David Parkinson Joins TBWA\New Zealand as General Manager of Digital and Innovation

- Above (L-R) // Shane Bradnick, David Parkinson, Catherine Harris

TBWA\NZ has looked outside of the advertising industry to hire David Parkinson as GM of digital and innovation, to drive the rapid growth of TBWA\NZ Group digital offerings and deliver transformation initiatives.

David’s initial focus will be to build out the TBWA\NZ Group’s digital offering alongside the newly established DX offering, which brings together the best talent across the group to deliver CX and brand seamlessly.

Joining from Barker Hughes, a global energy technology company and with over 15 years’ experience at General Electric as chief information officer for oil and gas Australia and New Zealand, David has exceptional end to end digital knowledge and the experience to deliver transformation both within TBWA\NZ Group and for its partners.

Catherine Harris, TBWA\NZ Group CEO said the hire bolsters the agency’s transformation journey and will deliver a fresh perspective on CX and digital innovation for the industry: “It’s extremely exciting to see vastly different talent moving into the group. Dave is such a rare talent. He is technically and operationally exceptional, has deep transformation experience from GE, is a wonderful leader, can thrive in a creative environment and is a heck of a lot of fun. DX is a new offering from TBWA\NZ Group that will combine the power of CX with the disruptive brand platforms TBWA is known for. With his experience in transformation, we’ve hired Dave to work with the DX team to integrate our main agency offering with the exceptional customer experience work already being carried out by our group. With the launch of TBWA\MAKE and our investment in DX, innovation and agency transformation are key priorities.”

David will be a member of the agency’s senior leadership team and his passion for digital will maximise cross-group opportunities with DAN (The Digital Arts Network) to deliver innovative digital solutions.

Shane Bradnick, chief creative officer, TBWA\Group, added: “David has a great energy and the ability to make the complex appear simple. He has an incredible track record with deep digital knowledge. More agencies need to hire unique people when it comes to innovation and we need to look beyond our own industry to do this. This not only expands what we offer to our clients and makes us more effective partners, it allows us to apply creativity in vastly different ways. All the great agencies are more innovative when they have talent from diverse sectors. David’s background and experience are already opening up new creative opportunities.”

Away from work, David enjoys spending time with his whanau, enjoying the beauty of ngā taonga o Aotearoa and has a side hustle in car restoration.

David commented: “It’s wicked to be joining a talented team, in a business with a reputation for unconventional thinking. I bring a background of operational excellence, executed at scale with technical innovation at the core and by combining these principles, we’re already working on significant opportunities to deliver valuable outcomes for our clients. We’re on a mission to build next level ways for people to interact with brands and with great work.”