Winning new business is never easy. It’s late nights, tight deadlines and the kind of pressure that can make or break an agency. Yet behind every big win sits a group of leaders who rarely get the headlines, the people who keep the pitch machine humming and turn creative ideas into paying clients.
With this list, B&T is pulling back the curtain on the growth chiefs and new business brains who fuel the industry. They’re not the usual suspects wheeled out for the final presentation; they’re the ones who map the strategy, build the chemistry and fight the fight long before the deals are signed.
Before we get to the top 10, there are a number of folk who narrowly missed out.
Anita Zanesco, last year’s number five, has only recently started at M+C Saatchi—we’re looking forward to seeing her make it rain there in the future. Georgia Price, Howatson+Company’s growth boss and last year’s number seven, has left the business. Havas’ Richard Clarke remains one to watch for future Best of the Best lists.
We’ll also make one quick note before going any further. This list is not a list of agency CEOs and MDs—though naturally, all are deeply involved in their agencies’ new business pursuits. Instead, it focuses on those whose core remit is new biz.
As ever, though, there are some exceptions that prove the rule and, where the top new biz agencies have no sole new biz whizz, we’ve spoken to our many contacts, consulted our survey of truth below and more to work out who, actually, is getting the clients to sign on the dotted line.
Coming up on B&T’s Best of the Best, we have: Media Agency Growth Chiefs and Creative Agency Strategists. If you know anyone great who doesn’t get enough airtime, let us know!
But for now, we switch our focus to this group of seasoned operators who remind us that growth doesn’t happen by accident. Let’s hear it for B&T’s Best Of The Best Creative Agency Growth Chiefs!
10. Georgia Willey, Agency Promotional Manager, Howatson+Company
Georgia Willey may carry the title of agency promotional manager, but her influence at Howatson+Company sits squarely in the growth column. She comes highly recommended as a key driver of the agency’s reputation and client relationships, ensuring the business not only wins new accounts but sustains them with trust, consistency and culture.
In 2024, Howatson+Company delivered one of the standout seasons in Australian advertising, winning five B&T Awards, including Advertising Agency of the Year and growing revenue by 20 per cent. Willey’s role in amplifying the agency’s voice and supporting its business momentum was evident as the shop brought in Myer, Dulux Group, AP+, Airtasker and UNSW, while launching Plus Also Studios, its AI-driven production arm already adopted by Qantas, News Corp and Foxtel.
By shaping how the agency shows up for clients, talent and the broader market, Willey embodies growth leadership in practice, helping turn Howatson+Co into a long term success story.
9. Sheryl Marjoram, CEO, DDB Sydney
Sheryl Marjoram has spent nearly three decades in the industry and a career that spans continents. After two decades in the UK, including a high-profile stint as CEO of McCann London and Chair for Conscious Inclusion at McCann Worldgroup UK, she returned to Australia to lead DDB Group Sydney. Today, she oversees a multi-disciplinary operation spanning creative, digital, customer experience, PR and healthcare.
Although it recently lost Westpac after a 13-year partnership and McDonald’s, Marjoram guided DDB through a season of change and challenge with trademark energy and resilience. The agency notched significant wins with Our Watch, Acciona, Belong, Lipton Ice Tea, T2 and the Brisbane Broncos.
For Marjoram, leadership is about belief, in her people, in the work, and in what’s possible. She has championed diversity, launched training and leadership pathways, such as “Brilliant Managers” and “Project Phyllis,” and forged partnerships, including LAUNCH with the FBI Talent, to bring new voices into the industry. Her blend of a global perspective, relentless optimism, and deep investment in people has kept the DDB Group Sydney competitive in a fiercely contested market.
8. Sasha Firth & Tori Lopez, MDs, Special Australia
Tori Lopez and Sasha Firth are key architects of Special’s growth story, helping to steer the indie through a period of rapid expansion and global recognition.
Lopez, with more than a decade inside the agency and 18 years’ experience across global and local brands, stepped into the managing director role in 2024 and has since overseen a wave of major wins, including IGA, Cricket Australia, Employment Hero and an expanded PepsiCo remit.
Firth, a seasoned MD with expertise in strategy, brand architecture and integrated marketing, has complemented that drive with her ability to scale partnerships and deliver creative impact.
Under their leadership, Special has celebrated a decade in business with a 2024 to remember, blending creativity, commerce and culture into campaigns such as Uber Eats’ ‘Get Almost, Almost Anything’ featuring Cher, Bonds’ ‘As Worn by Us’ and the Dylan Alcott Foundation’s Shift 20 Initiative.
7. Johan Borg, Chief Growth Officer, VML
Johan Borg has played a pivotal role in one of the biggest creative agency integrations in recent memory, the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson.
As chief growth officer across ANZ, he has been tasked with aligning strategy, people and clients under the OneVML banner while driving momentum in an intensely competitive market.
Under his watch, the agency secured 23 new client wins in 2024, successfully defended major accounts including Haleon and Horizon Power and picked up new projects for Coca-Cola, Kayo, Wendy’s and Zip Money, while retaining all existing clients.
Borg’s background at Dentsu’s Merkle and Isobar as well as Ogilvy, Havas/Host and Soap gave him the grounding in digital transformation and brand building that now informs his approach to growth leadership. He’s known for bringing grit, focus and positivity to the job, building long-lasting partnerships rooted in trust and strategy.
