Sign In

Josh Taylor Dadds

Group Strategy Director at Special New Zealand

Josh Taylor-Dadds is the Group Strategy Director at Special New Zealand, an advertising agency.14 He was promoted to this position in May 2023 along with Jolene D'Souza, bringing strong strategic expertise to the role.2 Taylor-Dadds has experience working in marketing teams and creative agencies in both New Zealand and the UK.6

In his current role, Josh has contributed to Special New Zealand winning 'Agency of the Year' at the New Zealand Effie Awards.8 He is actively involved in the advertising industry, recently participating as a jury member for Creative Strategy at the Dubai Lynx awards.78

Taylor-Dadds regularly shares insights and updates about his work on LinkedIn. His recent posts have covered topics such as creating "thumb-stopping ideas" and innovative beer packaging solutions.35 As of February 2025, he continues to be an influential figure in New Zealand's advertising and marketing landscape.

Highlights

Jul 1 · linkedin

"AI was by far the topic of the week, and for the most part all of the speakers were pitching it hard to us" I read this today in Cannes review by a Creative here in NZ.

It is a perfect summation of everything I've read out of the festival this year. It is also the perfect prompt for a questionnaire I've been working on with a super smart group of planners as part of APG's AI Working Group.

The group was established to understand the impact, harness the power and mitigate the limitations as we all grapple to get to grips with AI.

The future of AI is undeniable, but amidst the fervent 'pitching' how much are we all using it today...right now?

What will change for the better? What will not? Do we worry about the impact on bias? or quality? Is it 'good enough' to manage both those things? And whose responsibility is it to ensure policy is created and upheld?

It's super short survey (6 minutes, 5.5 if you've had a coffee) and it'll make a huge difference to what we produce as a group...and I'll love you forever if you help us out by filling it in...even longer if you share it.

Sarah Newman Tom Roach Jessica Lovell Anna Bulman Franky Farmer Rory Natkiel Christina Lemieux Kerensa Ayivor Ruairi Curran Tom Morton Maximilian Weigl Ben Thomas

Nov 6 · linkedin

Just over a week ago we went for a quiet beer on a Thursday and walked away with EFFIE AGENCY OF THE YEAR.

It was an incredible night for Special New Zealand and the culmination of a huge amount of work.

As you’d expect, we were super chill about the whole thing.

Congrats to the best strat crew - Rory Gallery Jolene D'Souza Ursula Nichols Amy Willemse Bethany Omeri, our awesome clients and all the other legends we get to play with.

Most Effective Agency of the Year ⚡️ Grand Effie ⚡️ 4 Gold ⚡️ 5 Silver ⚡️ 4 Bronze ⚡️

Tony Bradbourne Michael Redwood Heath Lowe John Marshall Scott Coldham Callum Walker Kelly Grindle lisa fedyszyn Stu Mallarkey Matt Barnes Mark Forgan

Related Questions

What are Josh Taylor-Dadds' key achievements at Special New Zealand?
How did Josh Taylor-Dadds transition from the UK to New Zealand?
What strategies has Josh Taylor-Dadds implemented at Special New Zealand?
Can you share examples of Josh Taylor-Dadds' work in marketing?
What makes Josh Taylor-Dadds' approach to group strategy unique?
Josh Taylor Dadds
Josh Taylor Dadds, photo 1
Josh Taylor Dadds, photo 2
Add to my network

Location

Auckland, New Zealand