Special wins Effie APAC Agency of the Year

Special had a standout evening this weekend at the APAC Effie Awards, the largest effectiveness award show in the Asia Pacific region, clinching three gold awards for its work on Partners Life’s ‘Last Performance,’ Wellington City Mission’s ‘Silent Night,’ and Hell Pizza’s ‘ToMEATo Sauce.’

The agency also secured five silver awards and one bronze award.

With the awards held at the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, Special Auckland swept both Agency of the Year and Independent Agency of the Year, making it the agency’s second time achieving this double win. Special previously took out Agency of the Year in a joint win in 2021.

To achieve this, Special had to beat some of Asia Pacific’s biggest agencies, Leo Burnett Mumbai and Ogilvy Sydney and a strong New Zealand showing, with DDB winning two golds for Samsung ‘iTest – Comparing iphones and androids’ for a bronze for Tourism New Zealand ‘If you seek’, and Colenso winning Silver and bronze for Skinny ‘Phone it in’ and a silver for Mars ‘Give up on Humans’.

“I’m thrilled for our clients because they deserve it. We believe our approach of bringing a multi disciplinary team from PR, design, advertising and media together can help give brands the edge. I believe this body of work illustrates this,” says Rory Gallery, Special Chief Strategic officer.

Special Founder Tony Bradbourne says effectiveness is the pinnacle of success for Special.

“Our belief is that inventiveness and audacious creativity are the very best weapons in achieving that goal. So it’s great to have more proof of the success of that focus. And great also to win gold’s for clients in both Special’s Auckland and Wellington offices, it’s pretty impressive to achieve that goal in Special Wellington’s very first year of business.

“It’s been an incredible year of Cannes Grand Prix and Gold Lions, D&AD and AWARD Pencils and being named ‘Global Creative Agency of the Year’ by Campaign UK but completing the story, and the link between creativity and effectiveness, that the best creative ideas are the most effective ideas, is a great moment,” says Bradbourne.

Mondelēz International took home Marketer of the Year yet again, with Cadbury and Oreo contributing to the win, while Whisper walked away with the Brand of the Year and three Gold Effies under their belt for their stunning campaign, Changing Education to Keep Girls in School. 

Australia leads with 16 Effies, followed closely by New Zealand with 15 Effies and India with 8 Effies.

2023 Awards Chairperson Kainaz Gazder says this years wins “showcased not only the power of effective marketing but also the spirit of creativity and innovation that propels our industry forward”.

“As Chairperson, I am humbled by the remarkable achievements of this year’s winners. These marketers have not only embraced change but have harnessed it to shape the future.”

The full list of winners can be accessed here. All winners and finalists will be accorded points towards the 2023 Effie Index, which ranks the most effective agencies, marketers and brands globally. The Index will be announced in 2024.

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