Indie agencies have always been considered the industry’s wildcards, freer, faster and, occasionally, braver than their network counterparts. Unshackled from internal holdco politics and commercial pressures, indies have become home to some of the most culturally decisive work of the past decade.
At the heart of this are the creatives. These are the names setting the pace for Australian and New Zealand creativity as a whole. Award winners, culture shapers and boundary pushers.
Before you dive into the list, make sure you nominate candidates for future Best of the Best lists. Next week, we will be looking at the holding company creatives, followed by in-house agency leaders a week after. You can nominate colleagues, friends or industry legends via the form below.
But now, without further ado, let’s take a look at B&T’s Best Of The Best Indie Creatives.
10. Laura Cibilich, co-founder and executive producer, RUN Aotearoa
Laura Cibilich is the co-founder and executive creative director of RUN Aotearoa, a women-led creative agency she founded in 2008. Starting her career as a graphic designer and launching her first business at just 19, Cibilich has spent over two decades fusing creative vision with strategic insight, delivering campaigns that are both visually striking and commercially effective.
Under her leadership, RUN has become synonymous with culturally resonant storytelling, particularly championing Māori and Pasifika narratives, and embedding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi into its work, advocating for diversity and transformative change within the creative community and beyond.
Cibilich’s portfolio spans global award-winning campaigns, and she’s served as a juror for many prestigious industry awards, offering guidance rooted in both creativity and cultural sensitivity.
Beyond accolades, Cibilich’s work demonstrates a profound commitment to sustainability, women’s empowerment, and cultural diversity, ensuring RUN’s projects create measurable, positive change in the communities they touch. She has spearheaded Pacific-wide campaigns tackling single-use plastics in tourism, collaborating with governments, regional organisations, and local communities to design strategies that are both environmentally responsible and culturally authentic.
Simultaneously, Cibilich drives initiatives that uplift Indigenous voices, particularly Māori and Pasifika, embedding storytelling, heritage and local knowledge into campaigns that reach global audiences. Her innovative approach extends to technology-driven creativity, exemplified by immersive AR experiences that animate Māori legends, allowing international audiences to engage with Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural narratives in interactive and meaningful ways.
9. Ant Melder, co-founder & creative partner, Cocogun
Ant Melder is the co-founder and creative partner of Cocogun. A fiercely entrepreneurial and endlessly curious creative, Melder’s career spans multiple disciplines, advertising, publishing, art and even film.
His work is as diverse as it is ambitious: from launching nationwide magazines and punk fanzines to co-creating a new punctuation mark, Melder consistently pushes creative boundaries while inspiring those around him to do the same.
Under his leadership, Cocogun has built a culture that combines purpose with performance. The agency achieved B Corp certification, delivers innovative scholarships and internships for Indigenous students, champions gender equity, and embeds sustainability and social impact into its operations.
Cocogun’s campaigns have brought measurable change, from elevating children with chronic illness through the MissingSchool campaign, boosting referrals by 68 per cent and shaping national policy, to tackling AI-driven content with the creation of the “am dash”, reclaiming space for human creativity.
Globally recognised for his craft, Melder has also been celebrated for ideas that matter as much as execution. His work reflects a rare combination of creative audacity, ethical rigour, and social awareness, proving that creativity can simultaneously inspire, challenge, and transform the world.
8. Jenny Lennon, co-founder and creative director, Born
Jenny Lennon is an award-winning Creative Director and the co-founder of Born, a storytelling-driven creative agency. With 12+ years’ experience working with brands across the UK and Australia, Lennon believes that every aspect of a brand is a story: from logos and campaigns to leadership, culture, values, and purpose. Her mission is to help brands tell those stories in a way that is authentic, emotive, and impactful.
Since launching Born with David Coupland in 2023, Lennon has helped grow the agency from three staff to 12, tripling its revenue in its first full year. Under her creative leadership, Born has worked with clients including MaxiNutrition, Mitsubishi, Laser Clinics, Unity Bank, G’Day Parks, Flight Club, and Unyoked, earning recognition as B&T’s Emerging Agency of the Year in 2024.
The agency has become known for emotive, eye-catching campaigns, innovative brand storytelling, and disciplined growth, including the launch of its AI initiative Born Labs and the expansion into a second office in Adelaide in 2025.
Lennon is committed to a values-driven approach to agency culture. Born maintains transparent salaries, diverse teams, and a strict 9–5 working day, prioritising creativity over long hours. She also leads Born’s Born This Way program, providing low-bono creative services to LGBTQI+ organisations and brands, ensuring campaigns are inclusive, authentic and socially impactful.
