Independent challenger agency YS has welcomed Sophie Radford to lead the creative and media integrated offering after a year of positive growth. Radford joins from Spark Foundry, where she held the role of client partner focused on all facets of agency client management.&nbsp;Duncan Shand, YS founder and CEO, says: "Sophie sits perfectly with our vision of hybrid talents, multi-discipline thinkers, and passionate people. Her client leadership experience across both media and creative is exactly what we need as we continue to offer and grow our genuinely integrated capabilities. Her arrival makes it a great start to what's already shaping up as an exciting 2026."&nbsp;Says Radford: “I’m excited about this new challenge too. I’ve worked in integrated agencies before and I’m looking forward to getting back to an independent integrated agency. Through the process I was really interested to see how YS operates, and it’s refreshing to see a different approach that really delivers for clients. I can’t wait to get into it.&nbsp;Corey Chalmers, CCO YS, adds: "With Sophie, we're levelling up. She brings energy, knows what great work is, and will do her damnedest to make it happen. I love her candour, her humour, and her vigour. She also inspires me to write lots of words ending in "our".&nbsp;Radford starts at YS today, 19 January 2026.

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YS APPOINTS SOPHIE RADFORD AS CLIENT SERVICES DIRECTOR

Integrated indie agency YoungShand has appointed highly-awarded strategy leader Sue Kipling as its new Executive Strategy Director.&nbsp; This follows an impressive career working in some of New Zealand’s largest agencies including FCB and Colenso BBDO, working at the top level in New York as Managing Director - Strategy at Sullivan, and most recently spending the last year client side as Brand Strategy Manager at One New Zealand.Sue is curious, relishes solving complex problems, is passionate about innovation, and is driven to create transformative strategies to grow big brands. Sue is a seriously experienced heavyweight addition to the growing agency and the last piece in the leadership puzzle.Says Duncan Shand, Managing Director: “We’ve been looking for the right Strategy lead for a long time, and in fact had discussions with Sue before but the timing just wasn’t right. Now we’re both ready to go. What excites me about working with Sue is not only her breadth of experience but recent real experience client side. Her success in a tough market like New York gives an immense amount of confidence that she will help guide our clients towards transformative strategic solutions. We’re excited to get going!”The Executive Strategy Director role will oversee marketing, brand and communications strategy for YoungShand’s clients. Says Sue: “I’m just thrilled to be on board. I’ve watched YoungShand develop over the last 4-5 years and love their integrated approach and focus. There’s a real drive to create strategic value through smart thinking and creating bold engaging work. The team they have slowly built is impressive and I’m really excited to see what we can do together”. This role is an essential part of YoungShand's move to position itself as the leading independent integrated agency in New Zealand, focused on growing New Zealand businesses into world class brands.&nbsp;

YoungShand welcomes Sue Kipling as Executive Strategy Director

After much deliberation the industry celebrated Aotearoa’s most effective advertising campaigns last week at the Effies Awards Aotearoa. The YoungShand team had a fantastic night, picking up two Bronze awards for Flick’s ‘Take back power’ and Oceania’s ‘The Duet’. We are immensely proud to see both of these challenger brands being rewarded for shaking up their industries with bold, authentic work.For Flick Electric Co, ‘Take back power’ was a loud and distinctive integrated campaign that transformed the challenger brand into the fastest growing retailer in Aotearoa. YoungShand’s media strategy was to behave like a protest movement, using broadcast media to agitate and energise customers about the truths of the market, and digital media focussed on recruiting people on Flick’s mission to Take back power from greedy gentailers. The campaign smashed KPIs, growing the brand and attracting 42% more customers to Flick.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youngshand.com/work/flick-take-back-power">https://youngshand.com/work/flick-take-back-power</a>Meanwhile for Oceania, ‘The Duet’ was a nuanced campaign that cleverly broke the Aged Care taboo, presenting a message of respect and hope to couples needing specialist healthcare support. At a time when property prices were tanking and aged care villages were closing, ‘The Duet’ grew Oceania’s enquiries by 63%, delivering an 8% increase in premium care revenue and shifting the brand from 5th to 4th position.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youngshand.com/work/oceania-the-duet">https://youngshand.com/work/oceania-the-duet</a>&nbsp;

Effies success for Flick Electric Co, Oceania and YoungShand.

