It seems that there has never been so many agencies in Australia and New Zealand. But what separates the wheat from the chaff?
Winning a B&T Award is one such way of separating the best from the rest. And, given that on-time entries for the 2026 B&T Awards, presented by Rokt, close on Friday, time is of the essence to show our judges what you’re made of.
Becoming an award-winning agency in 2026 requires more than just a relentless focus on the work. Ask Special, last year’s Grand Prix winner. It’s everything behind the work that really makes the work shine.
Find out what you’re made of by entering the 2026 B&T Awards, presented by Rokt.
“This is the first agency that I’ve ever worked at where there is an almost taken-for-granted belief that creativity legitimately pays the bills,” chief creative Julian Schreiber told B&T.
“That affects every decision you make, all the way through. It isn’t like it’s just the creative department that believes it, and then there are other people who are trying to find other ways of making money. Everyone believes it.”
Maintaining that ethos is hard but it’s baked into the way Special does everything, as Lindsey Evans, Special’s global partner and CEO said, commenting on the four Campaign of the Year trophies it won last year for Kitchen Warehouse, Coopers Brewery, Bonds and DB Breweries.
“All those jobs are very different sizes, scopes of work, shapes of work. But that doesn’t matter when you put talent first, create a culture where that talent can thrive, the rest of it will look after itself. People will do the best work of their careers, that will go onto attract more clients and that will make us financially successful. And so it continues,” she said.
Becoming an award-winning agency is also about demonstrating incredible momentum and managing potential (or real) challenges.
Thompson Spencer, which won the Aotearoa New Zealand Agency of the Year trophy, stood out from its peers for how remarkably well it managed a momentous transition.
In March last year, it merged with another New Zealand agency, Reason, to round out its capabilities. The pre-merger Thompson Spencer focused on creative and media, while Reason’s expertise lay in performance media.
As Melanie Spencer, co-founder and group CEO, told us: “We knew the future was creativity working hand in hand with performance, tech and data. So we knew we had to build that capability with an agency renowned as one of the best in New Zealand. And with 42 per cent of our top 35 clients collaborating across our divisions in the first six months of the merger, the proof point so we absolutely made the right move,” she said.
Now, the business is keeping its foot floored, having since expanded to Australia and has brought in a new CTO.
Find out what you’re made of by entering the 2026 B&T Awards, presented by Rokt.
Prescience, while a hard trait to come by, is a sure-fire way to win any away, not least B&T gong.
Just ask Social Soup. The agency was founded some 19 years ago, when Facebook was was just three years old, YouTube was in the terrible twos and Instagram, TikTok and more were mere twinkles in their founders’ eyes.
But, the agency led by CEO and founder Sharyn Smith, is far from over the hill.
We might be 19 years old but we’re still very current, relevant and influential in the industry. The goal was to showcase that. We’re not 19 and tapping out. It feels like the momentum is only just picking up. I’m often too early to trends but 19 years is a long time to wait,” Smith told B&T.
Now, the creator and influencer marketing industry rapidly appears to be ballooning in spend — spend from Australian brands increased 13.5 per cent year on year according to We Are Social’s Digital 2026 report.
“Four or five years ago, people hated on the space,” Smith said.
“It was a dark time as the hype [faded] and disillusionment set in. There was definitely a dark time working in this space. People were very negative about it in the industry, trade, everyone. There is some truth in that it was maturing but we’ve come through that.”
As to why Social Soup beat out its rivals?
“We’re just smarter at what we do,” said Smith.
Find out what you’re made of by entering the 2026 B&T Awards, presented by Rokt.
Another example of prescience comes from Oriztonas’ Vanessa Liell. It’s incredibly trite to say that the world is becoming more complex, but it is unfortunately true. And, Liell said tje corporate affairs and communications industry is struggling to give clients the guidance and assistance they need.
“The agencies that will thrive are those that can combine communications excellence with expertise in the issues that are shaping their clients’ future,” Liell told B&T.
“That aligns with the model that we’ve built in that we have senior strategic communicators and senior creative directors but we have experts in policy, regulation, economics and the energy transition both on our core and expanded team,” she said.
At the 2025 B&T Awards, Orizontas was recognised by judges for its ability to deliver a vast array of projects involving corporate affairs, policy and regulatory strategy crisis and issues management, and creative execution across a litany of categories.
So what makes an award-winning agency? Having a culture focused on excellence, demonstrating incredible momentum and being ahead of the curve. In short, being the best, being fast and being first.
Find out what you’re made of by entering the 2026 B&T Awards, presented by Rokt.
