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Zenith
Team PROFILE
Agency Type
Media
Ownership
Publicis Groupe
tagline
The ROI³ Agency
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Jason Tonelli
CEO
Jonny Cordony
Managing director, Sydney
Megan Kay
Managing director, Melbourne
Warwick Taylor
Managing director, Birsbane
Joshua Lee
Chief digital & solutions officer
Elizabeth Baker
Chief investment officer
Penny Shell
Chief strategy & product officer
Justine Jones
Finance director
Jessica Howse
Head of people & culture
Key Stats
Offices
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
Headcount
230+
Gender Balance Staff
M: 26%
F: 74%
Gender Balance Leaders
M: 44%
F: 56%
RECMA Compitches
B+
RECMA Qualitative Evaluation
High
Client book
Client Wins
7
Client Losses
1
Client retentions/extensions
5
Largest clients
Aldi
Disney
Mars
Trophy Cabinet
Festival of Media
Spikes
Effies Australia
Adfest
Agency Scorecards report
‘Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Blue Car’ is probably what many rival agencies must have been thinking about Zenith when it was shortlisted on (another) pitch list in 2025.
The Return On Investment agency, which likens itself to The Wiggles, received plenty of bang for its buck on the new business front.
Of the top 10 largest media reviews of the year, Zenith won three: Mars (global), Flight Centre and Aldi (as the incumbent).
Honda also returned to Zenith’s garage, and OPSM parent company EssilorLuxottica. The only client to leave was Budget Direct, but Zenith’s efforts landed it in top spot in the COMvergence new business rankings for the year.
It wasn’t just pitching success that proved a hit.
Zenith’s work with RACQ and Superloop landed it silverware from the Festival of Media, Effies, Spike and Adfest awards. In fact the agency received an ROI Award at the Festival of Media global awards, how apt.
On the innovation front, Zenith’s ConnectedID proposition, which gives clients privacy compliant, population-representative targeting is delivering much higher engagement and conversion rates for the majority of its clients.
If that hasn’t got you to ‘Do The Propeller’, then Zenith’s staff AI training program, headed up by star performer Kellyn Coetzee certainly will.
Zenith offers staff more than 100 learning modules on Publicis’ Marcel connected platform, and the agency is genuinely taking a lead on ensuring AI is an ‘enabler’, rather than a ‘replacer’ .
The agency has a generous people policies regime and its staff are unanimously committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in all of its guises.
Investment chief Elizabeth Baker champions diversity of gender, race, cognitive, older professionals, returners and career-break re-entrants. This is a refreshingly holistic approach.
As, too, is Zenith’s commitment towards its pro bono partners Act for Kids, Missing Schools and Children’s Cancer Institute.
The agency delivered more than $11 million in media value for these partners, while fundraising efforts raised close to $127,000 for causes including Daffodil Day, the Butterfly Foundation and the Pyjama Foundation.
If that isn’t enough to score the Zenith team high marks, we suggest you ‘Wake Up Jeff!’
Hightlights reel
Act for Kids: 'Stadium of Hope'
Act for Kids is one of Australia’s leading child protection charities providing professional therapy and support services for children and their families affected by abuse or neglect.
With close to 50,000 children in Australia to experience some form of abuse or neglect, Act for Kids wanted to show the scale of this serious problem in a way that connected with people and drew donation support, but didn’t have the large-scale platform or resources to do it.
So, what about a stadium?
Stadium of Hope set a goal to virtually fill Suncorp Stadium by encouraging Australians to purchase a virtual seat for $10. The bold campaign was a huge success in sparking national conversation and bringing the mission of Act for Kids to the masses.
Hightlights reel
Spotify: ‘Wrapped 2025'
Spotify AUNZ delivered its biggest-ever Wrapped in 2025.
With a creative, social, and media strategy developed and informed by Zenith, Spotify brought Wrapped rewards into the real world for the first time globally— rewarding top fans with bespoke keychains engraved with their listening minutes, a symbol of music dedication that only Spotify can truly verify.
To amplify the moment, Spotify turned fandom into spectacle. Physical monuments celebrating homegrown Aussie talent appeared across the country – from skywriting above Bondi Beach for CYRIL to a 5 Seconds of Summer Walk of Fame in the Sydney CBD.
The result? Australia’s most-participated Wrapped ever, media engagements well and truly exceeding targets, and a new cultural benchmark for fandom, with a fan even creating an AirTasker listing offering payment for someone to visit the Melbourne keychain activation and collect their reward.
Hightlights reel
Subway: 'Subway Gaming Hub'
Subway entered the gaming space, partnering with Player Media to deliver a first-of-its-kind gaming activation across APAC. The Subway Gaming Hub is a fully customisable, branded and shoppable experience that cleverly closed the loop between
the DoorDash and the Subway app.
Gen Z gaming lovers were invited to sign up to the hub and take part in tournaments and challenges, played in EA FC 25/26 for the chance to earn points and win prizes, including a trip to the EAFC mobile festival in Vietnam.
The Subway Gaming Hub showed how Subway feels native in gaming communities. From the custom, playable SubDog maze ad format, which drove traffic to the Gaming Hub, to live gaming creator streams on Twitch. Every touchpoint was designed to engage, not interrupt.
The results speak volumes, with exceptional click-through rates across Australia and New Zealand, a positive impact on Subcard (Subway’s loyalty program) orders, and strong shifts in brand perception, with audiences more likely to consider Subway cool, innovative, trendy or authentic.
This work represents an ambition Zenith and Subway have held for a long time, and stepping confidently into gaming was a brave, fast and highly collaborative first step.
Zenith's take on 2025
In 2025, Zenith Australia underwent a year of evolution, accelerating its ROI promise by going beyond category norms in product depth, service level and accountability for commercial outcomes.
This approach drove strong growth and was reflected in major client wins, including Honda’s return, and the successful defence of long standing partnerships with ALDI and EssilorLuxottica.
These results contributed to Zenith’s #1 2025 Full Year COMvergence new business ranking, including retentions.
Zenith’s impact was recognised globally, with the agency the only one awarded in the ROI category at the Festival of Media Global Awards, alongside further wins at Festival of Media APAC, the Effies, Spikes and AdFest. Product innovation was driven with ConnectedID, delivering stronger engagement and conversion, supported by ecosystem planning and AI enabled learning across the business.
A strong people first culture underpinned results, with inclusive initiatives and extensive pro bono support for clients, delivering over $11 million in media value and significant fundraising for charity.
Kellyn Coetzee, Sydney head of digital
Kellyn is a true powerhouse. She lifts our people, sparks culture, has developed AI learning, drives client transformation, and delivers standout business impact.
If we were a band, we'd be...
The Wiggles
We’re bright, technicolour and proudly multi generational. We’ve also got our fair share of special friends (Honda our Big Red Car, and Dorothy the Dinosaur is surely on first name terms with the Disney characters!) We also actively encourage our people to prioritise their health – Fruit Salad, anyone?
Fittingly, The Wiggles were the #1 most streamed artist in Australia in 2025, according to our client Spotify. The most chosen artists, just like our 2025 COMVergence new business ranking.
Zenith's
B&T's Agency Score
8.6
Previous season: 8
Critic's Comment
“The Anthony Field of adland delivered on its ROI promise, and some, in 2025. Toot, Toot!”