The UK’s Campaign has been the leading global advertising title for the past 50 years, and is referred to as ‘the industry bible’. So we are absolutely over the moon to have Campaign name Special both the world’s best creative agency of the year and the world’s best independent agency of the year.

To be crowned ‘Global Agency of the Year’ across our Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles offices, against a shortlist of some of the world’s best agencies including Mother, adam&eve DDB, BBH and The Brooklyn Brothers is an incredible privilege.

The ‘Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards’ were judged by a panel of leading marketing and industry experts. In their summation, Campaign commented:  “Special Group had an impressive year in 2020 on a number of fronts, despite the impact of COVID-19. It opened two new offices, one in Melbourne and one in Los Angeles, and won 40 new pieces of business including Uber Eats in North America and Canada.”

“For the launch of Uber Eats’ ‘Tonight I’ll Be Eating’ brand platform in the US, Special USA created an ad featuring Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise and Sir Patrick Stewart, Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The ad was shared over 135 million times in just two weeks.”

“Other activity across 2020 included a brand refresh for Australian utility company Optus and ‘Every Kiwi Vote Counts’, which ran in Australia, the UK and the US, targeting Kiwis overseas to ‘Meddle’ in their own election. To differentiate New Zealand from other tourist destinations, Special devised a campaign for Tourism New Zealand that ran across 12 different territories, featuring a different Kiwi saying ‘Good Morning World’ every day on Instagram, for an entire year.”

And in the hotly-contested ‘Global Independent Agency of the Year’ category the judges said “Special stood out from the competition with its outstanding creative and strong results. Founded in Auckland in 2008, Special Group expanded its footprint in 2014, opening an office in Sydney and more recently in 2020, setting up shops in Melbourne and Los Angeles.”

“In the last year, the agency’s work has run in China, the UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. It won a significant amount of new business, with many clients spanning different regions. Optus Australia appointed the New Zealand office to be its lead brand agency from New Zealand, marking the first time that a major Australian utility company has appointed a New Zealand agency.”

“Special Group also launched an initiative to help three start-ups, by offering the agency’s skills and resources for free.” Judges commended this approach and said Special Group had global reach and appeal. The agency uses ‘local insights creatively’ to produce ‘excellent and impactful work with strong emotional connections’, they said.

Congratulations to the brilliant humans, clients and partners of Special. To be crowned Best Creative Agency in the World and Best Independent Agency in the world at Campaign’s Global Agency of the Year Awards is the most almighty accolade and mind-blowing achievement. Here’s to each and every person who has helped this little indie from the bottom of the world do this.

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