TOM MARKHAM TAKES THE INTERACTIVE CREATIVE REINS AT LOWE RIVET IN SYDNEY

Gold AWARD winner Tom Markham, Interactive Creative Director at Lowe and Draft in New Zealand, has been appointed Interactive Creative Director at Lowe and Rivet in Sydney. He will now work closely with Lowe ECD Dave Johnson and Rivet ECD Chris Hunter (the latter moved to Sydney from NZ last month).
According to Judi Lewis, Rivet Sydney’s CEO: “The centre of gravity is now with integrated work. So we need strength in all areas of the one-to-one discipline – be that direct, digital or viral. Tom’s skill set is remarkably broad and covers all of Rivet’s offering."
Lowe and Rivet are bucking the trend to treat interactive as just another channel. “Many agencies up-skill regular creative teams in the interactive arena, and then double-check with a techie to check if the concept is do-able," says Lewis. “But we believe that world-class integrated work requires senior interactive creatives who can generate the big idea in the first place."
Markham’s credentials speak for themselves. ElectroCity, the online game he created for the NZ power company Genesis Energy, won one of only eight Golds at AWARD on Friday night. The Gold was for ‘best online and mobile game’, and it also won Silver for ‘best website’. The wins were especially sought after, given the record 360 finalists from countries as far afield as China, Malaysia and Singapore.
In just six months, ElectroCity has generated 1.6 million unique sessions in a country with a population of four million, and an average length of time at more than 10 minutes.
Markham has also done high profile work across the Tasman for NZ Lotteries, Bank of NZ, Air New Zealand and Vodafone – where he worked on the launch of the telco’s broadband service.