New business and growth doesn’t always come with a chief growth officer title anymore. As agency structures evolve and leadership teams become leaner, new business can sit across a range of roles.
For this year’s Best of the Best creative agency growth chiefs, we’ve taken that into account. This list covers the people leading the new business charge at Australian and New Zealand creative agencies but are not the CEOs. Many of those were covered on our indie and holdco creative agency bosses Best of the Best lists.
Rather than simply looking at who has won the most pitches, we considered size of accounts won and the defensibility of those accounts — recognising that a big logo is one thing but the size of a win relative to the size of an agency is quite another.
There were some strong names just outside the final cut that deserve the most honourable of mentions. They include Apparents’ Charmaine Andrew and Supersolid’s Robbie Wood, both of whom have had an immense impact on their respective agencies.
And then there’s Omnicom’s Kim Hamilton who also caught our attention. We’ll say no more on this one…for now.
So, with titles, agency structures and growth models all looking a little different, here are those who have made the biggest impact on the new business front.
10. Paul McMillan, co-founder and chief executive, Kerfuffle
Alright fine, we’re going to break our own rules about no CEOs already. Paul McMillan and the rest of the Kerfuffle leadership team have won some pretty impressive accounts considering the agency is little more than a year old — though it did come with some pedigree.
In June, Asahi Beverages handed Kerfuffle creative duties across Great Northern, Vodka Cruiser, Carlton, Woodstock and Schweppes, splitting the portfolio with BMF. It was one of the most contested accounts in the country this year and the win reunited co-founder Ant Keogh with the category that gave him his reputation.
Days later, Bulla Dairy Foods appointed Kerfuffle to lead creative and brand across its portfolio, taking the business from incumbent Dig.
Two major FMCG categories won across competitive pitches, against some of the industries most established names. That’s the kind of week that goes on the career highlight reel and set the benchmark for the indie that had only been operating for fourteen months. It has also picked up work for Red Tractor, Drinkwise and Picklebet.
9. Ben Keep, chief operating officer, Emotive
A decade after co-founding Emotive alongside CEO Simon Joyce, Keep has remained one of the steady hands behind one of Australia’s most resilient indies.
Keep has been instrumental in a run of high-profile account wins including THE ICONIC, El Jannah, North/AMP North and there is apparently more to come. B&T understands Emotive has recently secured another major account win, but we will keep this one to ourselves for now.
The wins are notable not only for their scale, but for their range. From retail to food to financial services and consumer brands, it’s a spread that most agencies dream of. It reflects its ability to pitch beyond any particular niche, while demonstrating the strategic and creative breadth required to compete for such accounts.
For Keep, the role goes beyond getting agencies into a pitch room. He is closely involved in shaping how Emotive operates, presents its proposition and turns its ambitions into sustainable growth.
With a succession of competitive wins and other major accounts allegedly in the bag, Keep has established himself as one of the more formidable growth operators in Australia’s indie creative growth market.
8. Peter Collins, chief growth officer, Akcelo
Five years ago Peter Collins was one of five who walked out of VMLY&R to build something different. Now he’s partner and growth chief at Akcelo with a client list that speaks for itself.
Anytime Fitness, Australia’s largest fitness network, handed Akcelo its brand strategy, customer experience, digital, social and CRM account. Queensland Airport then handed Akcelo its full-service account in October of last year while the indie expanded its remit across two of its existing global clients McDonald’s and Pepsi Co. Then came Virgin Australia and Velocity Frequent Flyer, who appointed Akcelo as its social media agency following a competitive pitch.
Despite an already strong list of wins, Yoto might be the standout. Akcelo won the children’s audio brand’s global creative account, a mandate spanning the UK, US, Canada, France and Australia landing just as the agency opened its London office in May.
From day one Collins has built Akcelo to compete. Six years after betting that “brand experience” was more than a pitch deck, the client list is the argument closed.
7. Lucy Billington, brand partnerships, Today The Brave
Last year, Trinity P3 ranked Today the Brave sixth in the country for creative agency new business wins. This year, the client list backing that ranking has only grown. Pharma, fast food, automotive and banking, among others, have signed on with the agency and Billington is the person behind it.
Today the brave became the creative agency of record and activation partner for Elanco Pharmaceutical, as well as CarsGuide and Law Partners as its full-service creative agency and media partner. It also won OMG Group across brand strategy, social, organic and paid media with a remit spanning brands Blue Dinosaur, OMG MILK and new matcha brands Omura and Matcha mode.
Not only is she the person opening doors, but keeping existing ones open including for The University of Sydney which the indie defended via competitive pitch this year. That kind of range is the real test of a new business lead and it’s one Billington keeps passing with flying colours.
6. Jaime Morgan, managing director, Thinkerbell South & Phillippa Netolicky, general manager, Thinkerbell North
Two names, two offices and one client list that has grown considerably over the past twelve months. Thinkerbell’s north-south leadership duo has overseen a wealth of new business that hits two very different corners of Australian retail.
Morgan has been at Thinkerbell since 2019 and runs the South (Melbourne). Netolicky runs Thinkerbell North (Sydney), with a background is new business: chief growth officer at Claxon, client partner at Howatson+Company and more than a decade at McCann Australia.
Endeavour Group handed Thinkerbell the lead for brand strategy and creative remit for both Dan Murphy’s and BWS just last month, expanding its existing relationship with the drinks and hospitality company.