6. Nitsa Lotus, Chief Growth Officer, TBWA Group Sydney
Nitsa Lotus has grown up in the advertising business, carving out a 25-year career that’s taken her from Lowe and Saatchi & Saatchi to almost two decades at TBWA.
Today, as chief growth officer at TBWA Sydney, she’s best known for helping the agency land Telstra and create the bespoke +61 model, a partnership that has been hailed as one of the most innovative agency structures in the country and has secured accolades from across the globe. In 2025, she added another major win with Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards, a strategic coup for the Sydney office at a moment of internal change.
Her approach blends commercial rigour with a belief in big unifying ideas that can align entire organisations. Just as importantly, she has worked to shape the industry itself, co-founding the ACA’s Gender Diversity Group, leading DEI programs at TBWA, and appearing as a regular voice on ABC’s Gruen.
For Lotus, growth is about more than just winning pitches, it is about building resilient teams, strong client partnerships and an industry that reflects the diversity of the audiences it serves.
5. Peter Collins, Partner & Chief Growth Officer, Akcelo
Peter Collins, founding partner and chief growth officer at Akcelo, has been central to the agency’s rapid rise.
With more than a decade of sales and marketing experience across creative, digital and technology, Collins combines commercial sharpness with relationship-building skill to drive sustained growth. His leadership has helped Akcelo secure a roster of Australia’s leading consumer brands and expand its reach into new markets with work that now runs across 26 countries.
In 2024, Collins steered a breakout year that saw Akcelo win 15 new accounts including Anytime Fitness, Great Northern Brewing Co., SPC and Beam Suntory, while retaining every existing client. Overall, the agency posted 25 per cent year-on-year growth.
With a B&T Awards Grand Prix and multiple Cairns Crocodiles Awards and titles under its belt, Collins has helped positioned Akcelo as a growth engine that balances commercial results with cultural investment, sustainability and creativity at scale.
4. Georgia Suttie, New Business Director, BMF
Georgia Suttie has spent more than a decade leading new business at BMF and its parent Enero Group, bringing a rare mix of creative pedigree, marketing operations expertise and relationship-first leadership.
A former professional tennis coach turned creative, she built her early career at DDB, Mojo, Grey and TrinityP3, where she spent 14 years guiding global agency search and selection processes. Since returning to agency land in 2014, she has become the steady hand behind BMF’s growth story.
In 2024, that expertise paid off with major wins. Under Suttie’s leadership, BMF notched seven new clients without losing a single account, including Endeavour Group (including Dan Murphy’s and BWS) and Tennis Australia.
Known for her ability to build long-term partnerships rooted in trust and culture, Suttie embodies the kind of new business leadership that keeps BMF competitive year after year.
3. Helena Snowdon, Chief Business Development Officer, Publicis Groupe
As chief business development officer, Helena Snowdon has helped the creative side of Publicis Groupe sharpen its positioning to become a true national contender after kicking goal after goal with its media agencies for the last six years. She was promoted to a whole Groupe role, encompassing the creative agencies as well as the media agencies in April.
While Publicis’ creative agencies have been notching some stellar wins of late, such as Leo’s wins with Suncorp Group and ANZ and with Saatchi & Saatchi picking up Youfoodz and TPG Business, Snowdon will bring some serious additional firepower to the teams—a prospect we’re sure might leave some quaking.
2. Belinda Drew, Chief Client Officer ANZ, Droga5
Belinda Drew has built her reputation as one of the industry’s most respected client leaders, combining a people-first style with a track record of delivering growth through provocative ideas. A five-time B&T Women in Media winner across account management and client service, and a 2023 Marketing Academy alum, Drew has become central to Droga5’s ability to turn creative ambition into enduring client partnerships.
In 2024, amid Droga5’s high-profile transition from The Monkeys’ and the reshuffling of its senior ranks, Drew was a steady hand for clients. Her leadership underpinned marquee wins, including Optus and SBS.
She also helped sustain the agency’s reputation for world-class creative, with recent high profile campaigns such as ‘We Go There’ for SBS. For Drew, growth leadership is about trust, clarity and the kind of client relationships that allow great ideas to thrive on the global stage.
1. Jaime Morgan & Phillippa Netolicky, General Managers, Thinkerbell South and North
Jaime Morgan and Phillippa Netolicky are the duo driving Thinkerbell’s momentum across Melbourne and Sydney, respectively, blending growth smarts with strong cultural leadership.
Morgan has now spent over half a decade shaping the Melbourne office, applying a people-first approach honed at Leo, CHEP and the AJF Partnership to develop strong and enduring client partnerships.
Netolicky, who stepped into the Sydney GM role in 2023, quickly left her mark. Drawing on leadership stints at McCann Queensland, Claxon and Howatson+Company, she energised the Sydney office with a mix of strategic sharpness, creative grounding and collaborative leadership.
Together, they’ve helped secure headline wins with Bega Group, Pringles, Hort Innovation, The Reject Shop and Menulog over the last two years – to name a few.
By coupling growth with a focus on team culture and integrated thinking, Morgan and Netolicky have ensured Thinkerbell continues to thrive as both a creative force and a trusted partner for major brands.