The Global Effie 'Best of the Best' contenders just came out. For these awards every Effie gold medal winner in the world can go into the global judging. Out of all the gold winners there were only 54 finalists from 125 countries that compete in the Effies around the globe.There were two finalists from NZ - statistically we should only have one maybe. So NZ is punching above our weight with two finalists.And one of those two was for the Unseen Emergencies campaign we did for New Zealand Blood Service.Very proud of this campaign, it is a challenging piece of work and wow did it make an impact. You can check out the campaign <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youngshand.com/work/nzblood-unseen-emergencies/">here</a>.Congratulations also to Turners Auto Retail Division for their fantastic work with Tina from Turners, that picked up the other NZ finalist. Please remember to drive carefully though, unseen emergencies happen everyday.

YoungShand up for global 'Best of the Best' Effie

Following a competitive trans-tasman pitch, Bendon has appointed YoungShand as agency for brand, strategy, retail and media, overseeing the full portfolio of brands Bendon, me. by Bendon, Fayreform, Pleasure State, and Lovable.&nbsp;&nbsp;Says Tracey Hennah, GM Marketing &amp; Digital, Bendon: “Australia is a vital part of our future, and we need an agency with the strategic and media insights to create work that will thrive in both markets. The team at YoungShand impressed us right from the start with their strategic smarts, market insights, and storytelling. This is an ignition point, and we believe we’ve found the right partner. The Bendon team is hugely excited about the future with YS.”&nbsp;Says Sue Kipling, Executive Strategy Director, YoungShand: “The lingerie category feels ripe for reinvigoration, so we are thrilled to be partnering with Anna, Tracey and the Bendon team to develop a powerful long-term portfolio strategy for their suite of iconic lingerie brands.”&nbsp;Says Corey Chalmers, Executive Creative Director, YoungShand: “While Bendon has a strong and beloved heritage in New Zealand, we’re determined to reinvigorate, evolve and grow the brand here and across the ditch. Tracey and the team have challenged us to take their brands into exciting new territories. Challenge accepted.”&nbsp;The appointment is effective August 1.&nbsp;

Bendon appoints YoungShand for NZ and Australian markets

Auckland, 12 May 2025 – Independent agency YoungShand has appointed Todd Wright as its new Head of Digital Production, following an extensive search for the right fit to lead the agency’s growing digital team.With over a decade of experience producing world-class digital work, Todd brings both creative and technical firepower to the role. His career began in design, before moving into production leadership across agencies such as Colenso BBDO, Daylight, and Brave. His portfolio spans everything from award-winning campaign sites to large-scale, enterprise-level digital platforms.“Todd stood out not just for his experience, but for the way people talk about him,” said Scott Maddox, YoungShand ECD. “He’s earned a reputation for calm, strategic leadership and the ability to deliver even the most complex projects at a high standard.”That reputation is already following him. “We’ve had clients reach out to say how much they’ve valued working with Todd”.His appointment is another step forward in the agency’s investment in continuing to build a high-performing, future-ready digital offering. Todd will lead the digital production team, working closely with creative, UX, and media to deliver standout digital experiences for clients.“I'm excited to be part of an agency that’s eager to learn, grow, and push beyond its comfort zone. I've been searching for a team committed to doing things better, and I’m looking forward to helping make that happen for both us and our partners.” says Todd.“We’re thrilled to have Todd join the team,” said Duncan Shand, CEO. “He’ll add real depth to an already formidable group”.

