Special welcomes Scott Coldham as managing director

AUCKLAND, Today: Special has lured a much-admired leader back into the industry, appointing Scott Coldham as managing director of Special New Zealand.

Special founder/ceoTony Bradbourne said: “The appointment comes after a period of significant agency growth and expansion of services and will allow managing partner Michael Redwood to elevate his position to a governance role, steering the wider commercial and operational components of the business.

“Over the last four years, Special has doubled in size and expanded its footprint to include offices in Auckland and Wellington, with standalone offerings including Special Design and Special PR (recently named Large PR Agency of the Year by PRINZ).

“In addition to its significant expansion in New Zealand, Special has launched offices in Los Angeles, New York and London in the last four years, growing the total team members to more than 250 globally.

“Scott Coldham recently spent six years as the MD at Colenso BBDO, delivering sustained agency growth, creative successes locally, regionally and globally – and commercial impact for the agency’s clients.

“He is no stranger to leading a large, successful creative agency with global ambition.

“Scott left Colenso in 2021, taking the CMO role at Whip Around – a SaaS business based in the US. He has also been working as a strategic advisor to Asuwere, an Auckland-based fashion subscription business, as well as sitting on several boards.”

“My brief time away from the industry has given me a chance to reflect on where the industry is at, and where I wanted to be in coming back to it.”

“Special has come a long way: from a start-up in Kingsland to being named Global Creative Agency of the Year. You can only do that if you have a constant drive to always be better, to always innovate.

“You can see it in our work and results we create for clients, but you can also see it in our structure, our growth, and the people we seek to work with every day.

“Welcoming Scott as Special NZ’s MD is part of that constant drive. He’s an exceptional talent, loved and trusted by clients, extremely passionate about the work, and shares a real global view of excellence like we all do here at Special.

“The success Special has had, the clients we now work with, and the incredible briefs we get tasked with, has been a big part in persuading Scott to move back into the industry he has excelled in. We are extremely excited to welcome him to the team.”

Scott Coldham said: “My brief time away from the industry has given me a chance to reflect on where the industry is at, and where I wanted to be in coming back to it.

“The freedom to chase the right things and truly influence Special’s next phase of growth was material in my decision and I think the agency has the perfect ingredients: independence, ambition, talent and footprint. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity.”

Special Partner Michael Redwood said: “We’re over the moon to have Scott at Special – he’s international calibre talent.

“And having worked with him when he started out in advertising at Colenso, I’m also excited about what he’ll bring to Special’s culture”.