Those who have been headhunted from VML Wellington are managing director Fleur Head, head of planning Anna Gunnell, creative director Damian Galvin, head of media Alicia Tutty, strategy director Matt Saunders, and head of client services Kate Miller. Collectively, they have almost 50 years of experience at the agency.<\/p>\n
Bastion Shine NZ chief executive Toby Sellers has led a daring poaching move on VML Wellington’s leadership team, including the recruitment of managing director Fleur Head. Photos \/ NZPA, supplied<\/p>\n
VML, owned by global golding company WPP, holds several important and influential government contracts and is a highly regarded agency, especially within Wellington public sector circles. <\/p>\n
Media Insider can reveal today that it has also won the Electoral Commission contract for the next three years, including the 2026 election advertising campaign. <\/p>\n
The agency will be responsible for running an integrated awareness campaign, including encouraging people to vote. <\/p>\n
The Electoral Commission has been using its mascot, known as \u2018Orange Guy\u2019 since 2009, through various agencies. FCB had held the advertising contract since 2020, when it took over from Saatchi & Saatchi. Now VML has the reins.<\/p>\n
Orange Guy has been a feature of election advertising since 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recently went through a secondary procurement process under the All of Government creative and media services contract to choose a supplier,\u201d said chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe procurement process was robust and tested the capability, capacity, track record and media and cultural competency of suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commission said the three-year contract would deliver a range of services, including \u201cthe design of our public information resources, advertising production and placement\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe programme of work includes raising awareness about the M\u0101ori electoral option, which is when voters of M\u0101ori descent can change roll types, and delivering information to all New Zealanders, supporting them to be enrolled and ready to vote in the 2026 general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stated to suppliers that budgets vary for each project or campaign, but we outlined an indicative $15.5 million budget for the M\u0101ori electoral option and general election in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Electoral Commission has used ‘orange guy’ in recent elections to encourage people to vote.<\/p>\n
In recent years, FCB has been the lead agency for the commission.<\/p>\n
The Electoral Commission says its board endorsed VML as the preferred supplier on September 16 and that VML was advised on September 18. <\/p>\n
The commission says it was \u201cmade aware of the situation\u201d by VML on October 10 of the loss of key staff.<\/p>\n
The commission confirmed VML as its lead agency on October 30.<\/p>\n
VML had been \u201copen about the changes at the agency and plans in place to fill vacancies\u201d, said Le Quesne.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sought and received assurance that their capacity and capability remain strong. We are confident in their ability to deliver a high level of service for this important work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commission was confident its advertising plans were on track, and it did not intend to reopen the tender. <\/p>\n
\u201cVML demonstrated a strong understanding of our requirements and has an extensive partner network that will help us reach all New Zealanders.\u201d<\/p>\n
VML responds<\/p>\n
An advertising source said VML was a relatively small agency that punched above its weight but the loss of key staff, \u201cdramatically changes the shape of that agency\u201d.<\/p>\n
The source questioned how they would be able to fill the loss of key roles, especially in Wellington.<\/p>\n
VML would not comment specifically on the election contract. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not be providing comment on any contractual arrangements or negotiations with clients,\u201d said VML New Zealand-Australia chief executive Tom Tearle.<\/p>\n
VML managing partner James Johnston.<\/p>\n
He provided a statement in which VML said managing partner James Johnston would lead VML\u2019s Wellington business for now.<\/p>\n
Johnston would partner with VML\u2019s regional leadership team, as well as group executive creative director Kim Pick, \u201cto drive ongoing momentum for VML New Zealand\u201d.<\/p>\n
Johnston said in the statement that the company had an incredible group of people in Wellington.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir talent, energy, and commitment are what drive our success in partnership with our clients. Our priority is to support our people and build on our current momentum. A focused search to replace the roles is under way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we thank Fleur and our departing colleagues for their past contributions, our focus is firmly on the future of VML Wellington. We are committed to supporting our people, continuing to deliver best-in-class and award-winning work for our clients, and building on the strong foundations we have in place.\u201d<\/p>\n
In September, the agency was awarded Campaign Brief\u2019s New Zealand agency of the year title in the industry website\u2019s \u201cThe Work 2025\u2033 awards.<\/p>\n
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those who have been headhunted from VML Wellington are managing director Fleur Head, head of planning Anna Gunnell,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[87979,1032,3041,3119,1567,2371,1566,127,2837,5903,40924,1138,2294,2936,4277,2845,11517,661,1073,1132,111,43,139,1536,69,5204,12900,1041,4739,1516,87980,8229,52,3608,6202,1530],"class_list":{"0":"post-126611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-87979","9":"tag-advertising","10":"tag-agency","11":"tag-agencys","12":"tag-awarded","13":"tag-commission","14":"tag-contract","15":"tag-despite","16":"tag-during","17":"tag-election","18":"tag-electoral","19":"tag-firm","20":"tag-general","21":"tag-insider","22":"tag-key","23":"tag-leaving","24":"tag-loses","25":"tag-major","26":"tag-media","27":"tag-million","28":"tag-new-zealand","29":"tag-news","30":"tag-newzealand","31":"tag-next","32":"tag-nz","33":"tag-process","34":"tag-revealing","35":"tag-rival","36":"tag-six","37":"tag-staff","38":"tag-tender","39":"tag-they","40":"tag-wellington","41":"tag-were","42":"tag-wins","43":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}