B&T Awards: Agency Of The Year Winners 2024
Advertising Agency
Howatson+Company
Howatson+Company might be the most precocious agency in the land at the moment. It will turn four next year, but despite its tender age, the eponymous founder and his remarkably talented team have already left an indelible mark on the Australian advertising landscape.
In 2024, the agency built on its strong foundations by welcoming 17 new clients, including the likes of the ABC, Dan Murphy’s and Microsoft. All told, the agency grew its revenue by nearly half over the judging period—a staggering feat in a tight market.
That extra cash and swelled client roster enabled Howatson+Company to hire 38 new staff members and move its Sydney office from slightly pokey digs to a flashy new building slightly further up the road in Surry Hills. The agency, however, is rapidly approaching what it calls the “intimacy inflection point” of 200 staff. It only has space for around 60 more—so get your CVs in, stat.
But it isn’t the office, the financial success, or the virtuoso pitching team that sets Howatson+Company apart. It’s the work.
Its ‘I’m Dying Inside’ for Modibodi was an unmitigated success, showing a broadness and boldness of thought that few others would be capable of imitating. ‘Touch’ for Mastercard was a triumph. ‘Always Free, Always Entertaining’ for the ABC was hilarious. Its personalisation work for Dan Murphy’s, while less flashy than a TVC, delivered incredible metrics for booze retailers.
Such a scope of work with such consistent quality is seldom seen.
Branding, Design & CX Agency
BMF
BMF is the spark that’s lighting up the branding world with bold, design-driven transformations. This agency isn’t just following trends; it’s defining the future. This year, it dialled in on creating designs that not only turned heads but inspired change—whether that’s influencing behaviours or aligning with long-term brand visions. Mixing creativity with sharp strategy, BMF crafted “long ideas” that go beyond the quick wins, setting brands up for lasting impact.
With over 17,500 design assets and ten new clients this year alone, BMF is on a roll. The team has grown by 18 talented minds, pushing creative boundaries even further. It also launched ‘Innovation BMFTR’, a powerhouse focused on merging tech with human-centred design. BMF’s diverse talent pipeline also shines thanks to collaborations with the likes of D&AD Shift.
BMF’s designs go beyond aesthetics; they’re about making brands unforgettable and ready for what’s next. Creativity, innovation and a flair for the future—this agency has it all.
Direct Response / Performance Agency
Sparro by Brainlabs
When brothers Cameron and Morris Bryant first started Sparro in 2013 as a side hustle, they could never have imagined the indie would grow to 118 digital marketers, data scientists and creatives and get acquired by a global giant.
In January 2024, Brainlabs acquired Sparro at a time when the agency was producing award-winning work.
During the judging period, Sparro worked with the McGrath Foundation to exceed fundraising targets by selling virtual seats to the Pink Test, raising $6.5 million in donations, up 22 per cent year-on-year.
Sparro used VFX to digitally colour one of the SCG’s iconic blue seats pink for every virtual ticket sold. The McGrath Foundation sold 328,903 Pink Seat tickets. That’s enough to fund 46 McGrath Breast Care Nurses for a year and support 4600 families affected by breast cancer.
For another client, Greencross Vets, Sparro helped decrease unbooked minutes by 17 per cent, which is more than 5,000 hours less vet time wasted, while the agency has also run successful work with the likes of Domino’s, Netflix and Bing Lee.
Sparro’s core cultural value is that ‘we grow together’ and it prides itself on having Australia’s first in-agency executive development coach, gender-neutral parental leave, personal leave and mental health leave days, and a work-from-anywhere policy. The agency has a gender pay gap of six per cent and 100 per cent of staff received pay rises. Yet more proof that Brainlabs was onto a winner by backing this Aussie digital agency success story.
Emerging Agency
Born
Born has been on a truly remarkable journey. Less than two years ago the agency founded by Jenny Lennon and David Coupland was operating out of a library, sending cold emails to clients. Now it’s in a dedicated office on Crown Street in Sydney’s Surry Hills housing its seven staff.
Over the judging period, its revenue nearly tripled year-on-year following a succession of challenger brand wins. It picked up Bare Funerals in a competitive pitch and produced its first-ever TVC, as well as some out-of-home activations that were, if you’ll pardon the pun, to die for. Born deepened its relationship with Unity Bank, repositioning the brand as the ‘Bank that Works for Workers’, redesigning its website and taking over its digital marketing.
Born also started working with the likes of WikiCamps, Spring Bay Mill, Flight Club, Caleb & Brown, Maveri, Airrobe, Arrive Collaborative and Cybersquad. Its work for Flight Club, in particular, demonstrated a clarity of thought and showed delightfully restrained but clever creative that would raise an eyebrow and start to curl a smile—no small feat for an agency in its tender years.
