Page 15 - Adnews Magazine January 2022

www.adnews.com.au | January-February2022 15
Agency of the Year
The year started with Special embedding Uber Eats into the Australian Open tennis tournament, breaking the rules of traditional advertising, more an entertainment brand than delivery service.
The agency opened its doors in Melbourne and Los Angeles, grew to 73 people in Australia from 55, became Uber Eats’ agency of record in North America, and then made a top 10 Super Bowl spot in just 12 weeks, and won a year-long pitch to become ANZ’s agency, the first time an independent has been appointed to one of the big four Australian banks.
At the same time, Special added one new client every month including ANZ, BONDS, Mutti, Afterpay, Bailey Nelson, Colorbond, Donski, Mecca, Pop Tops, Hort Innovation and Kathmandu.
Special also encouraged Australians to ‘Be Like the Beer’ for Carlton Dry; gave Kathmandu its first brand refresh in 30 years with ‘We’re Out There’; let everyone eat for the price of love on Uber Eats in the third ‘game-changing’ Australian Open sponsorship; told Aussies to ‘Stop Dreaming about New Zealand and Go’; launched a brand platform for Weet-Bix to ‘Feed the Belief’ of young Australians; stated ‘The Future’s is in Your Undies’ for Bonds; had hundreds-of-thousands discover their Disney DNA to launch Disney+; designed two store experiences for Harris Farm Markets; celebrated Colorbond being ‘Made for Australia’; gave KPMG a purposeful world view in ‘How You Grow Matters’; re-branded fruit and veg as ‘Good Mood Food’ during lockdown; and made Kayo the leading destination for sport with ‘Sport Lives Here’. Special Mention: The Works. Judges noted an “incredibly difficult” decision choosing a winner. “Overall, The Work’s story around people and culture is very strong, a magnificent body of work and impressive profit growth.”
‘Good Morning World’ by Special Group. Bottom: The Initiative team.
Finalists: The Works, BMF, DDB Group Australia
Media Agency of the Year
Presented by PubMatic
Winner: Initiative
Judges: “In a challenging year, it was evident that Initiative placed so much importance on their peo- ple. What really stood out to the judges was how they let go of $50 million in new business to ‘Ditch the Pitch’ in order to grow. Culture breeds results and you can see the results and the growth in this submission.”
Initiative, in a year of chaos and constraint, didn’t just survive, it thrived: “Where others bunkered down, we lit a flame under our busi- ness and across the industry to deliver the most transformational year in our agency’s history.
“Whether evolving our indus- try-leading people programs, accel- erating new business growth, launching new diversified services, and creating culture-defining work, 2020-2021 was a year for our people to remember, not forget.”
Initiative welcomed 12 major brands: Repco, Sukin, Salesforce, Schneider Electric, IAG, Pernod Ricard, Afterpay, Plush, Quest, Spirit Super, City of Perth and Gulf Western Oil. Growth was delivered sustainably, with Initiative declining a string of opportunities that did not meet equitable standards. Finalists: Kaimera, OMD Australia
Independent Agency of the Year
Presented by Amobee Winner: Special
Judges: “Their commitment to agency culture is highly commend- able, particularly their investment in people and innovation within their team.”
Special is made up of people from 10+ countries and with a 50:50 gender split, and 60:40 female to male leadership team. During the year, the agency nearly doubled (40 to 73). The retention rate is 95%.
“When COVID-19 hit we were able to protect everyone (despite most clients halting spend), asked only those over a certain salary to take a 20% pay