Welcome to My Net Worth, our regular column on the lives and motivations of our country’s top business, legal and political people in their own words.
Michael Redwood is one of New Zealand’s most influential advertising industry executives. In 2008, he bought a stake in Auckland-based independent agency Special Group, taking on the role of managing partner. He and co-founders Tony Bradbourne and Heath Lowe have built the company into one of the world’s most successful creative firms. In May last year, Special was named global agency of the year by the London-based international advertising, media and marketing magazine Campaign. Before starting Special Group, Redwood worked for top creative agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and Colenso BBDO. The Scot moved here in 1990 to work in the New Zealand Listener magazine’s advertising department. He has an MA (Hons) in history and economics from the University of Glasgow, and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde. He lives in Auckland with his wife, Melanie. The couple have a daughter, Lucy.
I was born and grew up in Glasgow, which is a fantastic city. But back then, it had a deserved reputation for being a bit rough. My dad was a Scottish Episcopal priest, and I was born in a church house in Bridgeton in the city centre, a really industrial part of Glasgow, which once was called the worst slum in Europe.
My parents decided it was a good idea to get their three nearly-teenaged boys away from the big city, so we moved to a small town in the Highlands called Callander. I actually had quite a Kiwi-like upbringing – lots of mountains and lakes, and a real outdoor life. At school, I was an adequate student; the most common theme on my report cards was I was easily distracted.
My parents were very progressive and I didn’t have a conservative religious upbringing. The Anglican Church in South Africa, with the likes of Desmond Tutu, were essentially the resistance against apartheid. My dad was involved in the anti-apartheid movement and we’d host activists in the house. It was a very stimulating childhood — we always had a household full of books, art, and music.
Michael Redwood at The Listener in 1990.
One of the prerequisites for enjoying a career in the advertising industry is an insatiable curiosity about how the world works, how consumers and people think, and different trends. I think I left home with a very healthy level of interest in how the world works.
I was quite naive upon leaving school, and did an arts degree, majoring in history. I was drawn to the creative industries. I eventually got into the UK cinema sector, working for an outfit called The Rank Organisation, which owned Pinewood Studios and the Odeon cinema chain. My first job there was running a cinema in the north of England — not exactly what I bought into.
I later did an MBA, and a friend and classmate on my course was a Kiwi. He knew that I wanted to go into publishing and advertising, and saw a job at the New Zealand Listener and faxed it to me. I flew out in March 1990 and thought I’d stay in NZ for a couple of years, make a mark at the Listener, and use that to climb the ladder in the UK. But, 32 years later, I’m still here.
My proudest achievement is building an international business over the past 13 years with Tony and Heath. When we were named creative agency of the year by Campaign last year, it was hugely rewarding. In New Zealand, you’re often the last outpost of a global multinational. But we were able to do it in reverse and take our brand to the world.
We’re really bad at celebrating, but we are planning an event called Specialpalooza, flying all of our staff to Queenstown. Covid has gotten in the way, but it will happen eventually.
You always have ups and downs in the industry. There will always be things you look back upon and think you could have done better. But I think of the old Sid Vicious line from My Way, “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but too few to mention”. I don’t like to reflect on regrets, because in the grand scheme of things, it’s been great.
I relax and manage stress with physical exercise. About 10 years ago, we started twice-weekly boot camps at Special at 6.30am every Tuesday and Thursday. My wife, Melanie, and I also love long walks. That sort of exercise is a great counterbalance to intense mental activity.
I’m very fortunate in New Zealand to have married into a large extended whānau. So we have quite active weekends — my wife is one of five siblings. We have a great family scene, which definitely keeps me grounded.
In the next decade, we want to make Special a household name in New Zealand. We also want to make it a highly successful Kiwi company on the global stage.
In the next few years, I’d like to do a bit more travelling. Having come to live in New Zealand in 1990 as a poor young man, I feel there’s a lot of travelling around Europe I still haven’t done. So that’s what we aspire to. I’d like to get back to that sense of curiosity. There are still swathes of Britain I’ve never seen.
As told to Daniel Dunkley.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
