Pitchblack Partners appoints Tom Paine as Chief Creative Officer as Nick Dellabarca and Liz Richards return from Droga5 Aotearoa

Pitchblack Partners has appointed Tom Paine as Chief Creative Officer, consolidating creative leadership under one of New Zealand’s most accomplished creatives.

Paine has been the driving force behind Pitchblack’s most talked-about recent work, including Burger King, Tourism NZ’s ‘Welcome to New Zealand, Wrexham’, and a foolhardy scheme to give a single SnackaChangi to every Kiwi. A commercially minded creative leader, Paine’s work has been the catalyst for multiple Agency of the Year titles and a haul of global honours, including Titanium Cannes Lions and the North American Grand Effie.

In a move that further strengthens the Pitchblack senior bench, the agency also welcomes back Nick Dellabarca and Liz Richards as Creative Directors. The pair, members of Pitchblack’s original founding team, rejoin after several successful years at Droga5. During their first tenure at Pitchblack, Dellabarca and Richards were instrumental in crafting high-profile work, including Air New Zealand’s longest-running safety video, A Journey to Safety. Their time at Droga5 saw them continue to drive cultural cut-through, most notably on the globally recognised ASB x Youthline Bagels by Benee campaign.

Says Richards: “After cheering on PB from the sidelines the past few years, it’s a bit like coming home. If home was a historic pub with an ad agency inside. We’re excited to work with the original PB crew, and the new faces that have joined along the way.”

Dellabarca adds: “Tom (who asked us to say something nice about him), is both talented, and tall. I look forward to bringing down the average height of the department, and more importantly, being part of the next evolution of the agency.”

Says Paine: “Nick and Liz deliver on our commitment to cut-through creative that sticks the landing – the kind of unapologetic work that defines Pitchblack. We’re on a roll, so it’s great having their talents back at 2 Drake Street to kick things up another gear.”

CEO Jono Key says the structure is deliberate: “Great creative requires the right people, pointed at the right problems, with the freedom to solve them properly. Tom’s the right person to lead that. Nick and Liz coming back makes an already strong team formidable.”

Pictured (L-R): Nick Dellabarca; Liz Richards, Tom Paine

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