Scott Henderson to depart associate CD gig at Saatchi & Saatchi for CD role at Y&R Wellington

Y&R NZ continues its reinvention with the key appointment of Scott Henderson as creative director of Y&R Wellington, effective February 1.

Henderson has worked in the Wellington market for the last decade, originally at Clemenger BBDO and for the last three years as associate CD at Saatchi & Saatchi, Wellington.

In this time he has consistently won both local and international awards for creativity, advertising craft and effectiveness, and been a significant contributor to new business success.

Says Josh Moore, ECD of Y&R NZ: “Wellington has a small tight creative community and it’s very hard to prise great people out of other agencies, so we are very happy to have recruited not only one of the capital’s best creatives, but also a great CD.

“Scott as Creative Director and Jason Wells as Ideas Director both have a huge depth of knowledge in the local market and as a combined force will be very hard for competitor agencies to match.

“At Y&R we recognise that Wellington and Auckland are of equal importance and have distinct cultures. Creating a very strong Wellington offering to match our Auckland offering is core to our strategy of creating NZ’s most compelling agency.”

Adds Grant Maxwell, GM of Y&R Wellington: “It’s an exciting time for us.  Having banked the successes of 2011, it’s great to be able to build on that for 2012 with Scott on board.  The Wellington market has it’s own unique characteristics, so Scott’s local knowledge, especially in government and social marketing, will be hugely valuable.

“Nationally with Maria Ward as CD in Auckland and Scott as CD in Wellington we now have world class creative leadership in place and together we’re poised to deliver great results for our clients across the country.

“Globally Y&R is on track to reinvention, there’s a ways to go yet but it’s an exciting place to be.  We aim to be the network of choice for clients in the near future as we move to a global boutique agency model – deeply resourced, fast, nimble and local.  

“Now we boast some of the best talent in the country we intend to embrace the kiwi tradition of punching well above our weight, rapidly becoming a key pillar of the Y&R network and key partner to NZ’s most innovative marketers.”

Says Henderson: “Josh and the senior Y&R team have a clear vision for the agency that I believe in and respect – and their recent run of success speaks for itself. It’s a team and culture that I’ll be proud to be part of, and I look forward to contributing to the agency’s ongoing success.”