Freemans Bay independent agency Republik appoints Matt Lyne as new head of digital

Freemans Bay indie, Republik, has announced the appointment of Matt Lyne as the agency’s head of digital. Lyne joins Republik after returning home from a 9-month stint in Europe.

Lyne has experience across a diverse portfolio of clients, including some of New Zealand’s largest accounts such as Progressive Enterprises, Briscoes Group, Sky TV and Frucor, across his tenure at both Stanley St (formerly Ogilvy) and OMD. Lyne has a wealth of digital knowledge to bring to Republik.

He decided to take some time out of the industry and follow his passion for skiing, which led him to Courchevel, France, where he got some serious time on the slopes while running a ski chalet. It was all going well until Coved-19 started to wreak havoc on the world. He then made the decision to get back to NZ and get stuck into next challenge.

Says Lyne: “I’m thrilled that Republik have given me this opportunity. They’re a great agency with an exciting client portfolio. There’s plenty of scope for me to lead the team and have a real impact on the agency’s digital, social and broader business growth. We’ve got some great, forward- thinking clients here and there is an abundance of opportunity to produce some amazing work. After a break away from the industry, I’m thoroughly looking forward to helping both the agency and its clients push their digital way of thinking, especially in the current climate.”

Says Paul McNamara, director, Republik: “We’re really pleased to be able to make this appointment and to have someone of Matt’s caliber lead the agency’s digital team and offering. It goes without saying that this has been a crazy year for everyone. We’ve experienced an acceleration in digital demand across our client portfolio. Once the immediate impact of Covid- 19 is over and we get some real understanding of what the new BAU looks like, we believe that we’ll in a strong position to continue to support growth across the business.”