The Independent Media Agencies Australia (IMAA), the national industry body representing independent media agencies, has announced the finalists in the next phase of its highly successful Pitch-Chella program.
Eight finalists have been selected from 24 team entries, representing 22 IMAA member agencies, that entered this year’s competition – the largest ever cohort to participate in the program.
Now in its third year, Pitch-Chella has become a key event for emerging indie talent, giving up-and-coming marketing professionals the opportunity to hone their pitching skills – both written and in live pitch presentations.
The 2026 finalists are:
Advertising Associates (Jeremy O’Connell, Emily Dunne, Sam Christie-Sherill and Brigh Robinson) – Victoria
Bang Digital (Pia Rossiter, Sam Daisley, Ari Silberstein and Dylan O’Regan) – Western Australia
Hatched (Megan Yee, Chinma Anyanwu, Byron Luckhardt and Manning Brophy) – Victoria
Reload Media (Cleo Cox-Lawson, Drew Hart, Yashi Wadiwala and Harriet Wing) – Queensland and Victoria
Slingshot (Neha Sharma and Anna Nagpaul) – New South Wales
The Noisy Beast (Armin Narcisco, Nick Buratto, Gemma Mottram and Nicola Pavlic) – Victoria
Thinkerbell (Eduarda Cuadros Marquez and Erin Beers) – Victoria
Yango (Sam Rickward, Charles Greene and Sophia Bui) – New South Wales
The finalists were selected based on the strength of their written pitches for national anti-bullying organisation, You Can Sit With Me, a peer-led program that fosters kindness and belonging, preventing exclusion, bullying and school refusal. The teams were tasked with creating a national media campaign for the initiative, focused on increasing brand awareness and building community engagement.
The written pitches were reviewed by a panel of expert judges, including Audience360 managing director, Jenny Parkes, TrinityP3 business director and global media lead, Steven Wright, Orand founder, Adam Hickey, and You Can Sit With Me founder and CEO, Sophie Sparks.
The eight finalists will now present their pitches live to the judging panel on July 14, before the winners are announced at an awards ceremony at Sydney’s Beresford Hotel on July 30.
Commenting on the finalists Parkes, said: “Yet again, we have been overwhelmed with the talent on display in this year’s Pitch-Chella entries.
“All the written pitches were well-researched and well executed, demonstrating strategic thinking, smart creative and innovative responses to the brief. Our eight finalist teams thoroughly impressed the judging panel with their ideas, their clear understanding of You Can Sit With Me’s work and objectives, and their willingness to think outside the box and be brave. We’re looking forward to seeing their live pitches on July 14.”
The 2026 Pitch-Chella initiative is led by a steering committee, including Lisa Blackshaw from Co.gency and Taylor Fielding from TFM, alongside the IMAA team.
This year’s program is sponsored by gold sponsor Audience360 and supporting sponsors Are Media, Channel Factory, News Australia, Meta, Microsoft Advertising, Snapchat, and Taboola.