Not long before that was Retail Food Group which includes Donut King, Crust Pizza, Brumby’s Bakery and Gloria Jeans. Four brands in a single appointment.
Between Morgan and Netolicky, Thinkerbell runs both ends of the country’s biggest retail categories at the same time, under leaders who got there by building the business, not just managing it.
5. Georgia Suttie, new business director, BMF Australia
Before Georgia Suttie ran new business, she ran the reviews. Fourteen years at Trinity P3, sitting on the consultant side of agency search and selection, gave her a specific kind of of insight most people in the pitching business never get.
That background shows up in BMF’s recent client wins. HCF, Australia’s largest non-profit private health fund, appointed the indie late last year following a review that started with twelve agencies.
Then came Dementia Australia with a national public health campaign backed by a two-year Australian Government funding commitment. It’s not a conventional campaign, it’s behaviour change work with public health stakes attached. It’s the kind of brief that tests an agency’s substance as much as its creative chops.
And Superloop this month. The challenger telco appointed BMF to build a brand that matches its ambition in the market.
Suttie has now spent more than a decade running new business at BMF Australia. HCF, Dementia Australia and Superloop aren’t part of a winning streak, it’s what a decade of consistent work looks like when it compounds. That’s harder to pull off than any single win on this list.
4. Helena Snowdon, chief business development officer, Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe’s creative stable has had a busy twelve months and Saatchi & Saatchi carried much of the load. The agency landed clients including Youfoodz, 13CABS, RSPCA and Kraft among others.
Leo Australia meanwhile, became the agency of record for Fitness First and picked up project work for brands including Canon and ABC News.
Between the agencies, that’s a genuine cross-section of Australian business landing at one holdco.
That kind of spread doesn’t happen by accident and it’s hard to separate Snowdon from the wins. She’s spent the best part of her career in new business leadership, first across some of the world’s biggest media agencies before relocating to Australia.
Set against the breadth of what’s come in across Publicis Groupe’s creative agencies in the past twelve months, it’s a client list that would take most agencies years to build.
3. Sasha Firth & Tori Lopez, managing directors, Special
It’s been a big twelve months at Special Australia, and Sasha Firth and Tori Lopez have been at the center of it.
The pair have helped steer a run of significant blue-chip business wins including KFC and Honda. Taken together, it’s a strong demonstration of competitive new business credentials. The addition of two sizable brands to its client roster gave the agency even further firepower across an already… portfolio.
Firth has been a driving force behind Special’s new business momentum, bringing a sharp commercial lens to the agency’s growth efforts and helping turn major opportunities into wins. She has played an important role in making sure the agency’s creative proposition translates into a compelling business case for clients.
Lopez, meanwhile, has been instrumental in building the relationships and momentum behind the agency’s growth. Her role across new business has helped Special navigate some significant competitive pitches while continuing to strengthen its relationships with existing clients.
What makes the pair’s performance stand out is the balance of the wins. KFC and Honda two of the country’s most recognisable brands and landing both within a year, says as much about how they work together as it does about with win.
2. Kezia Quinn, principal director, Droga 5 Sydney; account lead, Accenture Song
Major retail, aviation and tech accounts have all landed at Droga5 this year and Kezia Quinn has been at the helm of the Sydney office for every one of them.
Woolworths handed Droga5 its $8 million creative account, across Australia and New Zealand ending M+C Saatchi’s decadelong relationship with the grocery giant. The pitch was arguably the most-contested of the year and marked CMO Sean Barret’s first major call since joining the retailer.
Before that, Droga5 secured the creative brief for Qantas’ Project Sunrise, the airline’s ultra-long haul flights connecting Australia’s east coast to London and New York. It is a rare brief that needed an adept agency to pull it off.
In June, the agency won the global Microsoft Copilot account, nabbing the business from Panay Films, the production house that has shaped Copilot’s advertising thus far. The account was worth a reported US$20-30 million annually and handed Droga5 the job of building a unified brand identity for Microsoft’s AI assistant at a time when the AI category is fighting for trust among consumers.
Winning these accounts is one thing, doing it all the space of a year is another. Each one demanded the agency to prove itself, against a completely different set of rules. Landing all three isn’t momentum, it’s what nine years inside the business gets you. Quinn worked her way up from account manager to the top job in the Sydney office and this year’s client list is the reflection of that.
1. Renée Hyde, group managing director, Howatson + Company
New business wins are one thing. Landing Dulux, Commbank, SharkNinja, ABN Group, Vodafone and TikTok all in the span of twelve months is the kind of run that gets an agency name viewed differently in the pitch room.
Hyde has been at the centre of Howatson+Company’s since near the start and helped take the agency to 120 across its Sydney and Melbourne. That trajectory hasn’t slowed. The Dulux appointment ended Clemenger BBDO’s two decade hold on the account and then built on its existing DuluxGroup relationship with Selley’s, Yates and Seasol International. Proof that the indie isn’t just winning new business, but expanding the relationships it has already won.
Commbank and Vodafone add two of the most heavily contested accounts in the country to its tally, whilst TikTok across APAC and ABN Group extend the agency’s reach into the technology and property categories.
Before Howatson+Company, Hyde came through CHE Proximity, co:collective, Anomaly and M&C Saatchi. It’s a resume built on the kind of large and competitive accounts that make her current win rate look less like luck and more like a habit.
