Ogilvy Sydney has kicked off a new masterbrand campaign for snack company Uncle Tobys, called “Great Grows Here” (pictured).

The campaign’s initial rollout consists of ads featuring children going back to school and voiceovers by Brisbane Lions rep Sabrina Frederick-Taub, acrobat Peter Kismartoni, and rocket scientist Samantha Ridgway. They tell stories about how their parents always inspired them to do better in life and included an Uncle Tobys bar in their lunch boxes for the extra boost.

Ogilvy is setting up the current content, plus additional material this year, for distribution over online and social media channels.

Ogilvy associate creative director Andrew Hankin said the message of “Great Grows Here” is about Uncle Tobys reaching other avenues where people also found success.

“Whether it’s our people, our attitude or our oats there’s something extraordinary that grows here unlike anywhere else. And while Uncle Tobys has always

The ANZ operations of Wunderman Thompson are now under the aegis of new CEO John Gutteridge (pictured).

WPP AUNZ Executive Director John Steedman said Gutteridge’s name was raised as the merging of Wunderman and J Walter Thompson (JWT) in November 2018 showed the need for a leader with detailed international experience in data and technology.

At the time of the merge, Gutteridge was based in Singapore as JWT’s APAC division chief, and he has been with the company since joining the London office in 1999 as its global account director.

Wunderman Thompson chairperson Tamara Ingram said Gutteridge’s appointment came out of recent discussions, where he stated a need to be back with his family in Australia. He will report for duty as part of the WPP AUNZ Executive Committee in Q1 2019, with the conglomerate’s yet-to-be-named chairman as his immediate superior.

Wunderman Thompson has lined up Annette Male, who’s exiting from Digitas, to assume the APAC regi

IKON Communications has started the 2019 anniversary year with an all-new brand identity and a new strategic tool.

A chief element of the rebrand is building the IKON logo through nine geometric shapes coloured in aqua, teal, beige, and orange (pictured). Designed with the help of WPP AUNZ branding agency Landor, the new logo embodies IKON’s nine core services which includes creative, data and analytics, dynamic trading, media planning, and social and content.

IKON Communications CEO Lesley Edwards said the logo embodies the agency’s aim to grow into the future and also preserve its tradition of building up client brands into uniquely Australian figures.

IKON is also taking advantage of the rebranding to introduce the Lexikon strategic planning tool. Mated to IKON’s brand database, Lexikon is designed to aid clients in media planning by accessing brand metric data to assess future media investments.

Communications industry veteran Elizabeth “Liz” Marchant (pictured) has started up a new online resource for women, called Full-Time Woman.

The new portal is geared at women preparing to become mothers or mothers who are challenged with raising children while engaging in a professional career. The content will tackle issues mothers face every day.

In explaining the rationale for the new platform, Marchant said many women professionals found it hard to get back on their career path after having children, let alone landing a job that offers ample flexibility for parents. She admits she had faced the same challenges Full-Time Woman aims to discuss, having been a single mother and stepmother to three sons.

“Developing greater self-belief and demanding more from the companies we work for or the institutions we deal with isn't going to be achieved instantly. We can dare ourselves to try however – just like women before us did in order to be recognised as entitl

Melbourne PR agency History Will Be Kind has secured representation for the New Zealand consumer account of online travel service Webjet.

The work calls for History Will Be Kind to generate more brand awareness among Kiwi travelers with a new communications strategy focusing on influencer marketing and integrated campaign duties.

“Collectively, there is a huge passion for travel and tourism amongst our team, and we are extremely proud to be working with Webjet,” said agency founder Emma-Jane Granleese.

“As a true leader and industry innovator, the brand has so many rich stories to tell and tap, and we can’t wait to bring these to life across channels. This partnership comes at an exciting time in our own story too, helping further expand our client base in New Zealand.”

Webjet OTA CEO David Galt added History Will Be Kind’s skills and creativity are what the company needs to bolster its New Zealand presence.

Agent99 has begun 2019 with new clients and a brand revamp.

Under the rebranding, the agency is establishing itself as a full-service outfit by letting go of the PR tag in its logo (pictured). Agency director Sharon Zeev-Poole said eliminating the PR tag was due to clients often calling the agency simply as Agent99.

The company website sports a motif of black-and-white and deep orange and offers rich video and long-form content. 

On the client side of the equation, Agent99 opened the corporate and consumer lifestyle portfolios.

The consumer portfolio brings F&B and entertainment brands together, with Product of the Year Australia entrusting preparations for the 2019 edition to Agent99. Both companies have worked together for the past two years.  

Most of Agent99’s new signings are on the corporate section. 

Veteran futurist Anders Sorman-Nilsson has tapped the agency to create a new research-based strategy and media releases to reinforce his brand aw

Defence Force Recruiting (DFR), the Australian Defence Force’s human-resource arm, has awarded a new service contract with WPP AUNZ agency VMLY&R Melbourne.

Under the deal, VMLY&R will assume DFR’s digital and creative communications duties from Host/Havas on April 1, 2019, with the transition work starting this week. The DFR leadership chose VMLY&R from a field of eight candidate agencies.

One of VMLY&R’s precursor agencies, Y&R, previously handled the DFR account from 2000 to 2013. The new deal has elated VMLY&R ECD Jake Barrow, citing his own experience with the account.

“To say I’m proud to be working with DFR again is an understatement. Our previous years with DFR produced many career highlights for our staff and I can now call this moment another. I’d like to give a huge thanks to the passionate and talented team at VMLY&R who are all raring to start,” he said.

“VMLY&R bring experience and expert