B&T's Agency Scorecard: CHEP

KEY PLAYERS

CHEP Network

Full-Service

Owned By

Clemenger Group, Part of Omnicom

Team Captain

Lee Leggett

Leadership Team

Gavin McLeod

Chief creative Officer

Lilian Sor

Chief Strategy Officer

Mark Gretton

Chief Technology Officer

Anna Cherry

Chief Media Officer

STATS

headcount

375

client wins

4

client Retentions

N/A

THREE LARGEST CLIENTS

Samsung

Telstra

Mazda

TROPHY CABINET

mfa Awards

Best Innovation in Media – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

Best Use of Technology – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

WARC

#1 Australian Agency, Creative 100

Cannes Lions

Grand Prix – Social & Influencer – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

Silver – Social & Influencer – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

Silver – Direct – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

Bronze – Media – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

B&T Awards

Best Digital Campaign – “Flipvertising”, Samsung

Best Use of Social Media – “(un)Geddes”, Karicare

Best Video Campaign – “The Jewellers”, Michael Hill

Best Digital Transformation of the Year

CHEP Network had a strong performance in 2023, delivering good results across its key service areas. The agency’s revenue reached $78.5 million with total billings of $206 million while managing $108 million in media billings by the end of the year. Creative services led the charge, accounting for 45 per cent of its fee split, followed by technology (21 per cent), media (17 per cent), and production (17 per cent).

During the year, it secured major accounts including the University of Sydney’s media account and Spirit of Tasmania and Powercor’s creative — all three on a retainer basis. It did lose IKEA’s creative, however.

It also lost its place on Telstra’s panel of agencies, along with The Monkeys and DDB. Telstra had been CHEP’s second-largest client and worked with the telco across brand strategies, customer value propositions, brand identity creation, customer experience, one-to-one and direct response communications, events and everything in between. It continues to partner with Telstra on the Best of Business Awards.

During what the agency described as a year of “hard change,” CHEP’s work spoke for itself. Its team created some very memorable campaigns for the likes of Samsung and the School Strike 4 Climate. Its powerful (and slightly terrifying) work on sun safety for Queensland Health saw it awarded B&T’s campaign of the month.

CHEP had a banner year for awards receiving numerous global accolades, including four B&T Awards for Best Digital Campaign, Best Use of Social Media, Best Video Campaign and Best Digital Transformation of the Year. CHEP was also recognised as the #1 Australian agency globally by WARC.

The agency expanded its capabilities by incorporating advanced technologies, including generative AI tools, to enhance client services and internal efficiency. It also welcomed new leadership, including CEO Lee Leggett and chief media officer Anna Cherry, and promoted Thomas Penn to managing director of Melbourne. CHEP continued to bolster its full-service offering across creative, media, tech, and production, maintaining a well-rounded service portfolio.

The team maintained its dedication to diversity with a balanced senior leadership structure (50 per cent female and 50 per cent male). It also made huge strides toward equal pay, with gender pay equity improving significantly from a 30.1 per cent gap in 2022 to just 0.7 per cent in 2023.

CHEP'S ANALYSIS OF 2023

“2023 was a year of change.

There was good change. And hard change. But change is part of CHEP’s DNA.

We’ve always shoved the status quo out the door. Always found it uncomfortable to be too comfortable. Always embraced a challenge, the new, the out-of-the-blue.

This year we’ve grown and morphed and kept producing magic. We’re an agency that knows exactly who it is. And where it is uniquely placed to go next.

Always restless, always reinvesting, always pushing to stay one step ahead of it all.

We’ve always built, expanded and flexed our capabilities to stay ahead of the game. Everything we’ve done before has set us up to embrace change now.”

MVP: Rosie Willett , Strategy Assistant

“Rosie joined CHEP’s Morphosis graduate program in 2023 and quickly stood out. She has since become a key member of the strategy team, where she focuses on brand planning and research.”

Agency Score

7

COACH'S COMMENT:

CHEP delivered a sound performance in 2023, performing admirably at awards categories and winning some good clients along the way. The Telstra loss will have hurt, though.