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Spark Foundry
Team PROFILE
Agency Type
Media
Ownership
Publicis Groupe
tagline
Agency of Intelligent Disobedience
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Matt Turl
CEO Australia
Imogen Hewitt
CEO ANZ
Peter Butler
Managing director, Melbourne
Rachida Murray
Chief digital & media officer
Sue-Ellen Osborn
Chief investment officer
Sophie Langton
Chief planning & connections officer
Caroline Hugall
Chief strategy officer
Olia Krivtchoun
Chief client service officer
Stuart Capel
Chief growth & operations officer
Ben Petremont
Chief Data & Analytics Officer
Jennifer Lloyd
National financial director
Liz Parkes
Head of people & culture
Key Stats
Offices
Sydney, Melbourne
Headcount
280+
Gender Balance Staff
M: 34%
F: 66%
Gender Balance Leaders
M: 34%
F: 66%
RECMA Compitches
B
RECMA Qualitative Evaluation
High
Client book
Client Wins
4
Client Losses
0
Client retentions/extensions
11
Largest clients
Paramount
Toyota (including Lexus)
Westpac
Trophy Cabinet
Effie Awards
AiMCO Awards
Agency Scorecards report
If 2025 were a Radiohead album for the team at Spark Foundry, it might just be Hail to the Thief, a middle of the road effort that flagged the team’s changing of style from guitar-focused rock to more of the atmospheric electronic style they became known for.
The agency has a fresh new tagline and market positioning, ‘Intelligence Disobedience’, that it describes as a set of behaviours grounded in insight-led approach that challenged norms and conventions.
Going against the grain might sound risky in a challenged market, but for Spark it led to another consistent year of solid, if not spectacular, growth.
The agency won four clients, including the relatively large Paramount business, while also retaining Kenvue (formerly Johnson & Johnson).
The agency didn’t lose any accounts in the process and maintains an average client NPS score of 8+, which it claims to have done for the past six years.
A highlight for the agency is the success it has enjoyed at the Effies, picking up six awards for work for the Cancer Council, Toyota and Arnott’s.
A Toyota dealer network campaign that used road signs to reassure drivers was a standout, as too was helping striking a partnership with Arnott’s ‘Bikkie Belt’ and Nine’s The Block. Spark Foundry wrecked in tandem with stablemate Saatchi & Saatchi on both campaigns.
Spark Foundry said that it achieved “high double-digit employee retention”, although would not provide actual figures, and that it ranks highly on retention and staff happiness on Media-i survey results.
It has worked in partnership with B&T for its Hot Takes series, which provides interesting interviews and insights out of the ordinary, while the agency raised $11,000 for cancer research via the Shitbox Rally.
The B&T Agency Scorecards Advisory Panel acknowledged another stable year for the agency, but some would like a bit more transparency and ‘spark’.
Hightlights reel
Arnott’s: 'The Biscuits That Refused to Crumble'
In a category under pressure to prioritise short-term, price-led tactics, Arnott’s made a deliberate choice to protect its Masterbrand.
Rather than defaulting to promotional intensity during inflationary conditions, the strategy focused on strengthening long-term brand value as a driver of commercial performance. By pairing emotional relevance with rigorous, evidence-led optimisation, media shifted from cost control to business impact.
The approach translated brand investment into clear commercial outcomes, improving efficiency, strengthening returns and supporting sustained value growth — reinforcing that brand investment is not a trade-off against performance, but a critical enabler of it.
Hightlights reel
Toyota Australia: 'Where Insight Meets the Open Road'
This work re-defined what media could be. Instead of media supporting an idea, media was the idea.
By transforming Toyota’s unmatched dealer network into a visible, hyper‐local reassurance system on Australia’s roads, we turned a structural advantage competitors couldn’t replicate into tangible brand proof.
The campaign fused insight, data and infrastructure to deliver emotional reassurance at the moment drivers needed it most, driving measurable growth in consideration, search demand and brand leadership.
Hightlights reel
Revlon: 'Look Good Feel Better, International Lipstick Day'
This campaign demonstrated that purpose works best when it is designed as participation, not promotion.
By reimagining a beauty moment as a simple, accessible act of generosity, the work mobilised more than 32,500 Australians to support women facing cancer. A familiar product purchase became an expression of confidence, identity and care, turning intent into action.
The campaign raised money for Look Good Feel Better, helping extend support to hundreds of women across Australia.
In doing so, International Lipstick Day shifted from a symbolic moment to a shared act of meaningful, collective impact.
Spark Foundry's take on 2025
In 2025, as industry conditions tightened, promoting risk adverse behaviours and an over-reliance on pattern-led decision making, Spark Foundry’s positioning evolved to the Agency of Intelligent Disobedience.
This approach is now shaping how we make decisions under pressure, prioritising judgment over default and progress over convention.
Anchored by a focus on driving growth for our agency, clients and people, we balanced solid new business wins, including Paramount, with ongoing relationships with more than 50 clients in 2025. Client advocacy remained strong, with an average NPS of 8+ sustained over six years.
Our work was impactful, recognised with six Effie Awards across brands including Cancer Council, Toyota and Arnott’s. Innovation moved from experimentation to embedded advantage, with tools and systems improving speed, efficiency and effectiveness.
Culture remained a standout strength, with high a double-digit retention rate, a significant number of promotions and top‐tier Media-i results — reinforcing Spark Foundry as a high‐performing agency built for sustained growth.
Taleah Brown, Client direcotr
Taleah personifies the spirit of Spark Foundry Australia and lives the promise of Intelligent Disobedience, challenging in the pursuit of growth.
If we were a band, we'd be...
Radiohead
Radiohead are masters of Intelligent Disobedience. They understand the rules of music, the structure, and the formula for commercial success deeply, and then choose deliberately when to break them. Not to rebel for attention, but to push the art forward and create work that stands apart.
At every stage of their career, they’ve resisted complacency, challenging genre norms, refusing to stick with winning formulas, and prioritising long-term impact over short-term comfort. Their experimentation is disciplined, not chaotic, and grounded in craft, intent and conviction.
Like Radiohead, our ambition isn’t to fit neatly into the system, but to evolve it, creating work that’s distinctive, culturally relevant and designed to drive outcomes for our clients.
Spark Foundry
B&T's Agency Score
7.6
Previous season: 8
Critic's Comment
“Another safe and stable album from Spark Foundry. More ‘Pablo Honey’ or ‘Hail to the Thief’ than ‘OK Computer’.”