Assignment Group joins Y&R NZ to become VMLY&R

Full-service agency Assignment Group has joined up with fellow WPP agency Y&R NZ to form one shop, VMLY&R, in New Zealand.

The merger occurred following a group-wide review of agencies, according to Sven Baker, New Zealand MD of WPP AUNZ, and it marks the official end of the Assignment Group and Y&R brands in New Zealand. 

Both agencies currently have a presence in Auckland and Wellington: Assignment's team in the latter city will move in to Y&R's building and be led by Fleur Head, who is currently the leader of Y&R Wellington. Head said she had "always admired" Assignment's ethos of "judging their success on their clients’ success and bringing together a broad range of thinkers to solve problems."

James Mok, who has been MD of VMLY&R in Auckland since January, continues to lead this office. 

Mok and Head will report to Baker as well as Aden Hepburn and Pete Bosilkovski, the leaders of VMLY&R AUNZ.

“Combining Assignment and Y&R with the vast scale and capability of VMLY&R globally will create
an incredibly exciting opportunity to build an agency capable of delivering truly connected customer experiences,” said Baker. 

VMLY&R was created in September 2018 from the merger of VML and Y&R.