Last week we took a look at the leading lights in the independent creative agency sector. Today, it’s the turn of their media agency cousins.
This is always a challenging list to produce because there are many fine independent media shops going around, just ask the IMAA’s Sam Buchanan!
We assembled this list by looking at agency performance, innovation, leadership vision, industry influence and, importantly, the role that leaders play in nurturing talent. We have also considered entries that were nominated by B&T readers.
There’s still plenty of time to nominate for the upcoming categories, too. Next week, we’re taking a look at the Best of the Best industry association chiefs.
NOMINATE FOR B&T’s BEST OF THE BEST NOW!
This year an indie stalwart is missing after Atomic 212° was acquired by Publicis Groupe. The names left are truly trailblazing leaders of some of the best agencies around.
10. Chris Parker, founder and CEO, Awaken
Chris Parker’s Awaken has been one of the most exciting indies in the market over the past few years and among the fastest growing.
The agency reports an impressive 1,825 per cent growth over five years, and has recently been a regular on the AFR’s Fast 100 list.
New clients include Amazon Ring, Mirabeau Wine, Smeg, Sofitel and WS Audiology, while the agency has rolled out Awaken Brands, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce venture.
The agency’s work has also stood out. Awaken was a finalist six times in the Cairns Crocodiles, including in the hotly contested strategy and effectiveness categories.
Parker admits the journey has not always been smooth, and is an advocate for mental health and transparency in the industry.
He is also a yoga instructor and knows a thing or two about meditation. Having a calm captain to helm such a rapidly moving ship is perhaps one reason why you’ll hear more about Awaken in the years to come.
9. Sarah Keith, managing director, Involved Media
Few leaders have had a greater impact than Sarah Keith when she joined Involved Media.
In four years, she has grown the indie to more than $100 million in media billings, serving clients such as Hertz, Thrifty Car Rentals, Anytime Fitness, Care Super, Stanley Black & Decker, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and Better Help.
Keith is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable media operators in Australia. She hails from a TV and radio background, having worked at the likes of Channel 4, SCA, Network 10, Foxtel Sports and SBS, before joining Publicis Media in 2015, where she lead its central investment arm PMX for more than five years.
Today she is not only the leader of Involved Media, but also heads up its partnership with Active International.
Keith is also on the MFA board.
8. Mike Wilson, chairman, Hatched
In last year’s Best of the Best independent media agency’s list, Hatched was represented by its national CEO Stephen Fisher, but this year we are sharing the love with the agency’s chair, Mike Wilson.
Wilson is one of the famed trio (alongside Adam Ferrier and Mat Baxter) that set up and ran Naked in Australia; a 10 year stint that saw the agency become world famous. He then served as the CEO and chair of Havas Media, helping grow that business substantially.
In the past few years, Wilson has helped nurture and grow Hatched into becoming a formidable indie player with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. Its clients include Open Universities Australia, Reece, Forty Winks, Klook, Village Cinemas, Kennard’s Hire and Who Gives A Crap.
Wilson’s influence on the industry extends well beyond Hatched. He is part of the IMAA leadership team that champions independent media agencies. In the past year he has worked with a doyen of British advertising, Sir John Hegarty, to bring his Business of Creativity programme to these shores.
Wilson is also a regular at the Cairns Crocodiles and showed the industry his raving side by cutting serious shapes at the Ministry of Sound themed Pinterest Welcome party.
7. Tom Frazer, managing director, Half Dome
Frazer carved an unconventional route into adland having served as a corporate finance and insolvency professional. His corporate experience has undoubtedly proven invaluable to Half Dome, the agency he set up alongside his brother Joe and business partner Will Harms.
In 2024, Half Dome was the third-fastest growing agency in terms of media billings, adding clients including Amplify and the Online Education Services.
This year, that success has continued, winning a media brief for ABN Group Victoria’s residential home building brands, Boutique Homes and Homebuyers Centre. Its other clients include The Good Guys, OES, Ego Pharmaceuticals and GMHBA.
Frazer’s agency has previously been acknowledged as one of the AFR’s Best Places to Work, and hosted UnLTD.’s Big Chat event in Melbourne, giving back to an industry that it serves with aplomb.
6. Lyndelle O’Keefe, CEO, Match & Wood
Lyndelle O’Keefe leads one of the most successful indies in recent years that is prized for raising outstanding talent.
Olivia Casamento and Ashley Hill were recent finalists at the prestigious Cairns Hatchlings competition, while other young guns from the agency have made Young Lions and are active in the Media Federation of Australia’s NGEN.
A strategist at heart, O’Keefe worked at MediaCom and Initiative before setting up Match & Wood with her husband Chris.
The agency has won several Agency of the Year Awards since, and has had a stunning year on the new business front.
