Jonathan Mckenzie new Native ECD

Jonathan Mckenzie, newly appointed ECD of Native.

Robinson (@angusrobinson) is now director: mobile, content and community divisions of Native. Adam Whitehouse (@1eighty) remains ECD: design.

Originally from South Africa, Mckenzie joins the agency from Singapore, where he co-founded Newton Circus, a sustainable business innovation company that develops digital products, services and applications for the good of people, planet and profit, in 2010.

"The line between digital and traditional is becoming increasingly artificial. As a full-service digital agency working in this environment, we need the ability to think beyond the digital canvas. Jon Mckenzie will help us do that," says Jason Xenopoulos, CEO of Native.

"Our goal at Native is to become a world-class agency. To do that, we need world-class talent. Jon has proved his ability to deliver the kind of ground-breaking creative work that Native is determined to become famous for."

For the past 11 years, Mckenzie (@Jonmachat) has been at the forefront of developing integrated advertising and technology-based solutions for the likes of BBDO Asia, Leo Burnett, M&C Saatchi, Profero and AKQA London. He has 15 international awards for creative work and nine for campaign effectiveness to his name.

He describes himself as digitally led but is someone who is passionate about big ideas and the people that they move regardless of the format.

Current digital initiative

Native is the agency behind the current digital initiative #CloseTheTap meant to inspire real-world action. The intention is to raise awareness around global water wastage and offer people real, every-day tips for saving water.

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Native has created a live FlowCam connected to Twitter that is monitoring a flowing tap. With every tweet, the tap will tighten a little, with the ultimate goal of completely closing the tap when 10 000 Tweets are posted. So far, there have been over 2373 tweets.

"Just by visiting www.closethetap.co.za, taking a water-saving pledge, tweeting your pledge and sharing it on Facebook, you can help us spread the word, and save fresh water," says Justin Friedman, creator of FLOW (www.flow.org.za).

"The message we are trying to convey is that, by making small adjustments to your everyday life, you can reduce water wastage and help us create awareness around the litres of water we literally pour down the drain every day," says Whitehouse.

The initiative kicked off on 22 March to commemorate World Water Day.

Updated at 11.20am on 27 March 2012.