But its work for insurance brand Butter and G’Day Parks (featuring national nanna favourite Robert Irwin) has truly put the agency on the map. It’s impressive, eye-catching and, above all, delivers results. Butter saw its revenue climb more than six-fold while the campaign was active. Best of all, everyone’s out of the office by 5pm. When can we start?
Experiential / Promotional Agency Presented by Displaywise
Akcelo
Akcelo is at the forefront of creating powerful and next-level experiences for the world’s biggest brands, consistently taking up space in the activations world by creating unforgettable and high-impact work.
From building the Suntory Extreme Vending Machine that was the #1 most engaged activation at SXSW to creating a Macca’s ‘Fry-Thru’ for FIFA Women’s World Cup in Sydney that welcomed 250,000 guests, Akcelo knows how to deliver signature brand moments.
The Macca’s work in particular, has been close to transformational for the fast food giant. It redefined the McDonald’s service culture, recruited 26,000 staff in three months with the ‘Mates Make It Macca’s’ recruitment platform, built the most engaged and rewarding loyalty program in the country (outside of those pesky airlines), turned its Monopoly from a campaign into its greatest annual sales driver and delivered the ‘FryThru’ activation at the Women’s World Cup reached 35 million people, saw 250,000 in-person guests pass through its doors and sell more than 80,000 medium fries.
In the past 12 months, the independent agency has won impressive new businesses across major global and local brands, including Red Bull, McDonald’s, TikTok, SPC, Asahi, Tinder, Carlton United Breweries, PepsiCo, Gatorade and PlayStation, to name a few.
The agency is “Aussie-born and fiercely independent”, with serious reach across a multitude of experiences for its clients.
Independent Agency - More Than 50 Employees
Akcelo
Akcelo’s positioning is bold. It told our judges to think beyond adverts. Instead, it believes that brands are now in the “experience era”.
By that estimation, some brands might be stuck in the past but Akcelo has brought some seriously heavy hitters along with it for the ride. The likes of Red Bull, McDonald’s, TikTok, SPC, Asahi, CUB, Tinder, PepsiCo, Gatorade and PlayStation have all enlisted the decade-old agency to deliver campaigns and executions.
Akcelo’s brand experience services model spans digital products, services, platforms and commerce; physical brand and spatial interactions; and strategy, creative, social and content. That’s a remit that many would perhaps consider the preserve of the largest holding companies, but Akcelo remains fiercely independent and has grown rapidly over the last decade and now boasts offices in Melbourne, Vancouver and London in addition to its Sydney mothership.
Its work for Great Northern, for instance, reignited the tired BCF giveaway with a digital experience that saw huge increases in sales (tough in a crowded and declining beer market) and unheard of engagement times.
Akcelo doesn’t stop at powerful work. It champions its team, which has a 50:50 gender ratio across its department heads and a 15 per cent employee growth rate year-on-year. The agency is serious about championing the environment, too, achieving certified carbon-neutral status in April 2023.
The agency’s ‘Personal Akceloration Program’ supports the growth of its staff, including development budgets and horizon plans for each team member, plus an additional $5,000 training budget for rising stars. Additionally, its DEI Action Plan prioritises unconscious bias training, ongoing pay equity assessments and regular cultural celebrations.
Independent Agency - Fewer Than 50 Employees
Bullfrog
Bullfrog doesn’t just think outside the box—it leaps out of it!
This daring independent agency is shaking up the industry with its modern, inclusive approach and isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo. Blending traditional agency expertise with advisory services, Bullfrog is ideally suited to today’s marketing landscape. Its latest venture, Habitat, opens up new creative avenues, showing that it is always a step ahead.
Championing diversity and inclusion, Bullfrog boasts a majority-female creative department and represents LGBTQI+, people of colour, and older creatives. Initiatives, like Tadpole Days for working parents and Fair Advantage for female-led start-ups, go beyond the norm, setting a standard for a truly supportive workplace. Programs like The Aunties and ‘Mums on Call’ podcasts are helping shape the industry for the better.
Bullfrog’s investment in talent shines with development programs, open business tracking, and team-building events like their internally famous Food Fights. This is an agency where people grow, innovate, and feel valued. Bullfrog’s people-first ethos and groundbreaking ideas are what make it an independent agency powerhouse.
Media Agency Presented by Audience360
EssenceMediacom
It is quite remarkable that EssenceMediacom was only established in January 2023. CEO Pippa Berlocher and her team have already proved that combining the media muscle of MediaCom with the digital and data smarts of Essence is leaving a mark on this industry.
Australia’s second-largest media agency, with more than 500 staff or ‘Essentials’, manages around $1 billion in media billings. During the judging period, it grew revenue and profit well above industry norms with a churn rate less than half of the industry average.
