Toby Talbot new Exec. Creative Director at RKCR/Y&R
RKCR/Y&R today announced the appointment of Toby Talbot, Group ECD of DDB New Zealand and Regional Creative Director for DDB Asia Pacific, as its ECD.
Joining as the replacement for Damon Collins, the outgoing ECD at RKCR/Y&R, Talbot will join Alison Hoad and Ben Kay in driving the agency to further success in 2012.
Toby has just been named as Campaign Asia’s 2011’s Creative of the Year for Australia/New Zealand and has been amongst the top three most awarded creative directors for the last eight years in Campaign Brief’s annual CD rankings. He’s also ranked number one ECD in the world over the past decade on bestadsontv.com.
Delivering a string of award winning work for brands such as SKY TV, VW, New Zealand Lotteries and New Zealand Coastguard. Talbot has taken DDB New Zealand from strength to strength, steering it to win Campaign Brief ‘Agency of the Year’ three times in the past four years. Under his tenure the agency was also a finalist for Ad Age’s International Agency of the Year. Talbot has also amassed numerous personal accolades for his own work including 13 Lions (two gold, three silver, and eight bronze).
Aside from his evident creative talent, he has an innate understanding of how to build ideas and departments that are completely media neutral. He was the driving force behind the integration of DDB NZ’s experiential, design, direct and digital creative disciplines into one department.
Mark Roalfe, the Chairman of RKCR/Y&R, said “We scoured the globe for the very best creative talent and were really excited to find Toby. The standard of the work he has led at DDB is fantastic, but most of all Toby is a very charming and down to earth chap. He's very Rainey Kelly in all his attitudes and I'm really looking forward to working with him to grow RKCR to its next level.”
Toby Talbot added: “Mark, Alison and Ben have a vision for the agency that is incredibly exciting. I have always admired Rainey Kelly from a distance. They have an enviable client list that keeps growing. Mark, as the one constant in their success, has nurtured a strong, entrepreneurial and above all, creative culture. Under his leadership, RKCR has consistently done great work that works, and for their biggest clients too. I want to build on the momentum that is already there. There are huge gains to be had by opening up new channels and working more fluidly. I just can’t wait to get into it.”
Prior to DDB, Toby was Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland for two years where he was a big part of the agency’s creative renaissance. Before then he was at Colenso BBDO for eight years.
Originally from the UK, Talbot was trained at Chelsea Art School and worked at a number of London agencies before moving to New Zealand.