From the early days of sending cold emails from a library to signing the agency’s first clients, Lennon has championed a storytelling-first approach, focusing on emotional connection, authenticity, and meaningful relationships with clients. She leads a predominantly female creative team, reinforcing the agency’s commitment to diversity and representation in the industry.
7. Jade Manning & Vince Osmond, creative partners, Today The Brave
Jade Manning and Vince Osmond are Creative Partners at independent agency Today The Brave, which they launched in 2022 alongside Jaimes Leggett and Celia Wallace.
The duo first joined forces in 2009 at DDB Johannesburg, later working together at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, DDB Sydney, and Special Group The pair have created award-winning campaigns for brands including Volkswagen, McDonald’s, Virgin, Unilever, Carlton Dry, Disney, Kayo, Uber Eats, Kathmandu, and Virgin Australia, just to name a few.
At DDB Sydney, they were behind iconic work such as the Naked Ute and ‘Too Powerful for TV’ campaigns for the Volkswagen Amarok. Their career has been marked by multiple international accolades spanning automotive, FMCG, banking, beverages and airlines.
Today The Brave has grown rapidly under their creative leadership. In 2024, the agency achieved strong commercial and creative success, adding clients such as IMB Bank, Westmead Fertility Centre, Wendy’s Australia, and LGT Crestone, while delivering award-winning campaigns like Carnival Cruise’s ‘100% Holiday’ and True North’s ‘Life’s Different After’.
In October 2025, Today The Brave launched Gallery Brave, a street-facing gallery and activation space in Sydney, showcasing contemporary art and immersive experiences. The space reinforces the agency’s philosophy of contributing to culture, not just advertising, and providing a platform for fearless creative expression.
6. Tom Wenborn, chief creative tinker, Thinkerbell
Tom Wenborn began his creative career as a designer, then transitioned into copywriting and art direction, ultimately finding a hybrid role that combines both disciplines. Over the past 15 years, he has worked at Australia’s leading agencies, including CHE Proximity, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Ogilvy, creating campaigns for clients such as Cadbury, Westpac, Toyota, Devondale, Furphy, Foxtel, Hahn, and Bega.
Wenborn joined Thinkerbell in 2018 and was promoted to Executive Creative Director in 2020, leading a team in Melbourne under the agency’s “Measured Magic” philosophy. He is known for creating simple, effective work that makes a difference, whether that’s helping “unfuck” the environment or making your Nanna laugh – both are equally important in his eyes.
A hallmark of Wenborn’s approach is collaboration. Early in his career, mentors like Scott Bundy taught him the value of teamwork, shaping a philosophy that balances confidence in ideas with openness to learning. He’s also been a vocal advocate for improving industry practices, particularly around pitching and client relationships, emphasising respect and equality in partnerships.
5. Louise McQuat, group creative director, Akcelo
Louise McQuat is a seasoned group creative director at Akcelo, with a career defined by big platform ideas, social-first innovation, and culture-changing work. Over nearly six years with the agency, she has helped shape its creative identity, blending experiential and CX expertise with beautifully crafted campaigns across traditional and emerging channels.
Under McQuat’s creative leadership, Akcelo had a standout 2024, winning the B&T Awards Grand Prix, as well as Experiential/Promotional Agency of the Year, Independent Agency with more than 50 employees, and NSW Agency of the Year. The agency grew commercially, adding 15 new clients, including Anytime Fitness, Great Northern Brewing Co., SPC, Beam Suntory, and TAC, while retaining its existing client base.
McQuat has guided campaigns that fuse cultural relevance with clever execution. Highlights include McDonald’s ‘Dare to Play’, an immersive collaboration with Netflix’s Squid Game; Forty Winks’ ‘Go To Better Sleep’, which reinvigorated a long-running platform with humour; and Gatorade’s bold ‘Water Wasn’t Made for This’, a global repositioning of the sports drink category.
From experiential activations like the TAC at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to playful reintroductions of iconic characters like Grimace, McQuat continues to define Akcelo’s creative voice, proving that strategic thinking, craft, and cultural insight can co-exist beautifully.
4. Cass Jamcotchian, creative director, Bear Meets Eagle On Fire
Cass Jamcotchian is a creative director at Bear Meets Eagle On Fire (BMEOF), bringing over 15 years of experience working across London and Sydney. Known for her sharp wit, bold ideas, and boundary-pushing work, Jamcotchian has become one of the most dynamic voices in the Australian creative industry.
Before joining BMEOF in August 2023, Jamcotchian spent four years at CHEP, where she helped create standout campaigns for brands like IKEA, Samsung, and eBay. Before that, she honed her craft over five years at Leo Burnett London, where she worked on major global brands.
