MindShare lures Zonfrillo to lead TV buying team

MindShare has poached Leo Burnett broadcast director Andy Zonfrillo as its new TV buying director to oversee billings of more than 250m.

The appointment by MindShare managing director Simon Rees comes hot on the heels of another major signing.

Two weeks ago it emerged Edward Lloyd-Barnes, a former director at The Negotiation Centre, would join MindShare as broadcast planning director. Rees says the appointments represent a “new generation” for the agency’s TV buying operation.

“Clients’ use of TV is taking on a new dimension,” he says. “Zonfrillo has an eye to the future of TV development beyond the role of time buying. There is a freshness in this new team.”

Zonfrillo, 34, joined Leo Burnett as broadcast director in 1994 after working in the media department of Bartle Bogle Hegarty for seven years.

He says: “MindShare has a fantastic line-up of blue-chip clients and unparalleled expertise in other areas of the group. It is a company clearly looking to the future.”

Zonfrillo, who has significant experience in TV planning, will take on responsibilities for clients including Ford, Kellogg, Nestlé and Mattel in a 40-strong unit, together with other department managers Paul Manning and Sabrina Booth. He will report to Rees, who has still to announce a deputy.