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Atomic 212°
Team PROFILE
Agency Type
Media
Ownership
Publicis Groupe
tagline
Smarter, Faster, Accountable.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Rory Heffernan
CEO
Lorraine Woods
Chief investment and operations officer
Tom Sheppard
GM data & technology
Barry O’Brien
Chairman & founder
James Dixon
Chief data officer & founder
Key Stats
Offices
Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
Headcount
180+
Gender Balance Staff
M: 35.2%
F: 64.2%
Non-binary 0.06%
Gender Balance Leaders
M: 50%
F: 50%
Client book
Client Wins
33
Client Losses
2
Client retentions
1
Largest clients
Aware Super
Bupa
GWM
Trophy Cabinet
Cairns Crocodiles
MFA Awards
Agency Scorecards report
Atomic 212°’s year began with a new band manager. Instead of flying solo, the band joined French holding group Publicis Groupe.
The outfit, founded by industry legend Barry O’Brien and led by chief executive Rory Heffernan, had the sort of year most agencies dream about, whether owned by a holding company or operating as an indie.
Atomic won the most pitches in market, a staggering 33, of varying sizes and scopes. This included bringing Tennis Australia, Magnum, the Rugby World Cup 2027 and Paypal into the fold. Atomic delivered an 80 per cent pitch conversion rate and outperformed most of its competitors.
Growth also came through deeper partnerships with existing clients, including GWM, Monash IVF, O’Brien Glass and Flinders University, where its expanded data and research capabilities moved the agency into more strategic, advisory roles across analytics, research and market mix modelling.
Other highlights included Atomic 212° joining Inclusively Made as a foundation partner, becoming their first media agency partner to advocate for disability inclusion in advertising and production.
The band also continued its long‑standing partnership with Charles Darwin University to create pathways for emerging talent in the Northern Territory, with three scholarships awarded this year to support students from diverse backgrounds.
The 2025 album ended with national recognition, including Barry O’Brien’s induction into the MFA Hall of Fame, and a Bronze Cairns Crocodile for Bupa’s ‘Return of Imagination’.
Hightlights reel
Tennis Australia: '2026 United Cup'
The strategic approach was shaped around three key dimensions.
Firstly, targeting was focused on tennis fans, eliminating wastage and concentrating investment on audiences where genuine intent could be built.
Atomic also honed in on market precision, directing investment to Perth and Sydney – the host cities. Within those markets, the agency used SONAR (its market research platform) to identify the specific regions and cultural communities most likely to attend. This included uncovering cultural pockets aligned with the competing nations’ teams, enabling us to connect with audiences for whom national representation created an added incentive to attend.
Then, Atomic212 focused on active attendance. While some audiences were aware of the event, they lacked a compelling reason to go. Through creative media, it centred on giving tennis fans a way to engage with the event beyond simply knowing about it, expanding reach through live-sport adjacent environments and trusted voices across Sydney and Perth to build credibility and drive consideration.
The campaign’s attendance grew 13 per cent YoY, its TV viewership grew 33 per cent YoY and it contributed to the 10 per cent increase in overall attendance of the summer of tennis.
Hightlights reel
Victoria University
Atomic212 rebalanced the media mix, with a stronger emphasis on branding and a focus on student benefits led to Victoria University being named as the biggest increase in application growth in the country and great results.
Overall application starts are up by 20 per cent over three years and there were 2800 more applications than the previous year.
Atomic 212°'s take on 2025
What a year of profound recognition for Atomic 212°.
Acquired by the world’s top-performing holding group in Publicis before topping the new business charts as verified by TrinityP3 and renewing our partnership with our foundation client Origin.
We’re incredibly proud of the partnerships and work that we are delivering alongside our clients – from our first Summer of Tennis with Tennis Australia, to the relaunch of COLORBOND with BlueScope Steel, to helping Victoria University become the fastest-growing in the country.
Our people also grew as we welcomed a raft of new faces and promoted many of our star performers.
Lastly our product took huge strides forward by harnessing new tech to deliver further advantage to our clients and people. Smarter, Faster, Accountable indeed.
Asier Carazo, chief strategy officer
Carazo led the way in product evolution, devising new platforms and services that would further assist Atomic 212°’s clients and team find growth in 2025.
If we were a band, we'd be...
Tame Impala
‘Let It Happen’
Atomic 212° embraces experimentation and change, trusting smart strategy to turn evolution into growth.
Atomic 212°
B&T's Agency Score
8.7
Previous season: 8.5
Critic's Comment
“Atomic 212° had a stellar 2025, winning the most accounts out of any media agency. Under new ownership the agency is going from strength to strength.”