Todd Wright joins YS Digital Team as New Head of Digital Production

Auckland, 21 May 2025 – Independent agency YoungShand has appointed respected digital media leader Mahmood Shibliq as its new Performance Director, to further enhance YS’s already growing media department.Mahmood brings more than a decade of experience in the digital and performance media space. Previously Head of Digital Media at Bastion Shine, Mahmood is known for his strength in programmatic, social, analytics and attribution. With deep retail experience across the New Zealand and Australian markets, he is recognised for his commercial thinking, technical expertise, and strong partner relationships.Mahmood joins the YS Senior Leadership Team and will work alongside newly promoted Media Business Director Jaimee Croot, forming a strong combination to lead the agency’s media, brand &nbsp;and performance offering.“We’re excited to welcome someone of Mahmood’s calibre to YoungShand,” says Chief Strategy Officer Sue Kipling. “He brings a rare combination of strategic insight and performance rigour, and will be a huge asset to both our clients and team. It’s testament to what we’re building here at YS that people of Mahmood’s quality are coming on board.”“I’m stoked to be joining YoungShand at such an exciting time. There’s a real energy here around integrated thinking and delivering great results for our clients. I can’t wait to get stuck in with the team and help drive performance across the board.” says Mahmood.“These appointments mark another step in our commitment to building an integrated, future-focused agency offering – combining creativity with performance to drive challenger brand growth.” says Duncan Shand, CEO. &nbsp;

Mahmood Shiblaq joins as New Performance Director to Strengthen Media Team

TSB, the proudly 100% New Zealand owned bank, has appointed independent challenger agency YoungShand (YS) - also proudly 100% New Zealand owned - as its new creative partner following an extensive competitive pitch.&nbsp;Nick Herbert, TSB General Manager of Product and Marketing, says: "TSB is a brand with a remarkable 175-year heritage, and our goal is to transform that into an equally strong future. We're a bank with strong community values that proudly puts profits back into Aotearoa - but we're not resting on 175-year-old laurels. We're committed to an evolution that will make banking simpler, faster, and more intuitive for New Zealanders. In our search for a partner to bring that to life, YS stood out because of their integrated strategic and creative firepower, combined with strong digital capabilities."&nbsp;TSB’s Head of Brand and Marketing, Vesna Nixon, says "we were looking for an agency partner who would not only bring our future direction to life, but who also truly understood us and our challenges," she adds. "In YS we found a passionate, energetic team that’s creative, digitally driven, and a pleasure to collaborate with. They bring the experience of a big global agency but with the agility and cultural understanding that only a local independent can truly offer."&nbsp;Duncan Shand, CEO and Founder of YS, emphasised the opportunity to work with New Zealand's original challenger bank. "We make no secret of the fact that we live to create great work for challenger brands," says Shand. "Our ambition for TSB matches their own. We look forward to leveraging our expertise to amplify their unique story and support TSB’s exciting growth plans."&nbsp;"TSB is arguably the bank best positioned to deliver a truly human, customer-centric offering, something the research shows New Zealand wants now, more than ever,” says Corey Chalmers, Chief Creative Officer at YS. “The passion, the great service and the ambition of the team at TSB is very clear, and we've already begun working on several major new initiatives, which we're pumped to launch in 2026."

TSB APPOINTS INDEPENDENT AGENCY YOUNGSHAND TO DRIVE BRAND TRANSFORMATION

Independent creative agency YS has announced the appointment of Ginny Woo as Digital Marketing Manager, a move designed to further strengthen the agency’s integrated digital offering.&nbsp;Woo joins YS from TRA, where they served as Digital Lead across both the Culture Practice and Marketing teams. Their arrival marks a significant addition to the YS digital team, bringing a sophisticated understanding of how data-driven insights intersect with brand storytelling.&nbsp;Says Scott Maddox, ECD YS: “Ginny is a rare talent bridging both digital media and digital ecosystems experience, which fits perfectly with our integrated offering. They’re already making a huge impact on our clients' growth targets, utilising their experience in CRO and CRM. They’re also very cool, funny as hell, and making a real impact on our culture - they’re a natural fit for where we're going as an agency”.&nbsp;&nbsp;For Woo, the move to YS was motivated by the agency's commitment to a truly collaborative model.&nbsp;"It’s so nice being part of a team that’s truly integrated," says Ginny Woo. "Having media, digital, and an in-house development team all under one roof is a refreshing change of pace. I find this way of working particularly exciting because it signals a unique ability to adapt and to act dynamically for clients".&nbsp;Duncan Shand, YS Founder and CEO, notes that the appointment reflects the agency’s ongoing evolution. "The agency is focused on delivering growth through smarter integration. Bringing Ginny on board is a really exciting addition to the team. It ensures we have the senior depth of expertise to navigate and lead the development of complex digital landscapes".

YS APPOINTS SOPHIE RADFORD AS CLIENT SERVICES DIRECTOR

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