Dave Bowman and Matty Burton have been lured to The Special Group Australia.

The Special Group hasn’t been in Australia long. It launched here in June. It hasn’t been in existence very long. It launched in New Zealand in 2007.

Dave Bowman and Matty Burton have taken a punt that it’s going to be around for a while yet. They’ve just resigned from Whybin\TBWA, where they are joint executive creative directors. In three months, they will join chief executive officer, Lindsey Evans, at The Special Group in Sydney as founding creative partners with an equity stake. Evans left TBWA\UK where he was group president to start up The Special Group Australia.

Bowman and Burton have been a creative twosome for almost 20 years. They’ve worked at Droga5 New York, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and Whybin for the last four. They also worked at Whybin from 1998 – 2004.

Behind their list of ad awards is the idea that “a brand is made up of every thing it does, everything it doesn’t do, everything it says and everything that people say about it. They basically believe that everything is advertising.” And that list of awards includes 40 Cannes Lions  – 11 Gold, two Titanium and one Grand Prix plus six Yellow Pencils and one Black Pencil at D&AD.

“I’ve been a big fan of the guys behind Special Group since we first worked together in New Zealand a decade ago. So, to now have the chance to become a part of their fiercely independent and agile creative offering is incredibly exciting. Particularly at this point in time when the landscape is changing so quickly and radically, agility and a flexible structure will prove to be a valuable asset. Special Group also share the same entrepreneurial spirit that we do and that many of the most interesting clients and brands do too. We can’t wait to get stuck in,” Bowman commented.