Thank you to presenting partner TikTok for Business, and supporting partners Amobee, Captify, Disney Advertising Sales, Google, Nova Entertainment, PubMatic, Seven, Sightline and Twitch, plus associate partners Adstream, IVE and TVSquared.
And to the judges, including more than 80 CMOs and senior marketers from brands such as Coles, Westpac, Maserati, Amex, Myer, Suncorp, Mars Wrigley Australia, Afterpay and Tourism Australia.
The AdNews Agency of the Year, presented by TikTok for Business, is Special.
Judges: “With its uncompromising commitment to work culture and staff wellbeing, Special Group defied the challenges of a global pandemic and expanded into new markets with an impressive creative arsenal.”
Special picked up Agency Year and Independent Agency of the Year.
Special: “This is the story of something Special. An agency which opened its doors in Melbourne and LA. An agency which took Australian creativity to seven global markets. An agency which beat Wieden+Kennedy to become Uber Eats’ agency of record in North America, and went on to make (a top 10) Super Bowl spot. An agency which won a client every month, including the year-long pitch to become ANZ’s agency of record. An agency that grew from 55 to 73 people. An agency that had its best financial performance in its history. All during a global pandemic.”
The agency s Tonight, I ll Be Eating campaign put Uber Eats on the menu across the globe, spreading from a unique campaign in Australia.
It was described by Kantar Millward Brown as “a global case study in how to build world-class brand equity and distinction”.
The trick was to strike a cultural chord in different markets, by pairing The Wiggles with Simon Cowell, and by reuniting Wayne’s World duo Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey). Along the way, Star Wars and Star Trek fans went into a frenzy in a showdown between Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill.
Special: “We are ruthless about our culture. Above all else, we prioritise creating an environment for our people to thrive, knowing that if we get that right everything else will follow. We live by a simple purpose ‘to make things that matter… to commerce, to citizens, to culture and to careers’; striving to create a future-fit agency model that attracts the next generation of talent to the industry. At the heart of our culture, our way of working and our creative