Navigating the inevitable complexities of merging two different companies, EssenceMediacom overhauled its executive team, processes, product, structure and people strategies to align it to its new vision for success – the Breakthrough Agency.
What also sets EssenceMediacom apart is its work.
This included a campaign with the Beetota Advocate to create a physical newspaper dedicated to making driving safer in Queensland. The agency also forged a partnership between Adidas, the Matildas’ Caitlin Foord, and The Brag Media’s dynamic musical talents Mallrat and Kwame to create ‘Back of The Net Beats’ during the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Another standout partnership tied the Australian Open and Google Pixel Pro 8, using influencers and tennis ace Rinky Hijikata to make the Google Pixel the official camera of the tournament.
Essence and Mediacom have a proud heritage, and their first year of married life could not have gone much better.
NSW Agency
Akcelo
Akcelo has had a year to remember. While its operations now span Melbourne, London and Vancouver, its best work was carried out by the team in its office in Redfern.
While often regarded as an experiential agency (and it certainly does do big, impressive brand activations) there is a lot more to Akcelo’s game. In fact, it offers digital products, services, platforms and commerce and strategy, creative, social and content.
But let’s start with its bread and butter—activations. Its ‘Fry-Thru’ for Macca’s at the Women’s World Cup in Sydney’s Tumbalong Park was an unmitigated success, receiving impressive coverage during live matches, reaching more than 30 million people and selling 80,000 medium fries. Its ‘WAIILD WEST SALOON’ for Salesforce was designed to attract C-suiters and nearly doubled the amount it targeted to get through the door.
But perhaps its work for Gatorade best demonstrated Akcelo’s scope of abilities and showcased how it could help deliver a genuinely end-to-end brand experience from top-end TVCs to performance-focused social work and real-life activations.
Thinking outside the sports drink category and considering water to be Gatorade’s greatest competitor, Akcelo hijacked run clubs, outdoor gyms and even stair challenges, activated in Sydney’s Martin Place and reinvigorated the brand. The results were certainly impressive, nearly tripling its audience reach target, growing sales by more than a quarter year-on-year and boosting household penetration by two-fifths.
But there’s more. It also works with the likes of FBI Talent on ‘LAUNCH’, a new initiative giving rising stars in the industry a chance to showcase their thinking and win invaluable education, training and coaching. It also has a progressive DEI action plan, maintains a 50:50 gender balance for leadership roles, its Sydney office runs entirely on green energy, offers a ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy, and offers 20 weeks paid parental leave for primary carers and four weeks for secondary carers. It even has Fortnightly ‘Flex Fridays’, giving all staff Friday afternoons off.
PR Agency
Eleven
Eleven is raising the bar and rewriting the rules!
This PR agency takes its “Turn it up to Eleven” mantra seriously, pushing past “good” to bring groundbreaking campaigns that resonate culturally and socially.
This year, Eleven went from making noise to driving lasting cultural impact. Adding more than ten new clients, the agency’s approach blends cultural intelligence with creative disruption, making it a go-to for brands wanting to leave a mark.
With proprietary tools such as Backslash, Edges, Disruption Index, and NEXT, Eleven is always a step ahead, sharing insights industry-wide to push innovation. Creative initiatives like “Disrupt This Wall” and their weekly “Turn it Up” sessions keep ideas fresh and the team energised.
Eleven’s campaigns, including the powerful ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: The Deforested Edition’ and the inspiring ‘Mastercard Ballkid’ showed that the team is just as much about making an impact on society as they are generating results for clients.
With a year full of innovation, growth, and employee satisfaction, Eleven is indeed turning good into greatness.
Production Company
Jack Nimble
Jack Nimble is rocking the production world with a mix of smart strategies, rapid growth, and an unwavering focus on quality and client love. In just one year, it has boosted revenue by a jaw-dropping 59 per cent, thanks to long-standing partnerships with heavyweights like Amex, eBay, Spotify and Netflix, plus exciting new clients like The Leukaemia Foundation and ASICS. It is proving that loyalty and fresh energy make a winning combo.
Jack Nimble’s approach to production isn’t just practical—it’s unforgettable. Take its viral hit ‘Station Master’ for Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, which grabbed 1.6 million views in just 48 hours. Or the refresh of the iconic World’s Greatest Shave, where it gave the brand a new look and brought in some honest, heartfelt storytelling. The result? Over $11.5 million raised and a surge in participation, showing that Jack Nimble knows how to make an impact that goes beyond screens.
But it’s not just about the work—Jack Nimble’s culture is as strong as their campaigns. With an impressive 83 per cent staff retention and a Great Place to Work Certification ranking sixth among mid-sized companies. The secret? A team-oriented, inclusive environment where creativity thrives and everyone feels part of something special. Jack Nimble is more than a production company; it’s a place where big ideas come to life, clients feel the love, and the team feels like family. In a crowded industry, Jack Nimble is truly a shining star.
