Smart (advertising agency)

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.

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

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. "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. "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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