In the June-August 2026 issue of NZ Marketing magazine, we asked agency founders to tell us the story behind why they started their agency, their favourite thing, what they’ve learned and their best advice.
Special
- Founders: Tony Bradbourne, Heath Lowe and Rob Jack
- Year founded: 2008
Tell us the story behind founding your agency.
Heath and I [Tony] first met in Amsterdam where we were working on a bunch of clients like Nike, Adidas, Volvo… we caught up again in NZ a few years later and started talking about a new type of creative agency. One we couldn’t see here at the time. One that broke down the silos between comms and design. And was led by ambition and craft. And so we decided to start one.
We called it Special because we wanted that to be the benchmark of the work and results we would deliver every day.
Our first major campaign encapsulated everything we were founded for – a breakthrough piece of work that catapulted a business forward, smashed all business metrics, won 3 Effies, a Cannes Grand Prix, had the godfather of punk (Iggy Pop) at the centre of it and got written about in Vanity Fair. Special? Yeah.
What’s your favourite thing about running your own agency?
The pure potential of what you can achieve every day.
Whether it’s getting Vanilla Ice to remind you to get your beers out of the freezer, getting a different Kiwi to wake up the world with a different film every day – for an entire year, driving Greyhound adopts with a fashion show or with a little help from the Simpsons, or enticing the Michelin Guide to come all the way to New Zealand.
To deciding to open an office in Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Wellington, New York, London or Tokyo; believing there’s a better way and we can change the way people look at a brand, charity, problem or behaviour for the better; choosing to have the best offices, the best culture; even creating our own typeface – Special Gothic – because we care that much about craft, and presentations. So yeah, there’s a few things…
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned?
Ambition is 95% of everything we do – how ambitious you are for the strategy, the creative, art direction, production, results, business, expansion – everything.
There is no place in business for average, ordinary or OK. It just does not move brands forward.
Find brilliant clients. They are rare, and they are the single most important part of the success of any platform or piece of work.
Attract brilliant people. It’s like a band, you’ve got to have the best in every position. All wanting to create the same thing.
To relentlessly innovating, evolving and striving for better.
And most importantly that… life is short, make it special.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received or given out?
- “Don’t start a company with friends”
- “Don’t open an office in Australia, no-one’s ever done it, you’ll fail”
- “If you can’t get Iggy Pop, you’ll need a plan B”
- “That’s not how you use Instagram”
- “A brief for life insurance is not a creative opportunity”
- “Why are you interesting in starting Special PR?”
We love getting advice or being told what can’t be done. It’s pure motivation.
We are very lucky to work with many brands that feel the same way. And all of our Effie Agency of the Year wins or global effectiveness titles have come as a direct result of doing what the market said couldn’t be done.
Special is a founder member of Agency Directory – find out more about them here.
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 87, June-August 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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