QLD/Other States/Territories/NZ Agency
Special NZ
In 2014, Special became the first Kiwi agency to open up shop in Australia.
Ten years and eight additional eight offices later, Special has truly conquered the world, not only taking out Campaign’s global creative agency of the year and the Effies most effective indy network and agency, but also B&T’s top creative shop from New Zealand, Queensland and other states.
Unsurprisingly, Special has added 23 new clients, including the likes of Coca-Cola, Air New Zealand, The Warehouse Group and KFC, which helped boost its revenue by 23 per cent.
Standout work includes changing the way that Kiwis use electricity by partnering with energy company Contact to offer free energy to families with newborns.
‘Clichecodes’ helped Uber Eats win the Rugby World Cup by offering discount codes to fans whenever they saw cliches in post-match interviews.
Special benefits by being committed to diversity by design. Two-thirds of its workforce are women, including 54 per cent at the senior leadership level, and it has grown its Māori and Pasifika headcount by 12 per cent in a year.
To be named the most creative and effective agency is a first for a Southern Hemisphere shop. To merely describe the agency’s past year as ‘special’ would be an understatement of epic proportions.
Research Agency
TRA
Our industry can often feel oversaturated with research – but TRA does things differently. Through its unique business model, which integrates a venture studio and consulting practice, the research agency is committed to going above and beyond.
TRA launched a research project that supported the launch of Coopers Australian Lager, Coopers’ fastest-selling new release product for a new generation of drinkers with evolving preferences.
To address the brief, TRA identified growth opportunities by exploring cultural currents influencing younger Australian drinkers. It resulted not only in the major success of the product but also picked up accolades, including 61st ranking in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers List for 2023 and outsold major competitors like Sapporo and Coopers Mild. It saw 75 per cent growth from new customers with 10 per cent growth from existing Coopers drinkers choosing Australian Lager over Heineken or Asahi.
The agency also provided insights to the Dylan Alcott Foundation and Special Group that shaped the Shift 20 Initiative campaign, helping to raise awareness of disability representation in Australian ads.
Using survey data from over 4,000 Australians pre- and post-campaign launch, TRA tracked the impact of disability representation on brand equity and visibility to help the Shift 20 Initiative’s goal to increase representation in marketing and communications.
TRA had a busy year, picking up new business wins and client retentions from the likes of Honda Australia, Danone, Crown Resorts, Kathmandu, and TBWA Australia while retaining News Corp Australia and Sky TV, to name a few.
The agency credits its success to its people, with 97 per cent proud to work for TRA and 90 per cent saying they are given opportunities to develop skills relevant to their interests.
The agency shuts down for two hours every week so all employees can participate in learning through TRA Academy. Every employee has 46 dedicated learning hours per annum, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
VIC agency
Bullfrog
Bullfrog has had a remarkable rise since its founding in 2020. But over the last year or so, the agency has really come into its own.
Based in Melbourne’s Cremorne, the team has been seeking to redefine what it means to be an ad agency. As it told us, “the same old just doesn’t stack up”.
For instance, Bullfrog has sought to redefine the way it interacts with its clients. Its advisor/agency model gives its clients access to two senior minds to use as an extension of their team. One is a partner-level strategic lead, the other an agency lead. Together, they act as a “coordinated hit squad” to direct, approve and own the work.
It also saw the tightening market that everyone is experiencing, and rather than wringing its hands, the team built Habitat, which serves as a coalition of businesses that work together on shared topics. The model allows Bullfrog to bring together specialist core competencies to deliver more effective thinking faster while maintaining its position as the lead creative agency. As it happens, Bullfrog sits on 6 per cent of all businesses with an agency village model—showing that it is genuinely ahead of the curve with this new way of working.
The work Bullfrog is delivering continues to be impressive, spearheaded by ECD and former B&T Woman of the Year Elle Bullen. Earlier this year, the agency worked with Interpath to launch Epijoint, a new joint pain relief supplement designed for osteoarthritis sufferers—an audience that had been fed false hopes with previous, inferior products. To help solve this, it created a distinctive brand identity that didn’t dish out false claims but was quiet, confident and honest. The product sold out within six weeks.
Bullfrog also prides itself on exceptional agency culture. It’s transparent about its financials with staff. It was the first ad business to share its gender-neutral parental, fertility, and family publicly leave policies. Its flexible work policies mean that its creative team has an unheard-of 5:3 female-to-male gender split. It even operates Tadpole Days to see that the parents in its office (40 per cent, would you believe) aren’t left high-and-dry in school holidays.
