DDB’s Andrew Little steps down, Kiwi pair step up
Andrew Little
Andrew Little, the president of DDB Group AUNZ, has announced he will depart in August after 25 years with the group. In the wake of his departure, two senior executives from DDB Group New Zealand have been promoted to regional roles.
Little announced the news via a media release on Monday morning, describing his time leading DDB as a “privilege, not a job”.
He said he has treated the company “like it was [his] own”, and has been fortunate to see DDB graduates becomes CEOs, CCOs, and department heads, which is “one of the real joys of a long tenure”.
“I have made lifelong friends with clients and even competitors,” Little said in the media release. “But mostly I would like to thank my DDB family – those wonderful people who have supported me through the years.”
Andrew Little
Little started at DDB Melbourne two-and-a-half decades ago as managing director, before moving to the CEO role of DDB Group Australia in 2013. Then, in 2021, he was promoted to president and CEO of the ANZ group.
Under his leadership, DDB Group AUNZ has claimed some of the “most consistent and successful” agency-client relationships in Australia, including the agency’s 13 years with Westpac, 56-year partnership with McDonald’s, and 27 years with Volkswagen.
DDB Group’s global CEO, Alex Lubar, thanked Little for his efforts.
“I would like to thank Andrew for leading through some of our most impressive years in the region. He’s had a profound impact on the business and will be missed by all of us at DDB,” he said in the media release.
DDB Group AUNZ has made leadership changes in the wake of Little’s departure.
The agency group has promoted New Zealand’s CEO, Priya Patel, and CCO, Matty Burton, to take on the regional CEO and CCO positions, respectively.
The pair have worked together at DDB Group Aotearoa since 2021. They will continue to oversee the NZ agency and its clients, and will now also work closely with the DDB Melbourne and DDB Sydney leadership teams to supervise the region.
Burton and Patel
“Each of our offices is unique and has its own strengths and talents. To date, we have all worked relatively siloed, but there are exciting opportunities for us to come together and integrate more for the benefit of our clients – like a modern, creatively powerful, Antipodean mini network within the worldwide network,” Patel said in the media release.
“Our vision is simply to create more unity between the amazing humans in Australia and New Zealand.”
Burton said the focus is on connecting the “right people at the right time”, with the hopes of inspiring and rewarding employees, “giving everyone new opportunities, challenges and clients to work with”.
Lubar said the Australian and New Zealand agencies have “always been” some of the strongest within the global network.
“I have no doubt that this leadership team will chart enormous creative success and growth for the future,” he said in the media release.
Little will remain with the agency group until August, to support Patel, Burton, and clients through the leadership transition.
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Congratulations Andrew on a stellar career at DDB.
Having lost Coles to Big Red you worked tirelessly to win it back – and you did! You even managed to make it a ‘whole-of -Omnicom’ appointment. All your idea. All your hard work. Yet through it all we’ve remained friends and never viewed our battles as anything but business. Wherever life takes you next I wish you every success – you’ve deserve it.