SMART (advertising agency)
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| SMART | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | Sydney, Australia (2000) |
| Founder | Ben Lilley and Paul Findlay |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
| No. of locations | 3 |
| Key people | Ben Lilley, Founder and CEO Ashley Farr, National Planning Director John Mescall, Executive Creative Director |
| Industry | Advertising agency Marketing Branding |
| Services | Brand Advertising, Communication Strategy and Digital Services |
| Website | www.smartinc.com |
SMART is an independent Australian advertising agency with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland. Launched in 2000 as a boutique creative agency, the business has been described by AdNews Magazine as "one of the best known independent advertising agency success stories" in Australia [1].
Contents |
[edit] A ‘Non-Traditional’ 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"[2]. The company's business model has been described as a "borderless" approach [3], bringing together specialists from various locations and disciplines to service its clients' needs.
The firm was originally positioned as a specialist in youth advertising, partly due to the age of its founding partners who were each under thirty when they set up the agency[4]. Marketing magazine B&T named SMART "the New Age ad agency" in its Agency of the Year awards in 2003[5]. It has since been more broadly noted as part of a new breed of agencies who are "breaking away from traditional advertising models" [6].
The media interest in SMART's "non-traditional" model is typical of a broader industry trend being observed in most developed advertising markets[7], with independent agencies like TAXI (advertising agency) and Strawberry Frog (advertising agency) experiencing similar recognition for their unconventional business models.
[edit] Clients and awards
SMART’s creative work has been recognized at advertising award shows including the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, One Show, Clio Awards, New York Festivals and local Australian advertising shows. The business was named B&T Agency of the Year in 2003[8] and was subsequently recognised in the AdNews Agency of the Year Awards in 2004 and 2005, and both the AdNews and B&T Agency of the Year Awards in 2006. SMART has also 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 [10] such as adidas, Coca Cola, Ferrero, Levis, McDonald’s and Unilever.
SMART has been recognised for several Australian agency firsts, such as its appointment by iconic Australian brand Mambo [11], a client who had previously refused to work with advertising agencies. It has also gained infamy for 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 [12]. A stunt that involved agency staff disguising themselves as takeaway delivery drivers to post recruitment advertisements inside competing agencies attracted considerable criticism [13].
[edit] Agency principals
The agency's founding partners were CEO Ben Lilley and designer Paul Findlay. Lilley is a regular media commentator, particularly in the area of youth marketing [14], and was named one of AdNews's forty top industry professionals under forty [15].
SMART’s partners now also include ex-Young & Rubicam strategy planner Ashley Farr and highly-awarded ex-JWT creative director John Mescall, both also regular media commentators. Mescall writes a regular AdNews column, SmartArse, [16] and is an annual on-the-spot reporter from the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival [17]. While the Creative Director of SMART's Sydney office and stand-up comedian, Daniel Gregory, has featured on a television show about advertising, The Gruen Transfer [18] and is author of the book What I Wish I Knew at Eighteen'.
[edit] References
- ^ AdNews, 4 April 2008
- ^ AdNews, 4 April 2008
- ^ B&T Magazine, 2 February 2004
- ^ AdNews, 19 October 2007
- ^ B&T Magazine, 17 September 2004
- ^ AdNews, 22 February 2008
- ^ USA Today, October 9 2005
- ^ B&T Magazine, 17 September 2004
- ^ Business Review Weekly, 14 October 2004
- ^ AdNews, 4 April 2008
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 17 June 2004
- ^ AdNews, 23 April 2004
- ^ AdNews, 13 February 2004
- ^ The Age, 20 April 2004
- ^ AdNews, 19 October 2007
- ^ AdNews 'Smartarse'
- ^ AdNews 'Cannes Chronicle'
- ^ The Age, 28 May 2008
