Team PROFILE
Agency type
media agency
Ownership
Independent in 2024 (Publicis acquired Atomic 212 in January 2025)
tagline
Smarter, Faster, Accountable
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Rory Heffernan
TEAM CAPTAIN
Barry O'Brien
Chairman
James Dixon
Chief Data Officer
Asier Carazo
Chief strategy officer
Lorraine Woods
Chief investment & trading officer
Tom Sheppard
GM Data & Technology
Hadrien Huneau
Head of performance & programmatic
KEY STATS
Grounds
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin
HEADCOUNT
184 (including 182 permanent staff)
gender balance
Total: 63% female
leaders: 46% female
CLIENT WINS
60 new clients, including through the acquisition of Kwpx
CLIENT RETENTIONS
5
recma compitches
A
recma profile classification
high
LARGEST CLIENTS
BUPA
GWM
Aware
TROPHY CABINET
Cairns Crocodiles
1
MFA Awards
1
B&T's season report
In 2024, Atomic 212° held onto the crown of Australia’s largest independent media agency; and in its final year as an indie, it certainly delivered.
It acquired the media division of Adelaide and Perth agency kwpx, which it had worked with for several years.
This helped grow the Atomic squad by 19 per cent year-on-year, media billings by $35 million while adding some of South Australia’s finest clients such as Coopers Brewery, Flinders University, RAA (The Royal Automobile Association) and many more.
New business and retention were strong throughout the year; the agency added dozens of new clients, such as Bluescope, GWM (Great Wall Motors), Darrell Lea and BMW & MINI New Zealand, while retaining Bupa, Origin Energy, Charles Darwin University and Sydney Water.
The agency more than doubles its annual revenue target by growing 35 per cent year-on-year.
Its diversity metrics also stack up well compared to industry peers with a near 50-50 split in female leadership, and a third from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
Atomic 212° has not just produced impressive performances on the pitch; the agency has sharpened up training and coaching for staff. The agency’s Academy 212º initiative, which offers diversified learning programs lifted learning hours across the business more than ten-fold, up from from 945 in 2023 to a huge 9,875 in 2024.
Other highlights include growing revenue across its market research tool SONAR by 700 per cent, including with BMW, Northern Territory, Victoria University, BlueScope and Bupa, while its channel planning tool has reduced baseline media planning from one day to 15 minutes.
Atomic 212° picked up silverware in the Cairns Crocodiles Awards, Campaign’s APAC Awards and the MFA Awards.
In the final quarter of the season, Atomic 212° locked in Rory Heffernan as its new captain.
Perhaps it’s the work that the club’s founder and chair, Barry O’Brien, delivered in the offseason that will prove most formative for the agency’s future. In early 2025, he sold the business to Publicis Groupe, opening a new chapter for one of the nation’s most storied independent agencies.
HIGHLIGHTS REEL
My Muscle Chef, ‘Red is the New Black’: The Ready-To-Eat Meal category has experienced high competition from weight loss brands which originally led to the expansion into this category to generate growth. We shifted our focus to the core audience and stopped investing to compete for weight loss audiences. Through this we increased awareness and consideration by 5 and 11 points respectively, drove 103 per cent of acquisition to target and delivered 122 per cent retention to target.
BMW, ‘Battery Electric Vehicle Campaign’: The BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) campaign drove brand awareness, product awareness and was able to deliver on all key metrics in Australia’s clutter EV market. BMW registered an increase in BEV sales by 160 per cent YoY. Electric models searches / impressions grew by 13 per cent, with ad click-through growing by 25 per cent, CTR by 8 per cent and leads by 68 per cent.
Bupa, ‘Good Health is Contagious’: In a flat health insurance market and during a cost-of-living crisis, Bupa’s 2024 “Good Health is Contagious” campaign used a data-driven, insight-led approach to drive market share and a 29 per cent uplift in ROI, 17 per cent YoY growth in acquisitions and a 30 per cent reduction in CPA.
Atomic 212°'s Analysis
A year that will be remembered by all of us at Atomic 212.
As of Dec 2024, Atomic 212° was Australia’s largest and fastest-growing independent media agency, thanks to another remarkable year of new business wins and our first business acquisition, capping off a significant period of growth.
Our people continued to shine bright, seen in strong client retention and scores, our own internal engagement scores and the continued progression of our service levels and product. In Research, Data & Planning we developed new proprietary tools and methodologies designed to help our clients tackle challenges and fuel growth.
All of this brought success to the awards circuit, collecting Media Agency of the Year from AdNews and the MFA Talent & Culture Award (>100) alongside a spate of awards at Campaign, and many more.
As we enter a new chapter as part of Publicis Groupe, we are incredibly proud of the work and people that have made Atomic 212° the Smarter, Faster, Accountable media agency.
mvp award
Eloise Baker - People & Culture Business Partner
Ellie is an embodiment of our values, single-handedly overhauling recruitment during our rapid expansion, and working tirelessly to bring to life the incredible initiatives of our P&C team. She’s also funny.
B&T's agency score
Atomic 212°: 8.5
COACH's COMMENT:
A high quality final season as an indie before stepping onto the pitch in holdco colours.
