Ida Axling
Apr 13, 2022

New Zealand agency Special opens London office

Former Havas executive Jennifer Black will run UK operations.

Jennifer Black
Jennifer Black

Independent creative group Special, Campaign’s Global Creative Agency of the Year and Global Independent Agency of the Year in 2021, is expanding into Europe with a London office.

The agency was founded in New Zealand in 2008 and has named Jennifer Black, managing director of Havas London, as partner and chief executive of Special London.

She joins a global team across the group’s five other international offices in Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles. 

Black, who left Havas in January after four years, has also worked at Mother London and Fallon, and was founder and managing director of independent agency Fabula, which closed in 2017

During her time at Havas, the agency won Asda’s advertising account after a competitive pitch in 2021. Earlier this year, Black was named Account Person of the Year at Campaign’s 2022 Agency of the Year Awards.  

Black told Campaign that she is currently recruiting for a London team.

She added: “Special has shown that it has a unique blend of creativity and strategy, generously imbued with positive energy and kind and brave values all expressed while working across borders. 

“I am genuinely thrilled to be joining the Special family and I’m looking forward to bringing that energy into Europe through the new London office. I helped grow Havas into the creative agency that it is today and am excited to leave at this juncture and bring all that energy and thinking to launch Special."

Internationally, Special’s clients include UberEats, Virgin, Smirnoff and Red Bull. 

Its creative work includes UberEats’ 2022 Super Bowl spot, created by Special US, which featured Gwyneth Paltrow eating her own vagina-scented candle. 

The agency also won a Global Grand Effie last year for its “Good morning world” campaign for Tourism New Zealand.

Special said in a statement that its model was designed to “break down the silos between advertising agencies and design studios” with the aim to create integrated and innovative business thinking.  

It expanded into Australia with a Sydney office in 2014 and broke into the US market with a branch in Los Angeles in 2020.

Special also won several awards at Campaign Asia’s 2021 Agency of the Year Awards

Tony Bradbourne, Special’s founder, and chief executive and chief creative officer in New Zealand, said: “We are extremely excited to start our journey in London with such an incredible, kind and driven leader as Jen. 

“We have a huge amount of respect and love for the strategic and creative thinking that London consistently produces. We hope to add to that by bringing a fresh and ambitious model to clients in London."

Xavier Rees, chief executive of Havas London, said: “I’d like to thank Jen for the significant role she played in our transformation over the past four years.

"Her development at Havas London – from managing partner in 2018, to MD and Campaign’s Account Person of the Year in 2021 – is a source of great pride and testament both to Jen, and to the culture we created as a leadership team. We’re really excited about our next chapter and wish Jen luck as she embarks on hers.”

The UK ad agency scene is already highly competitive and a wave of homegrown start-ups, including Uncommon Creative Studio, New Commercial Arts, Wonderhood Studios and Neverland, have entered the market in recent years. 

Source:
Campaign UK

Related Articles

Just Published

1 day ago

Agency Report Cards 2024: We grade 25 APAC networks

The grades are in for Campaign Asia's 22nd annual evaluation of APAC agency networks. Subscribe to read our detailed analyses.

1 day ago

Agency Report Card 2024: Initiative

After losing marquee clients Amazon and Lego, Initiative faces an uphill battle to rebuild its reputation, leaning on new tools, a "challenger" mindset, and a focus on e-commerce to stay competitive in a rapidly shifting industry.

1 day ago

Global CEO of WPP Media’s Nexus departs

Bidon has been global chief executive at Nexus since April 2022.

1 day ago

Mark Read: 'People are happier when they’re in the ...

WPP’s chief executive spoke at SWSW and touched on hybrid working, the future of the workforce with AI and whether brands will return to X.