SMART (advertising agency)

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SMART
TypeIndependently Owned Creative Agency
IndustryAdvertising agency
Marketing
Branding
FoundedSydney, Australia (2000)
FounderBen Lilley and Paul Findlay
Headquarters
Melbourne
,
Australia
Number of locations
3
ServicesBrand Advertising, Communication Strategy, Social Media and Digital Services
Websitesmart.com.au

SMART is an Australian advertising agency with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Brisbane. SMART is an independently managed and owned Australian business.

Launched in 2000 as a boutique creative agency, SMART was established by a group of ex-multinational agency professionals seeking to create "a strategic and creative alternative to traditional agency thinking".[1] The founding partners were each under thirty when they set up the agency. Marketing magazine B&T named SMART "the New Age ad agency" in its Agency of the Year awards in 2003.[2]

In 2011, McCann Worldgroup acquired SMART and replaced the management of McCann Worldgroup Australia with the management team from SMART.[3] In 2020, SMART was reacquired back from McCann Worldgroup by its original founder, Ben Lilley, who runs it as an independent advertising agency once again today.[4]

Clients and awards[]

SMART was named B&T Agency of the Year[2] and has featured in the Business Review Weekly Fast100 list of Australia's fastest growing businesses.[5] The agency is known for taking a selective approach to its clients, focusing on "blue-chip" creative advertisers.[1]

SMART was appointed by Australian brand Mambo,[6] a client who had previously refused to work with advertising agencies. It has also undertaken several unconventional stunts, including sending dwarves to the headquarters of Peugeot in an effort to secure a spot on the car maker's agency pitch list. A stunt that involved agency staff disguising themselves as takeaway delivery drivers to post recruitment advertisements inside competing agencies also raised eyebrows.

Agency principals[]

The agency's founding partners were CEO Ben Lilley and Creative Director Paul Findlay. Lilley is a media commentator, particularly in the area of youth marketing,[7] and was named one of AdNews's forty top industry professionals under forty. The agency's founding leadership team also included creative director John Mescall, writer of Dumb Ways To Die.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Home - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "B&T - Australia's leading title for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries". B&T. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. ^ Hicks, Robin (28 September 2011). "McCann confirms Smart acquisition, Lilley to replace Mort as CEO". Mumbrella. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  4. ^ Wilkinson, Zoe (3 February 2020). "Former CEO Ben Lilley to acquire McCann Australia". Mumbrella. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Careers | Latest News & Analysis | The Australian Financial Review | AFR". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Mambo farewells its flatulent pooch". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  7. ^ "They've got the look". The Age. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
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