Special Welcomes Amy Ferguson as US Partner and Creative Lead of New York Office

Special U.S. is expanding their U.S. partnership team. The global independent agency has brought Amy Ferguson on to be a US partner and chief creative officer of its growing New York office. Amy will join Special in May.

Amy comes to the agency from Omnicom held TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, where she spent the last six years as both executive creative director, and more recently, chief creative officer. In her new role, she will join the Special U.S. partners, alongside CEO Kelsey Hodgkin, co-CCOs of the LA office, Matthew Woodhams-Roberts and Dave Horton, and Chief Production Officer, Vic Palumbo. 

Amy will creatively lead the Special New York office and said the idea of joining an independent agency and growing something from the ground up drew her to the opportunity. “As I thought about how I wanted to spend the next part of my career, the idea of growing and helping to shape this fiercely independent and creatively driven agency was very appealing,” said Amy. “I’ve always admired the craft and bravery of the work that Special does and as I meet more and more people from the company, I feel an instant connection and kinship. Kind humans who believe in creativity and want to make amazing work in a nurturing and fun culture. It’s everything I love about this job and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and dig in.”

“Special is a deeply creative agency, and our commitment is to continue to grow and invest in our US offering with leadership that prioritises creative excellence alongside our values-oriented culture,” CEO Kelsey Hodgkin said of Amy. “New York is an incredibly important market for our industry so we have spent a long time searching for exactly the right leader. In Amy we have found someone who we are beyond excited about. Her creative achievements speak for themselves, while her values are aligned to ours - our shared determination to build something that is both a creative powerhouse while also a fun, kind, brave and open place to work.”  

Amy will work alongside Woodhams-Robers and Horton, the co-CCOs of Special LA who have been with Special US since its inception in 2020 and lead the Uber Eats and Fox Sports accounts among others, Their work includes the recent viral Super Bowl campaign featuring Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and The Beckhams, which ranked #4 on the USA Today ad meter. 

While at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, Amy was at the helm of numerous creative hits. Adidas’ Billie Jean King Your Shoes, an impressive creative streak on MTN Dew, the recent global rebrand for Hilton and the internet-smashing 10 Minute TikTok aka 'The Ad You Stay In.' Prior to TBWA\Chiat\Day, she spent several years at Mullen Lowe, helping to open their New York office and run the JetBlue account. Ferguson’s work has been recognised across awards including Cannes Lions, the One Show, D&AD, the Effie’s, the Clios and more. She’s been named an Adweek Creative 100, Business Insider’s Most Creative Women, and was most recently one of Campaign US’s 40 over 40 honourees. This June, she will serve as president of the Cannes Lions Social and Influencer Jury.

Since Special launched in New Zealand and expanded to Australia, it has become Asia Pacific’s leading independent agency, producing work for clients such as Uber Eats, Pepsi, Virgin Australia and ANZ bank. In 2021 and 2023 it was recognized as Global Creative Agency of the Year by Campaign UK. WARC recently ranked Special the #1 most effective Independent network in the world.