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Saatchis snares Jason Lonsdale as head of planning

Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney has filled its long-vacant head of planning position, Mumbrella can reveal.

Kiwi Jason Lonsdale joins from Canadian agency Taxi as executive planning director.

Lonsdale is the second major hire since the arrival of new boss Michael Rebelo, who took over as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi from John Foley less than a month ago. Rebelo brought in Damon Stapleton from TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris as ECD last month.

Lonsdale teams up with Rebelo for the second time, having worked with him at Saatchi & Saatchi London.

Among the campaigns the two combined on was the ‘Life’s for sharing’ for T Mobile.

Rebelo said: “Getting Jason to lead the intellectual output of Saatchi & Saatchi is nothing short of a coup’. We’ve made some great and effective work together in the past and we share similar points of view on where the role of planning can make the biggest difference to our clients. Coupled with Damon joining, I feel nothing but optimism about our future.”

In Lonsdale’s career to date, he has had spells at Colenso BBDO in New Zealand, where he started in advertising.

He said: “I started at Colenso BBDO and I’m excited about returning to that part of the world. Mike and I work incredibly well together, and Damon’s reputation is second-to-none, so the chance to join them in transforming the Sydney agency was pretty irresistible. All three of us are dedicated to kick-ass creative work, and I can’t wait to get started.” says Lonsdale.

Lonsdale starts at Saatchi’s in February next year.

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