Special bolsters Uber APAC leadership team with senior creative hires

Special has appointed Peter Defries and Alan Wilson as regional group creative directors on Uber and Uber Eats, rounding out the agency’s leadership team for its cornerstone client across Asia-Pacific.

Defries and Wilson, a creative partnership for the past 14 years, return to Australia after nearly a decade in New York, where they were most recently executive creative directors at BBH NY.

The pair led major US accounts including Walmart, Cadillac and a suite of J.M. Smucker Company brands, earning more than 30 international awards and a 2022 D&AD ranking among the world’s top 20 executive creative directors.

They join Celia Garforth and Lauren Portelli in leading Special’s expanded Uber remit, which now covers ANZ, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan from the agency’s Sydney office.

The partnership has delivered award-winning campaigns including a Gold Effie for “Get Almost Almost Anything” and recognition as Campaign Asia’s Agency Partnership of the Year across multiple markets.

The team also supports Uber Japan’s growth from a dedicated on-the-ground offering in Tokyo, with Uber recently named Campaign Asia Brand of the Year.

“We’ve been massive fans of Special for some time now,” Wilson said.

“Watching from the other side of the world, we were consistently blown away by the breakthrough work they produced, especially with Uber and Uber Eats. So when the opportunity arose to be part of it, we couldn’t say no.”

Defries said leaving New York wasn’t a decision taken lightly, but the change to join Special was too good to pass.

“The chance to come home and join this extremely talented team, pushing creative boundaries at a world-class level right here in our own backyard, was simply too good to pass up,” Defries said.

Tom Martin, partner and chief creative officer at Special Australia, said the team was “pumped” to have Pete and Alan boomerang back to Australia.

“We’re at our best when we bring together top-tier humans who get what it takes to make great work and do it with care, craft and real collaboration.”