In February, Match & Wood won the Renault pitch, while recently it retained the Snooze media account. Other recent wins include Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Overdose and air conditioning system supplier Advantage Air.
O’Keefe’s focus on nurturing talent means the agency is not only delivering exceptional results for clients, but also shaping the next generation of industry leaders.
5. Nick Behr, founder and CEO, Kaimera
It’s been a standout year for Nick Behr and the Kaimera team. The agency recently landed the media account for the tasty chicken restaurant, Nando’s, following a string of notable account wins, including fintech company Afterpay and MLC.
Behr launched an office in Melbourne, spreading the agency’s wings outside of Sydney, and the move could not have gone much better.
Kaimera Melbourne, led by Garth Moring, has grown from a one-person operation to a seven-strong team, attracting a roster of clients including GSK, Luv-A-Duck, eGuarantee, Praemium, Eureka Villages, Laing Properties, Able Australia, Pennington Institute and MS Plus.
The agency’s growth was acknowledged by being one of two agencies in the AFR’s annual Fast 100 list.
After leaving Vizeum as managing director, Behr launched Kaimera in 2016, and he is a founder of the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA).
He has proven to be a leading light for the indies sector for a number of years, and this past one certainly has been impressive.
4. Daniel Cutrone, managing partner, Avenue C
Industry rumours have swirled about Avenue C selling up shop—all unconfirmed—but it’s not hard to see why.
Daniel Cutrone, alongside his brother Hugo, Will Chapman, Mel Mullins and Reg Davidson have built one of the most reputable media agencies in Australia that prides itself on full transparency and the experience of its staff.
Cutrone began his career at IPG Mediabrands’ UM and Initiative before joining John Prestons Match Media – arguably the hottest indie at the time.
When Match was acquired by Publicis in 2017, Cutrone and his crew went independent, building one of the strongest reputations in market.
Avenue C’s new business success is testament to this. Recently, they won a broad-ranging brief for AMP, and they have also won business for Alinta Energy and Zip Water.
3. Jacquie Alley, chief operating officer, The Media Store
Jacquie Alley, a second generation media agency owner, has turned The Media Store (TMS) into an indie powerhouse, with clients including ENGIE, RMIT, Melbourne Royal Show, Hino and many more.
In the past year alone, TMS has won three new accounts and picked up the prestigious AFR Best Places to Work award for ‘Belonging’.
The culture that Alley, and her leadership team at TMS, has nurtured is legendary. She supports female leadership and is a Female Leaders Of Tomorrow mentor, and combats ageism with around 30 per cent of agency staff aged 50-plus.
Alley is also the first female chair of the Independent Media Association of Australia and an advisor to The Village, an initiative supporting working parents in advertising
She is a consecutive winner of the B&T Women in Media Executive Leader Award and a working mother of four young men.
Her goal entering the industry is to leave it in a better place than she found it, and B&T reckons she has more than accomplished that.
2. Jimmy Hyett, founder and CEO, This is Flow
Jimmy Hyatt set up This is Flow 10 years ago and it is now one of the fastest-growing and most-awarded independent media agencies.
Under Hyett’s watch, Flow has introduced innovations such as profit shares and a nine day working fortnight, but it’s the agency’s culture that has caught the attention of the industry.
This is Flow has won the coveted MFA Talent and Culture Award two years on the trot and has been named on AFR’s Best Places to Work list.
In the past year, the agency has grown to more than 50 staff with an industry-leading retention rate, added new clients and grew revenue by 20 per cent. This is Flow works with clients including Air Asia, McVities, Princess Cruises and Coca-Cola Euro-Pacific Partners.
Aside from leading Flow, Hyett is a mentor, judge and member of the MFA Board.
1. Matt Nunn, founder and CEO, Nunn Media
Matt Nunn has grown his eponymous business to become the largest independent media agency in Australia.
Nunn Media handles more than $500 million in billings, and has clients including Spotlight Retail Group, GWS Giants, Seafolly, Tinder, Bendigo Bank, JB Hi-Fi, Levi’s, Baker’s Delight and Melbourne Airport. Recent wins include SunRice, Turkish Airlines and Dr Squatch.
In 2024, Nunn Media was ranked third in the whole market terms of net billings growth, according to COMVergence. And in the past few years, the agency has reported compound growth well in excess of 20 per cent.
Hailing from Ballarat in regional Victoria, Nunn played professional basketball in Australia, which led to first industry role at WIN Network.
Het set up Nunn Media more than 20 years ago with a strong belief in the power of locally-owned media agencies to compete with those from international holding companies.
This confidence and winning mindset has often brought the agency success. The agency’s $90 million Spotlight win in early 2024 was one of the largest account moves that year.
