Special U.S. hires New York chief creative officer from TBWA

Special U.S. has found a chief creative officer for its small New York office, recruiting Amy Ferguson, CCO of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, for the role. Ferguson had been at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York for six years, including two and a half as CCO. Her move follows the exit last fall of the agency’s CEO, Nancy Reyes, who joined BBDO. (Emily Wilcox succeeded Reyes this month.) Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here “It was a time of change here [at TBWA], and I was thinking about what to do with the next portion of my career,” Ferguson said. “It’s a really different shape and set of problems that I will have. I think the creative brain feeds on that. I’m excited for a refresh.” Ferguson is the first CCO for Special’s New York office, which opened in 2022. She starts May 20 and will report to Special U.S. CEO Kelsey Hodgkin. Special U.S.’s biggest client is Uber Eats, for which it’s done a number of Super Bowl campaigns. The agency does mostly project work in the U.S. Its upcoming campaigns include work for Uber Eats, Uber, Live Nation, Fox Sports, Blackstone, Masimo, Ulyssia and Roblox. Ferguson said she was drawn to the challenge of helping to grow Special’s presence in the key New York market. The global independent agency network has about 50 people in its other U.S. office, in Los Angeles, as well other offices in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Hodgkin, formerly the agency’s chief strategy officer who was promoted to CEO in January, said Ferguson’s creative pedigree speaks for itself. She added that Ferguson will also be a good fit with what she termed Special’s “cultural values.” Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here Those include the freedom of independence from holding company strictures, as well as Special’s partnership model, where Hodgkin is the nominal leader but the U.S. partners all tend to have equal sway. (The other U.S. partners include Dave Horton and Matthew Woodhams-Roberts, co-CCOs in L.A., and Vic Palumbo, chief production officer.) “I think there is a way to create an agency that is a bit more values and creative oriented and isn’t just putting money and growth at the top of everything,” Hodgkin said. “When we met Amy at the end of last year, I think from the get-go we all felt she was someone who embodied both sides of that story [creativity and values] that are a real differentiator for us.” Along with the Uber Eats work in the U.S., notable recent creative efforts from the Special network include “The Last Performance,” a campaign from Special New Zealand in which characters killed in a TV drama returned at the end of the episodes each week to pitch Partners Life insurance. That campaign won the Health & Wellness Grand Prix at Cannes in 2023 and was shortlisted in the Titanium Lions contest. Special New Zealand also made the Effie Awards list of most effective agencies in 2022. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

Special U.S. hires New York chief creative officer from TBWA

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