DDB NZ Snares Chris Willingham from Wieden + Kennedy Portland for Managing Director Role
DDB
New Zealand has lured Chris Willingham, formerly global business
director on Nike at Wieden + Kennedy, Portland as managing director, a
new role at the agency.
He's
led teams and agencies that have produced some of the most famous and
effective communications of the past two decades. During that time, he's
won many major awards including four Cannes Grand Prix and a rarely
awarded D&AD Black Pencil.
Willingham's work on Nike saw him lead the business across all
eight W + K network offices. His tenure included the 2016 Olympics and
the 2018 World Cup, plus oversight of noteworthy work such as 'Nothing
Beats a Londoner', 'Breaking 2' (an attempt to break the Men's Marathon
record under two hours) and the ongoing 'Equality' campaign in North
America.
His nine years at Fallon London, where
he was managing partner, saw Willingham working on iconic campaigns
like the Cadbury 'Gorilla' and Sony Bravia's 'Bouncing Balls' and
leading several successful new business pitches.
DDB
NZ has established the managing director role following a year of
strong growth, new business wins and a pipeline of successful campaigns.
Justin
Mowday, DDB New Zealand CEO, says Willingham will bring invaluable
global experience to the business, providing fantastic insight into the
implementation of large-scale, world-leading integrated campaigns.
Says
Mowday: "Chris is absolutely world-class, and it's a real coup to have
someone involved in so many iconic campaigns joining our team.
Importantly, he's also a down-to-earth, good guy, who will be
embarrassed by a press release focussing on his achievements!"
Mowday says his appointment paves the way for an outstanding 2019:
"We've been recognised this year as New Zealand's most effective agency,
and with the addition of Chris to the team I'm excited to see us
produce even more world-beating work that grows our clients' business."
Willingham
says he's been watching the work coming out of DDB New Zealand with
great interest and is looking forward to taking on this new challenge.
Says Willingham: "I couldn't be more excited to be joining DDB New
Zealand - not just because it's consistently producing the best work in
New Zealand but also because of its ambition to consistently produce
some of the best work in the world.
"I look
forward to working with the team to deliver on that ambition and to
push the boundaries of what's possible from the bottom right hand corner
of the world."
