Special Group Clocks Up Another First

New Zealand independent creative company Special Group is expanding its footprint in Australia, becoming the first New Zealand agency to open its doors in Melbourne.

The introduction of Special Melbourne comes six years after the group was the first New Zealand agency to launch in Australia, opening Special Sydney.

Special Group Chief Executive Officer, Chief Creative Officer and Founder Tony Bradbourne says Melbourne was always the natural next step to grow the business.

“We opened Sydney in 2014, something no other New Zealand agency has achieved before, and we have gone from strength to strength with our unique brand of creativity. We’ve always had a vision to go bigger however and connect with more brands and Melbourne is just the next step in those plans.

“New Zealand is usually the last place traditional multi-national agency networks open a branch office, but as an independent company we want to flip that, starting from New Zealand and building a new global model from here up. We really believe in the innovative, non-traditional, and highly effective thinking that we have at Special New Zealand and Australia – and want to take that to clients globally,” says Bradbourne.

The opening of Special Melbourne follows the agency winning a raft of new business in Australia in the last quarter including iconic Australian underwear brand Bonds.

Special Group New Zealand has been winning global business from Auckland including telecommunications giant Optus where the group won a competitive global pitch against agencies in Australia and London. 

The group has secured top talent to head up its latest outpost. Paige Prettyman has been appointed to the newly created role of General Manager, Melbourne. Before joining Special Group Prettyman was Group Business Director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and has also held positions at Y&R and Marketforce.

Prettyman joins Founding Partner, Melbourne Rebecca Stambanis who has been working with Special Group Australia since returning from an 11-year stint in the US where she led strategy for some of the world’s most respected agencies and brands including Nike, Apple, Uber Eats and Nintendo.

Both Prettyman and Stambanis will work with the broader team to grow Special Group’s Melbourne offering, which includes locally based clients CUB and Bonds.

“Now more than ever, we believe talent and ideas are more powerful than location. Across the group we are 120 strong, working across 12 different territories. We want to work with the world’s most ambitious and smartest clients, no matter where they live or work,” says Bradbourne.

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