Priya Patel and Matty Burton take expanded regional roles across Australia and New Zealand as Andrew Little steps down after 25 years

DDB Group AUNZ has today announced a new leadership team with New Zealand CEO Priya Patel (above right) and New Zealand Chief Creative Officer Matty Burton (above left) taking on expanded roles in the region effective April 1st. Patel extends her responsibility to Regional CEO with Burton moving into the newly created role of Chief Creative Officer for DDB Group AUNZ.

This marks a continuation of the duo’s partnership at DDB Group Aotearoa in New Zealand where they have worked together since 2021. Under their leadership the agency has enjoyed sustained creative and commercial success; including 20 Agency of The Year titles, 14 Cannes Lions, and nine D&AD Pencils, including New Zealand’s second ever Black Pencil.

The pair will continue to be based in New Zealand, overseeing the agency and its clients, as well as partnering with the DDB Melbourne and DDB Sydney leadership teams.

An international agency leader, Patel initially joined DDB Sydney as Managing Director before relocating to New Zealand to become CEO of DDB Group Aotearoa. Prior to DDB, Patel spent time at David Jones, and prior to that was managing director of Y&R in London.

Burton joined DDB Group Aotearoa over three years ago as Group Chief Creative Officer after over four years at Google, where he ran the Partner Innovation unit across Asia Pacific, based out of Sydney. Prior to Google, Burton co-founded Special Group’s Australian offices, spent time at Droga5 in New York and led TBWA in Australia.

“Each of our offices is unique and has its own strengths and talents. To date, we have all worked relatively siloed, but there are exciting opportunities for us to come together and integrate more for the benefit of our clients – like a modern, creatively powerful, Antipodean mini network within the worldwide network. Our vision is simply to create more unity between the amazing humans in Australia and New Zealand,” commented Patel.

“In Napa [Mike Napolitano, CEO DDB Melbourne] and Marj [Sheryl Marjoram, CEO DDB Sydney], I have two super-smart partners who are well connected into clients and the best talent in the region, and I can’t wait to work even more closely with them. And I am, of course, deeply grateful to Andrew for bringing me into DDB and his continual support over the last seven years.”

Burton added: “Both Priya and I have worked in and love all three cities and believe we just need to connect the right people at the right time. We want it to be inspiring and rewarding – giving everyone new opportunities, challenges and clients to work with.”

The change comes as Regional President, Andrew Little (pictured above) steps down after 25 years. Little started as Managing Director of DDB Melbourne and was then promoted to CEO DDB Group Australia in 2013. This was followed by a promotion to president and CEO ANZ in 2021. His partnerships with Westpac (13 years), McDonald’s (56 years), Coles (two tenures) and Volkswagen (27 years) mark some of the most consistent and successful agency-client relationships in Australia.

Little said: “I have always thought that leading DDB is a privilege, not a job and have treated this company like it was my own. I have also been fortunate to see DDB graduates become CEOs, CCOs and heads of departments around the world – this is one of the real joys of a long tenure. I have made lifelong friends with clients and even competitors. But mostly I would like to thank my DDB family – those wonderful people who have supported me through the years.”

DDB Group Global CEO, Alex Lubar, said: “Our agencies in Australia and New Zealand have always been some of our strongest, most creative offerings in the global DDB network. I have no doubt that this leadership team will chart enormous creative success and growth for the future. I would like to thank Andrew for leading through some of our most impressive years in the region. He’s had a profound impact on the business and will be missed by all of us at DDB. Andrew will be here to support Priya, Matty and clients until August 2025.”