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SMART
Company typeIndependently Owned Creative Agency
Industry Advertising agency
Marketing
Branding
Founded Sydney, Australia (2000)
FoundersBen Lilley, Paul Findlay and John Mescall
Headquarters
Melbourne
Number of locations
3
ServicesBrand Advertising, Communication Strategy, Social Media and Digital Services

SMART is an independent Australian advertising agency with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. SMART was launched in 2000 as a boutique creative agency. Over the next decade the business grew to become Australia's largest independent agency [1] and was described by AdNews Magazine as "one of the best known independent advertising agency success stories in the country". [2] SMART's founders created the most awarded campaign in the history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, [3] Dumb Ways to Die.

Agency principals

SMART was established by a group of ex-multinational agency professionals seeking to create "a strategic and creative alternative to traditional agency thinking". [2] The agency's founding partners were Creative Directors Ben Lilley, Paul Findlay and John Mescall. Lilley is a media commentator, particularly in the area of youth marketing,. [4] He was named one of AdNews's forty top industry professionals under forty and his agency became the most awarded in the world. [5]

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. [6]

In 2011, McCann Worldgroup acquired SMART and replaced the management of McCann Worldgroup Australia with the management team from SMART. [7] In 2020, SMART was reacquired back from McCann Worldgroup by Ben Lilley, who runs it as an independent advertising agency once again today. [8]

Clients and awards

SMART was named B&T Agency of the Year [6] and has featured in the Business Review Weekly Fast100 list of Australia's fastest growing businesses. [9] The agency is known for taking a selective approach to its clients, focusing on "blue-chip" creative advertisers. [2]

SMART was appointed by Australian brand Mambo, [10] 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.

References

  1. ^ Burrowes, Tim (16 June 2010). "Smart acquires The Foundry to become Australia's biggest independent agency". Mumbrella. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Your next target". AdNews. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Quirky 'Dumb Ways to Die' campaign sweeps advertising awards". Reuters. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  4. ^ "They've got the look". The Age. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  5. ^ Murphy, Paige (3 February 2020). "Ben Lilley is the new owner of McCann Australia". AdNews. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b "B&T - Australia's leading title for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries". B&T. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  7. ^ Hicks, Robin (28 September 2011). "McCann confirms Smart acquisition, Lilley to replace Mort as CEO". Mumbrella. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  8. ^ Wilkinson, Zoe (3 February 2020). "Former CEO Ben Lilley to acquire McCann Australia". Mumbrella. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Careers | Latest News & Analysis | The Australian Financial Review | AFR". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Mambo farewells its flatulent pooch". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
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