Special Group named Global Creative and Independent Agency of the Year by Campaign UK

Australasian independent creative company Special Group has been named Global Creative Agency of the Year and Independent Agency of the Year by Campaign UK.

Special Group – which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Los Angeles – was named Global Agency of the Year following a shortlisting process which consisted of some of the world’s best agencies including adam&eveDDB, BBH Singapore, Mother and The Brooklyn Brothers. Last year the award was won by legendary American advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy.

Special Group, which is both Campaign Brief’s Australian Agency of the year and New Zealand Agency of the Year, was founded 14 years ago in an old cinema in Auckland, and then went on to launch Special Group in Sydney in 2013. Together, Special Group has since opened offices in both Melbourne and Los Angeles. It now employs 160 staff across all four offices and has a remit spanning advertising to design.

Special Group also won the tightly contested ‘Independent Agency of the Year’ title, again beating out Mother amongst other finalists.

The Campaign Agency of the Year Awards are 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.”

The agency’s well-respected creative partnership with Uber Eats saw Special Group expand its offering in the US as it launched the Australian-born ‘Tonight, I’ll Be Eating’ expansion into the US with star-studded campaigns including mega-stars from rival franchises: Mark Hamill and Patrick Stewart. The creative company went on to do one of the world’s most loved Super Bowl spots as they reunited the stars of Wayne’s World (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey) with Cardi B for Uber Eats’ “Tonight, I’ll Be Eating” platform. As part of their accolades, Campaign also celebrated the global gold effie award-winning campaign for Tourism New Zealand which ran in 12 different markets and featured different Kiwi’s said 365 “Good Morning World” every day for an entire year.

Says Cade Heyde, founding partner of Special Group Australia: “To be crowned Global Creative Agency of the Year and Global Independent Agency of the Year at the Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards makes us believe today, more than ever, that a relentless focus on our people, our culture and our values can lead to world class work and recognition. A massive shout out to our amazing partners and the teams in the New Zealand and US offices who together believe every day in the power of independent creativity.”

Says Julian Schreiber CCO/partner, Special Group Australia: “We’re so proud of this result. At heart, all of us together are really just a group of likeminded people trying to make great work. Work only possible because of the incredible collaborators we have both client side and in production. We feel very lucky to know them”