adam&eveDDB Appoints Martin Bassot as Strategy Partner

​adam&eveDDB has boosted its strategy department and comms planning offering with the appointment of Martin Bassot as strategy partner.

Martin joins the agency from Colenso BBDO in New Zealand, where he has been group planning director and deputy head of planning since January 2023, and will report into Will Grundy, chief strategy officer.

With a background that spans media, digital and integrated creative agencies, Martin’s expertise covers brand, comms, and experience planning across clients such as Nike, Samsung, Sainsbury’s, Guinness, Bud Light and ITV.

During his time at Colenso BBDO, Martin was part of the agency’s extended leadership team and helped to lead the planning department, while also running a number of the shop’s key clients including Spark New Zealand, Bank of New Zealand and projects for the likes of MARS Petcare.

For MARS, Martin was part of Pedigree’s Cannes Lions Grand Prix winning campaign ‘Adoptable’. He also led the work on the Cannes Lions-winning ‘Meowzer’ for Whiskas, and helped to reposition ACANA, a recent MARS Petcare acquisition.

Martin’s work on Spark New Zealand saw the NZ telco host the country’s biggest gaming festival, turning the festival itself into a world-first playable co-op game, ‘Killabyte’. The work was awarded the Spikes Asia Grand Prix in Gaming.

While he was at Colenso, the agency was awarded Cannes Lions Pacific Agency of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

After beginning his advertising career at Goodstuff Communications in 2014, Martin spent nearly three years at R/GA London where he held a number of different roles including associate director, connections.

In 2020, he joined Wieden+Kennedy London where he worked as comms planning director, helping to lead the agency’s work on Nike, Sainsbury’s, Revolut and more.

Will Grundy, CSO at adam&eveDDB, said, "Martin is a weapons-grade strategist with an incredible brain, a diverse and modern skillset, and an eye-watering amount of world-class work to his name. As we continue to write the next chapter of the adam&eveDDB story, it’s brilliant brains like his that will help us reimagine what Feeling First creativity can do and be.”

Commenting on his appointment, Martin said, “There’s no place quite like adam&eveDDB, and no planning team quite like the one here either. I’m excited to no doubt be made to feel annoyingly stupid, and to help build the next chapter of the agency.”