBWA Whybin said the new talent was good and railed against a xenophobic attitude.

It was up to Kiwi creatives to prove their talent to win a job, he said.

But he acknowledged that using imports exacerbated limited opportunities for local talent in an industry that had not been hiring.

"This industry has been under pressure and slightly less than half the jobs have disappeared over the past 10 years. We've got more people trying to get into an industry than we have jobs."

The Government's Career Choice website says: "The chances of getting a job as a copywriter are fairly low due to a downturn in the economy and strong competition for positions."

Walden said New Zealand was an attractive destination for up-and-coming advertising people overseas because of the lifestyle it offered.

British ad people are drawn here - and often stay - because of the freedom of working close to clients that would be unavailable at home and the ability to win prizes.

EXITING OGILVY

Ogilvy Advertising public relations boss Kathy Cunningham is considering her next career move after stepping down from the role last week.

Cunningham said yesterday she was relaxing in the Far North and had not decided her next move. She had retained her own public relations firm Empire Public Relations and Events but was not sure where the firm would fit with her plans.

Ogilvy New Zealand managing director and part-owner Greg Partington confirmed the change effective on Friday and said that hewas looking for a replacement.

Ogilvy has a high proportion of retail sector clients, but despite the tough trading conditions Partington said the company had been extraordinarily busy.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ...

Three months after his resignation from Ogilvy NZ, former executive creative director Jeremy Taine says that he is moving towards independent work.

With big changes expected in the advertising scene this year, there has been speculation he might turn up attached to a new agency.

Taine said that was not the case but after his recently work history he was getting back to the approach of his former agency Meares Taine, which had been consumed by Ogilvy.