2025 AGENCY SCORECARDS
Born
Team PROFILE
Agency type
Creative agency
Ownership
Independent
tagline
Great brands are born from great stories
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Jenny Lennon
TEAM CAPTAIN
David Coupland
Strategy Director
Scott Wrightson
Design Director
Thea Hayes
Creative
Kerryn Miller
Creative
KEY STATS
offices
Sydney (Adelaide opened in '25)
HEADCOUNT
12, including 4 freelancer
gender balance
Total: 75% Female, 25% Male. Leadership:50% Female, 50% male
CLIENT WINS
19
CLIENT RETENTIONS
N/A
LARGEST CLIENTS
G'day Group
Unity Bank
Unyoked
TROPHY CABINET
B&T Awards
1
B&T's season report
Born may have started the year as a quiet contender, but by December, it had proven that it belonged in the big leagues. Taking home B&T’s Emerging Agency of the Year trophy (we understand Born won another Emerging Agency of the Year title, too). Over its first full year as an agency, showed sharp creative execution, strong new business success and was disciplined in building the foundations of its business.
Over the course of the year, the agency grew from three staff to 12 and tripled its revenue. It picked up 19 mainly project-based clients. Among those the headlines include beating a “major” agency on a pitch for MaxiNutrition to globally reposition the brand (something of a specialty for the agency with its focus on brand stories). It also won UX/UI and brand work for Laser Clinics and Mitsubishi. It also signed a long-term partnership with residential developer Pacifiq Communities.
Born didn’t lose any clients in 2024 and expand its retainer-based work with Unity Bank and G’Day Parks, its two longest-standing clients. It also made some initial steps into media planning and buying with Unyoked.
Creatively, the agency continued its emotive, eye-catching work. Flight Club’s ‘Unleash Your Inner Dart-ist’ was a well-placed, high-energy play into Aussie pub culture. Unyoked’s ‘Human Nature Needs Nature’ platform expanded beyond Australia, and the G’day Parks campaign with Robert Irwin helped reposition the brand for younger families and drove visibility through earned media. It has also made strides on the tech side, launching AI initiative Born Labs.
Born has tied its colours to the mast when it comes to its staff offering too. It’s salary transparent, has a remarkably diverse cast in the office and strenuously sticks to its 9-5 working arrangement—something entirely anathema to most small indies. It also continued its Born This Way “lo-bono” program for LGBTQI+ businesses.
All in all, Born’s journey in 2024 was very impressive. With a clear creative identity, values-driven leadership and a growing client base, Born is most certainly one to watch for the coming seasons.
campaign HIGHLIGHTS REEL
Flight Club – Unleash your inner Dart-ist.
This campaign really showcased Born’s creative spirit and ambition. It created 30 bespoke pieces of art, painstakingly reinterpreting classic masterpieces, all reimagined with darts. The Mona Lisa? Holding darts. The girl with a pearl earring? Looking back at darts. Each piece of classic artwork transformed, much like darts itself, into something unexpected and new.
Unyoked – Human nature needs nature.
Unyoked was Born’s first ever client, and the Human Nature needs Nature campaign has become defining part of the agency’s first couple of years.
The idea was to bring nature in to the darkest parts of urban lives, and in doing so the campaign appeared in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Auckland as well as on the London Underground.
G’day Parks – Many sides of Robert
The Many Sides of Robert was a TVC concept developed and pitched as an extension to G’Day Parks’ partnership with Robert Irwin, and rolled out across TV, BVOD and OOH media—a fun, authentic expression of the G’day Parks product with a national icon.
Born's ANALYSIS
2024 was the year Born grew up. We tripled our revenue, moved into our first office, made key senior and operations hires, and expanded into UX/UI with national brands like Laser Clinics and Mitsubishi.
We won MaxiNutrition in a competitive pitch against major agencies, launched Human Nature Needs Nature for Unyoked in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and were reappointed by Unity Bank after helping them jump from the 24th to 4th fastest-growing bank.
Our reputation continued to build, with 40 per cent of new business coming from inbound leads.
We also deepened our values, beginning the development of Born Labs (our proprietary AI initiative), and continuing our Born This Way Lo-Bono program for LGBTQI+ businesses.
Most importantly, we kept the culture intact: every win felt earned, every project felt meaningful, and every person on the team felt part of it.
Born remains new, but this year, it became real.
mvp award
Scott Wrightson, Design Director
Scott is a generational talent in brand design. We honestly think that.
B&T's agency score
Born: 8.5
Previous season’s score: N/A
COACH's COMMENT:
Born had a breakout season in 2024. It’s still early days for the agency but its work is strong and the team is smart. We’ll be watching keenly in 2025.
