Special #1 and #2 at Asia AoY

NEW YORK/SHANGAI, Friday: Special NZ enjoyed an impressive night at the One Asia Creative Awards 2022, being named APAC Independent Agency of the Year, and taking home two Best of Disciplines, five Golds, two Silvers and three Bronze.

Special’s Best of Discipline wins, working with The Post Office Auckland, were rewarded in Creative Effectiveness/Public Service & CSR for Motor Neurone Disease NZ’s David’s Unusables.

The work also won five Golds, two Silver, two Bronze and a Merit.  Special also won a Bronze for Education New Zealand Te Kākaku Hou in Design, and a Merit for Made For Out There on behalf of Kathmandu, in Innovation.

Based on cumulative points for awards won, Special is ranked as One Asia’s #1 APAC Independent Agency, and runner up in the overall One Asia agency ranking.

The Post Office Auckland was named One Asia Production Company of the Year.

In addition, Special’s Jonathan McMahon and Lisa Fedyszyn are tied as ONE Asia ECDs of the Year, Arnya Karaitiana is Creative Director of the Year, and Kimberley Scott is Art Director of the Year.

Other New Zealand wins included two Bronze in Film & Video going to Dentsu Creative with Dentsu Media and Sweetshop, all in Auckland, for TVNZ It’s Free. But it Could Cost You; and a Silver for Monolith with Designworks, both Auckland, for Stuff Type Suite on in TDC Typography.

This year’s top ONE Asia APAC Rankings honors, based upon cumulative scores for awards won across all disciplines, are as follows.

“The One Asia Creative Awards is an evolution of the One Show Greater China Awards, expanding to include the entirety of the Asia-Pacific region.”

Top 10 One Asia 2022 Agency Ranking:

1. Ogilvy Mumbai
2. Special New Zealand Auckland
3. Ogilvy Group Thailand Bangkok
4. Innocean Worldwide Seoul
5. Ogilvy Singapore
6. (Tsuzuku) Tokyo (tie)
7. Dentsu Tokyo (tie)
8. Ogilvy Malaysia Kuala Lumpur
9. BBDO Bangkok
10. TBWA\Media Arts Lab Singapore

Other top rankings for One Asia 2022 include …

• Independent Agency of the Year: Special New Zealand Auckland
• Client of the Year: Cadbury
• Production Company of the Year: The Post Office Auckland
• Agency Network of the Year: Ogilvy Group
• Agency Holding Company of the Year: WPP
• ECD of the Year (tie): Jonathan McMahon and Lisa Fedyszyn, both Special New Zealand Auckland
• Creative Director of the Year: Arnya Karaitiana, Special New Zealand Auckland
• Art Director of the Year: Kimberley Scott, Special New Zealand Auckland
• Overall, there were 18 Gold, 19 Silver, 28 Bronze and 56 Merit One Asia winners for entries from Australia, Mainland China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan-China, Thailand and Vietnam.  The top five countries were Thailand with 31 winners, India and New Zealand with 17 each, Japan with 16, and Singapore with 12.

A jury of 70 creatives from 19 APAC countries and regions — as well as a handful of international creative leaders — judged this year’s entries.

Australia scored 11 awards.

The One Asia Creative Awards is an evolution of the One Show Greater China Awards, expanding to include the entirety of the Asia-Pacific region.

Special founder Tony Bradbourne said, This is a great way to start the year, and well deserved individual recognition for Lisa and Jono, Arnya and Kim for all of their hard work in 2022.

“We’ve got ambitious plans for 2023 for the brands and clients we work with and results like this give us even more drive and enthusiasm for the year ahead.”

• View the full list of One Club Asia winners here: oneclub.org

About Special
Special was founded in Auckland in 2007 and now has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Wellington, London & New York, aiming to become the first global creative network founded in New Zealand.

• specialgroup.com