While many in the industry (or perhaps not that many, if industry chatter is to be believed) were getting ready to head to the French Riviera and other far-flung summery locations, the pace of account moves barely skipped a beat back at home.
A number of big accounts changed hands, including a couple of important global wins for agencies of all shapes and sizes.
Before we get to the final podiums, however, we should give a shout out to those who just missed. Akcelo was named the social media agency for Virgin Australia and it won the global creative account for children’s toy brand Yoto, with the agency’s new London office taking the lead.
Hello was also named the agency of record for camera brand Fujifilm and Clemenger BBDO won Stan’s creative account. Kaimera won the City of Newcastle media account and This is Flow and UM signed retentions with the Workwear Group and AGL, respectively.
The Iconic switched its creative account from Dentsu to Emotive. And the WA Government rejigged its agency panel with Carat departing and OMD coming in. The Brand Agency, Longreach Media and 303 also feature on the panel.
B&T understands there’s still a boatload of pitching going on in the industry. If your agency wins any account, and fancies getting itself onto our podiums, please email [email protected] or [email protected].
But now, onto the podiums.
Creative Agencies
Bronze – Kerfuffle & BMF
Kerfuffle and BMF share the third-placed podium for June having jointly been appointed to the Asahi creative account. Clemenger BBDO and Droga5 parted company with Asahi.
Under the remit, Kerfuffle leads on Carlton, Great Northern, Vodka Cruiser, Woodstock and Schweppes, while BMF leads work for Victoria Bitter, Hard Rated, Solo and Solo Energy.
“By appointing Kerfuffle and BMF alongside Mindshare and embedding a collaborative way of working where we share goals and plan together, we’re setting ourselves up to drive long- term value for the business,” Asahi Beverages GM portfolio and brand marketing Lauren Fildes said
BMF CEO Stephen McArdle said: “The Asahi team are super smart, values-driven humans with a belief in creativity as a powerful force for brand growth. The fact that many of those brands are already iconic and help shape Australian culture makes this partnership unbelievably exciting.”
Kerfuffle CEO Paul McMillan added: “We’re genuinely grateful for the opportunity and the trust that the Asahi team have put in Kerfuffle. There are a lot of talented people and great agencies in this industry, so we’re incredibly proud that the work, thinking and chemistry of the Kerfuffle team resonated. It’s time to get to work.”
But that wasn’t the only win for Kerfuffle in June. The agency, founded by former Droga5 Melbourne chief creative Ant Keogh, strategy chief Michael Derepas and the aforementioned McMillan, also won Bulla’s creative account. Dig was the incumbent.
“The team at Kerfuffle brought a really strong mix of strategic thinking, creativity and chemistry throughout the process. They understood both the heritage of the brand and where we want to take it next, challenged us in all the right ways and felt like an extension of our team from day one,” Bulla head of marketing Daria Kargopoltseva said.
Silver – Omnicom Oceania
This one is technically a full-service win encompassing media and a variety of other services. But given the constraints of this format, we’ve decided to put it here.
Omnicom Oceania scored a chicken-sized coup with it winning a full-service brief encompassing strategy, media, creative, CX, shopper marketing, earned, martech and measurement for Steggells and Lilydale parent company Baiada.
“What stood out throughout the process was the strength of the collaboration across the Omnicom Oceania team, as well as the ability to access specialist capabilities from across the network through a single, integrated team. It felt less like an agency model and more like an extension of our marketing team,” said Baiada CMO Yash Gandhi.
“This partnership reflects exactly what Omnicom Oceania has been built to do, bringing together the right talent, capabilities and expertise from across our network around a shared client ambition,” said Omnicom Oceania CEO Nick Garrett.
Gold – Howatson+Company
But taking the top spot this month (perhaps to no one’s surprise) is Howatson+Company after it won the sought-after CommBank creative account.
The Surry Hills-based creative agency beat incumbent M+C Saatchi, Droga5 and Special to the account.
Howatson+Company will work alongside CommBank’s in-house agency team to lead brand strategy and creative direction, while partnering closely with the bank’s marketing teams on campaigns across the business.
“As technology and customer behaviours continue to change, we’re building a modern creative model that combines strategic thinking, creativity, speed and innovation to support our future ambitions,” said CommBank CMO and longstanding member of B&T’s CMO Power List, Jo Boundy, said.
“Howatson+Company demonstrated strong alignment to where we’re headed as a brand, including future ready capabilities, a collaborative partnership approach and a clear vision for modern creativity at scale.”
Media Agencies
Bronze – Zenith
It was another strong month for Zenith, which was the nation’s best-performing media agency by new billings in 2025, according to COMvergence.
Following a global realignment, the Publicis agency picked up Coty’s media account from its French counterparts at Havas. Its range of luxury brands includes Burberry, Calvin Klein and Gucci. Its consumer brands include Max Factor, Rimmel, Covergirl and more. Despite being one of the world’s largest luxury goods companies, its media spend in this market is not huge.
It also won the global account for Tourism Australia. UM had held the account for a decade.
“What distinguished Publicis through this process was a genuine understanding of where travel discovery is heading, and a clear, demonstrated capability to help Tourism Australia be present and chosen wherever that moment happens,” said Tourism Australia chief marketing officer and many, many time inductee to B&T’s CMO Power List Susan Coghill.
Silver – Mindshare
Asahi shows its face again on this month’s new business rankings. Last month, Mindshare picked up the drinks brand’s media account. Omnicom Media’s PHD previously worked on the Asahi account, but chose not to pitch for the account.
“We were extremely impressed by Mindshare’s vision for the partnership and can’t wait to see it come to life,” Asahi Beverages GM of consumer Experience Jarrod Holt said.
“Mindshare have built a reputation in Australia for investing in client relationships to achieve significant results and we congratulate them on their appointment. I’d also like to express my gratitude for the time, energy and creativity all agencies brought to the competitive process.”
The win marks another significant piece of business for Mindshare, which won the second-most billings of any media agency in 2025.
Gold – Dentsu
But taking the top spot this month is Dentsu. The agency, which has had a difficult time of late and recently folded its Carat and iProspect shops into one another, won Tabcorp’s media account.
Put simply, it’s an enormous win for the agency given everything it’s been through of late. That’s why it takes the Gold this month.
The wagering firm’s review began at the start 0f the year and closed last month. It had previously worked with OMD for nearly 30 years.
Tabcorp general manager of marketing Kent Madders said Dentsu’s innovative approach to partnering with its clients will be critical in a changing market.
“Dentsu has a long history of working with and helping some of Australia’s biggest brands grow across a broad range of industries, including gaming, and we’re really excited by what we can build together,’’ he said.
“Through the pitch process, we were impressed with the strategic approach Dentsu presented to not only navigating the changing advertising landscape within wagering over the coming months and years, but also to enhance Tabcorp’s brand positioning in the market.
Tabcorp is a significant win for Dentsu and its new media practice lead Chris Ernst. The business would be one of the larger media accounts in the Dentsu stable after Woolworths.
