Special Group opens its doors in the U.S. headed up by Will Gelner as chief creative officer
(Pictured L-R: Tony Bradbourne, William Gelner, Lindsey Evans)
Asia Pacific’s leading independent creative company Special Group has entered the U.S market with William Gelner leading the LA-based agency as chief creative officer, and Uber Eats as its founding client.
The launch of the international office follows the profound success of Special Group’s global work for Uber Eats, including its launch of the internationally recognised ‘Tonight I’ll Be Eating’ brand platform into the U.S. and Canada. The now viral campaign launched with an epic showdown between movie icons, Mark Hamill and Patrick Stewart, which attracted over 11.3m shares across social media.
Last week saw the addition of another unlikely duo, which was met with similar affection, starring Queer-Eye celebrity, Jonathan Van Ness and Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles.
Says Cade Heyde, founding partner, Special Group Australia: “It is a massive privilege to be able to open doors in the US with Uber Eats as our founding client. It’s rare to have the opportunity to export Australian work to the rest of the world. The ongoing success of the creative platform is testament to the bravery and collaboration of a truly great partnership.”
Australian partners Cade Heyde, Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber have been working with Gelner over the last few months to cement the agency’s presence on the ground in LA.
Gelner is one of the most respected and highly acclaimed creative leaders in the U.S. Throughout his career he has led the creative product and teams at BBH NY, 180 LA and most recently, Engine. He has worked with premier brands including UNICEF, adidas, HBO, HP, Jagermeister, Boost Mobile, The University of Phoenix, Expedia as well as Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 campaign. Gelner is currently working with The Lincoln Project and the League of Conservative Voters and is responsible for their recent high-profile political campaigns.
On being the founding partner of the U.S. business, William Gelner, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to partner with Special Group and launch the US agency. Besides being genuinely the kindest and bravest humans, I’ve ever met in the industry, they have built a model around what brands want and need right now. The time is right for a self-backed, nimble and world class creative agency with a global footprint.”
Says Lindsey Evans, CEO and founding partner of Special group Australia: “It’s been six years since our partners in New Zealand backed us to expand the Special Group brand and open our doors in Australia. To be able to do that all over again with them in the U.S. is such a thrill. At Special Group we have an unfair share of worldly and world class talent, which creates the opportunity to further attract the best of the best and have everyone work together in a future fit offering for global brands. We are blessed to have William at the helm in the US. He is ridiculously talented with furiously high standards as well as being a stupidly good human being.”
Founder of Special Group, CEO/CCO New Zealand, Tony Bradbourne, says: “It is an incredibly proud moment to see the business we started in an old cinema in Auckland 13 years ago open its fourth office, this time half-way across the globe. Our unique business offering that spans purpose-led design, strategy, digital, mobile, advertising and innovation has delivered a hugely successful year both as a business and for creativity, and we can’t wait to see this next chapter unfold under the brilliance and talent of William.”
The launch of Special Group’s international office comes just months after the creative company opened its doors in Melbourne, won the account for iconic Australian brand Bonds and took home one of only three global Effies. Special Group has been named Independent Agency of the Year by AdNews, Spikes Asia and Campaign Asia.
17 Comments
“At Special Group we have an unfair share of worldly and world class talent.” K…
I love that quote. Rob Morgan worked it hard in the 90s. M&C in the 2000’s. Nothing gets old in this game.
Uber Eats is a great campaign to help build a global offering. But as the previous comment said, stay humble. One day Uber Eats sales will decline – for no fault of anyone in particular, a new CMO will arrive and you’ll be thanked profusely on your way out as a new agency takes up the reigns. It happens to all of us. But…not all of us get to create a global campaign – so congrats to all at Special Group and good luck.
Amazing news. Well done Specials!
Will Gelner is an amazing talent. I watched him build the 180 LA office from scratch to become a powerhouse. Can’t wait to see him expand Special Group in the US. Congrats all round.
As an Aussie in the US, the LA market is tough, like, really tough! The business environment has deteriorated considerably, less so in other markets in the US. Try and pull clients out of the Mid West or East Coast if you can, that’s the powerhouse of the economy. Tech clients are hard to land cause they’ve mostly moved in-house and San Fran has that covered. Good luck, oh, and hustle! I mean, really hustle, it’s the LA way.
LA was the hardest market in the US before covid. It’s even harder now. But with so many empty offices and unemployed creatives, the overheads must be pretty low at the moment. Maybe the office is just a couple of people on zoom from home?
Special NZ is amazing well done Aus for helping them grow it could soon branch out to be the next global Indi w+k style
Don’t open an LA branch. Do it all from Australia. You’ll do your dough.
Thanks so much. Reckon they’ll definitely reconsider the move now they’ve seen your comments. Like sorry guys we’ve decided we’re not going to go ahead with it, the people on campaignbrief told us not to.
An Aussie/NZ network creates a campaign for a US based brand that is so successful said brand decides to adopt it for a country with 330m+ people, so the network has to open a US office…and people here still criticize it?
Well, thanks for reminding me tall poppy syndrome is still alive and well back home.
Well f’ing done Special.
What’s your point?
Uber Eats is a truly world class campaign which will open any door, anywhere. So, why not take your chances while you have them. Well done Special Group but learn from MDA when they travelled with Qantas and opened up in the US: don’t build your brand around being antipodean, build it around excellence. Good luck.
Of course, they’re not going to abandon their plans but just giving them a heads-up. Most Aussies have no idea that LA is a tiny ad market, get here then realize that they should have tried the East Coast, many large accounts have moved back there recently and many LA agencies are struggling big time. Ever think that maybe Aussie ad execs that have worked in LA most of their career have a little bit of insight? Just maybe?
Ever think that maybe Special Group and the success that they’ve achieved doesn’t require condescending self-centric comments pretending to be constructive advice for how to succeed? All the ‘advice’ given, was just the chance for these people to talk-about themselves, so they can feel special. Pun intended.
Campaignbriefsplaining.
Ha, if 180 and Chiat\Day are struggling in LA, agencies that have produced much better work BTW, I’m sure SPECIAL will take no prisoners. Cause, well, they’re special, right?
Well, the way I see it. West coast agency headed by a brilliant CCO and a foundation client to pay their bills. Can hopefully only expand from there. People didn’t believe in Goodby or Weiden opening on the west coast and look what they’ve achieved? Hope it goes well and if it doesn’t, at least you’ve done a bucketload more than I ever have by opening those doors. And hopefully some kick-arse work that’s a little bit different from the stuff we’ve become used to.