Buzz, UM, Y&R, Starcom and PHD named among most innovative

Melbourne creative design agency Buzz Products has beaten big-name companies including BMW and Starcom MediaVest Group to take out third place on BRW’s 50 Most Innovative Companies 2013 list.

Sitting behind Planet Innovation and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Buzz has jumped three spots from last year’s sixth place ranking to take out third place in the coveted list.

The agency was recognised for its acclaimed Canadian Budweiser Red Lights product (pictured) which lights up whenever a hockey fans team scores. The agency is working to apply the technology to areas such as emergency services, according to the BRW profile.

Also representing the media, marketing and advertising community on the high-profile list is UM, Starcom the Y&R Group, BlueChilli, Starcom MediaVest Group, PHD and E-Web Marketing.

UM took out fifth place on the list thanks to its Fast Front Pages work for News Limited and the Australian National Preventative Health Agency’s MyQuiteBuddy app.

UM also won a place on BRW’s Best Places to Work list earlier this year.

The MyQuitBuddy app was downloaded by 7% of smokers and 39% of the app’s users are still off cigarettes six months later, which is an 800% increase on success rates of former quit smoking campaigns.

Mat Baxter, UM Australia chief executive, said: “We are particularly proud of being ranked 5^th in the new listing because driving innovation is the total essence of what we strive to achieve for all our clients.”

This ranking together with the Best Places to Work recognition demonstrates the quality and enthusiasm of the UM team right through the ranks and across all offices. It’s a great moment for us.”

To read UM’s profile by BRW click here.

In ninth place is the Y&R Group, coming in just behind digital agency BlueChilli at number eight.

PHD won 34th place while Starcom, which also made it onto last year’s list, came in at number 38.

The ranking is in recognition of ‘POEM’, a new approach to measuring consumer-led interactions across paid, earned and owned media channels the agency developed.

Chris Nolan, Starcom MediaVest Group’s chief executive, said: “Innovation is at the heart of what we do all day, every day and the team has worked hard to make this approach effective and relevant for our clients.”

E-Web Marketing came in at number 46 in a list which included Westpac, Pernod Ricard Winemakers, Coca-Cola and Deloitte.

Click here to see the full list and a profile of Australia’s freshly awarded most innovative company, Planet Innovation.

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