DDB New Zealand promotes Justin Mowday to CEO taking over from Sandy Moore and ex-OMD managing director Chris Riley joins in COO role

DDB Group New Zealand has announced a changing of the guard in its senior leadership team following a decision by CEO Sandy Moore to step down from his role. Current managing director, Justin Mowday (centre), will become CEO DDB NZ on 1 June and will report to Auckland-based executive chairman for Australia/NZ, Martin O’Halloran (far left).

To further strengthen the management team, DDB has also announced the appointment of Chris Riley (above, right) to the newly created chief operating officer (COO) role. Riley joins from sister agency OMD, where he is currently managing director.

Says O’Halloran: “Sandy Moore is a legend, he is commercially savvy and has been the key driver of DDB’s recent success but, more importantly, he is one of the nicest most talented executives in the industry.”

Moore will remain a director of DDB NZ and be actively engaged in the business.

Says O’Halloran: “After 23 illustrious years with the agency, Sandy is going to cut down his hours but still work hard for us. Justin is a hugely talented leader who has worked tirelessly in the past three years to help DDB achieve its leadership position. We’re lucky to have him and I believe he will lead the agency well.”

Riley, who joins 2 July, will report to Mowday and focus on developing the Group’s integrated offering.

Says O’Halloran: “As well as managing key client relationships, Chris will grow our activation, PR, shopper marketing and digital offerings and will research the market to identify key acquisitions. In a world where technology is opening new opportunities for us to be creative we need to be at the forefront.”

Says Riley: “I’m really excited to be joining the DDB Group. It’s a very impressive agency with a clear vision on delivering the most creative and effective work for their clients. It’s a huge opportunity to work with Justin and the senior team to help lead a fantastic agency brand.”

Says Kath Watson, CEO of OMD: “Chris has made a massive contribution to building OMD into the strong communications agency it is today. I am glad the next stage of his career will be within the Omnicom family as we have a strong working relationship with DDB through our shared client base, which will only be further strengthened with this move.

“OMD has a huge depth of senior talent and this creates opportunities for others. Managing partner Andrew Reinholds will move into a client service focused role and we will support his strategic team with the addition of proven comms planner Rebecca Bradley who has recently re-joined OMD.”