At BMEOF, Jamcotchian has been instrumental in helping the agency continue its rapid rise alongside Micah Walker (who was named in B&T’s Best of the Best Indie Creative Agency Leaders) working on high-profile campaigns for clients like Telstra, whose ‘Wherever We Go’ platform exemplifies Jamcotchian’s ability to blend ambition and whimsy. Highlights include the ‘Duet’ animated film, a whimsical story of partnership set to a familiar tune broke the internet and divided Australia.
Her work is recognised for being craft-driven, emotionally resonant, and culturally impactful. Whether it’s a grand-scale integrated campaign or social-first innovation, Jamcotchian’s vision ensures that BMEOF continues to challenge the norms of advertising.
3. Gavin Chimes, chief creative officer, Howatson + Co
Gavin Chimes is the Chief Creative Officer and a founding member of Howatson+Company (H+Co), where he has helped shape one of Australia’s most awarded independent agencies. Widely regarded as one of the country’s most impactful creative leaders, Chimes has been named Australian Creative of the Year and has contributed to more than 150 major awards, including multiple B&T Awards and Cairns Crocodiles.
Since the agency’s launch in 2021, Chimes has been central to its meteoric rise. Before co-founding H+Co, Chimes created globally celebrated campaigns at CHE Proximity, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Marcel and Droga5, building a portfolio that includes Tiger Beer Air-Ink, The Lion’s Share, NRMA First Saturday, Sloways and Samsung Microcodes.
At H+Co, Chimes continues to push the boundaries of craft and culture. His recent work includes the breakout success of Modibodi’s “I’m Dying Inside”, a TikTok-native entertainment series that delivered massive cultural and commercial impact, 12 million views, a 75% sales lift, and multiple wins at the B&T Awards.
He also helmed the Selleys Liquid Nails “If You Can Take It, It’s Yours” stunt, turning a product demo into a national spectacle and reaffirming the agency’s reputation for bold, unmissable ideas.
Beyond advertising, Chimes is also the author of the children’s book Skat the Mutt (Scholastic) and co-creator of the luxury pet-care brand DOG by Dr Lisa.
2. Dee Madigan, ECD & co-founder, Campaign Edge
Dee Madigan is the executive creative director and co-founder of Campaign Edge, and is considered one of Australia’s most influential political and social marketing strategists. With more than 25 years’ experience, she has shaped national conversations through creativity, persuasion and a deep understanding of how audiences behave in the wild.
Madigan has worked on over 20 election campaigns, serving as creative director for Labor’s historic 2022 federal victory and Lead Creative for the party’s 2025 landslide, which secured a total of 94 seats and unseated Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Her work has also been pivotal across Queensland, NT and ACT election wins, cementing her as the go-to strategist for campaigns where outcomes genuinely impact the future of the country.
Beyond politics, Madigan claims to have worked on almost every major Australian brand and has built Campaign Edge into a nationally recognised creative force across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. A regular panellist on Gruen and a familiar face on Sunrise, Today and The Project, she is also the author of The Hard Sell and a contributing writer across multiple publications and books.
In 2025, Madigan was named #1 on B&T’s Women in Media Power List, recognised not just for her industry impact, but for changing the course of Australian history. Flawed attention span aside, her words, not ours, Madigan remains one of the country’s sharpest, most effective communicators.
1. Tom Martin & Julian Schreiber, partners & chief creative officers, Special
Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber are partners and chief creative officers at Special Australia, as well as global partners across Special USA and the UK. They are a creative duo whose work has reshaped the expectations of what independent agencies can achieve on the world stage.
Over more than 25 years, they’ve built a reputation for boundary-pushing creativity, earning some of the industry’s highest honours and collecting an impressive amount of silverware.
At Special, Martin and Schreiber have helped steer the agency to more than 50 Agency of the Year titles, leading the global creative output for Uber and producing some of the most influential campaigns of the last decade.
Their work on Uber Eats, ‘Tonight I’ll Be Eating…’, ‘Uber Don’t Eats’, ‘Get Almost Almost Anything’, and 2025’s internationally lauded ‘Football is for Food’, cemented Special’s reputation as a world-class creative powerhouse.
Before Special, they produced era-defining work, including NAB’s ‘Break Up’, Four’N Twenty’s Magic Salad Plate, Pedigree’s K9FM, Guide Dogs’ Support Scent, Tourism Victoria’s Remote Control Tourist, Cricket Australia’s Big Warnie, and Go Gentle’s ‘Stop the Horror’, which helped influence Australia’s euthanasia legislation.
Beyond their creative output, Martin and Schreiber are shaping the industry’s future through initiatives like Shift 20, a nationwide effort to drive disability representation and inclusion in advertising.
