Special PR has appointed Natasha D’Souza as Senior PR Director to lead the agency’s lifestyle and consumer clients. The hire comes as Special PR bolsters its offering, launching three sectors – Lifestyle, Consumer Business, and Social & Influence.
D’Souza joins from the Thrive PR & Communications Senior Management team, where she led major global accounts, including Airbnb, LEGO, and Afterpay.
Most notably, she worked on Airbnb’s ‘Hobbiton’ – a bookable experience allowing Airbnb customers to book an overnight stay at Hobbiton. She also led the launch of various LEGO campaigns, including bringing giant LEGO bauble builds to Aotea Square for Christmas in 2022.
At Special PR, D’Souza will be tasked with leading the agency’s lifestyle offering, team recruitment, and development. Key lifestyle accounts include Jaguar Land Rover, Tourism New Zealand, Trade Me, Tourism Fiji, and Hawke’s Bay Tourism and several exciting, large-scale projects expected to launch next month.
“I am joining Special PR at a very exciting time. We are expanding at an impressive rate, with some brilliant projects in the pipeline. I’ve always admired the team at Special and their commitment to delivering bold and progressive work that naturally demands attention and talkability. I’m thrilled to officially be a part of this talented group.”, said D’Souza.
General Manager of Special PR, Kelly Grindle, added “I couldn’t be more excited to have Natasha in our corner. She has invaluable experience and will massively impact what we can offer as an agency.”
“As we expand and onboard more new and exciting clients, we want to ensure that our services remain world-class – so reorganising the agency to help us grow is a logical step.”
