AKQA

AKQA is an innovation and experience design company that exists to create a better future for some of Australia and New Zealand’s largest brands as a trusted partner in their digital transformation journey. 

AKQA believes that every brand has the ability to reimagine its brand experience, and works with clients to envision a future that expresses the purpose of the business, and solves the needs of the customer in a whole new way. 

Some of AKQA’s partners include Bunnings, Foodstuffs NZ, Deakin University, Australian Super, HESTA, Officeworks and KFC. 

A few proud moments for AKQA over the past 12 months include its pivotal role in Bunnings’ digital transformation, particularly with its maps project; reinventing Deakin University’s Open Day into an immersive online event; and launching the Click for Vic marketplace platform for Visit Victoria. 

CHE Proximity

“Where babies come from”, Genea

CHE Proximity (CHEP) launched an incredible and thought-provoking campaign for fertility experts Genea, “Where babies come from”, that rewrote the age-old story. CHEP threw out the ‘Mum and Dad’ formula and created a campaign that reflects modern and real families on their IVF journey.  

Rather than playing it safe, CHEP rewrote the rules for this campaign and put forward a new image. Usually, fertility campaigns are dominated by depictions of white heterosexual couples. Instead, the agency created a campaign that told the untold IVF story.  

The campaign included an animated film and book that depicted diverse IVF stories in a fun and relatable way. The book covered adult issues and showed different types of IVF journeys, from same sex couples to singles, but was written in a way kids could understand. The idea was to change the normal.  

And, the risk paid off, with the campaign smashing all marketing metrics. Prior to the campaign, Genea was underperforming in key markets of NSW by 3.6 percentage points. Post-campaign, it had outpaced the market by 31.5 percentage points, proving that brave campaigns can cut through and create real change. 

Tinder, GROUND, Queer Agency,
Alley and Banter 

The Tinder Pride Ride

This year, Tinder launched the unforgettable and inclusive “Tinder Pride Ride”, a campaign that connected regional queer folk together and allowed them to celebrate Mardi Gras with a one-of-a-kind experience. 

The campaign was inspired by Tinder’s want to play a bigger role in supporting the LGBTQ+ community after the dating app conducted research that found queer people growing up in regional areas are at higher risk of social isolation. 

Tinder kicked off a TikTok exclusive competition to find young queer folk in regional NSW. Podcaster and queer icon Mitchell Coombs, who grew up in Bogan Gate, launched the competition by asking fans to duet with a popular meme on TikTok: “Tell me you’re out and proud in the country without actually telling me.” 

The winners were then taken on epic and pride-filled road trip. Tinder also created a content series working with three BIPOC influencers – Australia’s most famous Aboriginal drag queen, Felicia Foxxx of the Kamilaroi tribe from Walgett and the Dhunghutti tribe from Kempsey; activist and singer Jamarz on Mars; and beatboxer Bernie van Thiel. 

With the Tinder Pride Ride, Tinder found an authentic role to connect isolated people from the LGBTQ+ community, providing a platform for expression and pride and fun! 

Apparent

What We’re Made Of

Apparent launched an incredibly inclusive campaign for Cricket Australia that championed diversity and inclusion. “What We’re Made Of” successfully reflected on what modern Australia is: a melting pot of diversity. 

The campaign saw Cricket Australia cement itself as an inclusive space that champions women and diversity. 

The organisation highlighted incredible cricketer and proud Muruwari woman Ash Gardner, and threw its weight behind International Women’s Day. 

Apparent, alongside Cricket Australia with a media budget of zero, pointed out that there are 73 statutes of male cricketers but zero of women. The campaign went viral and resulted in over two million in earned media, and it also created real change – there is now a statue of a female cricket player at the SCG.  

The campaign by Apparent successfully helped bring to the attention the injustices in the sport, whilst highlighting how Cricket Australia can do better and will do better.

Abdul Hammoud, Icon Agency 

Abdul Hammoud is one of the most exciting and innovative creatives in adland, and he has only been in the industry for just over a year. His creative work has been described as “fearless” and he has been described as “enriching.” Hammoud is a proud Muslim and offers a unique perspective.  

Interestingly, Hammoud does not have a traditional creative background. He doesn’t have a tertiary education and didn’t attend a trendy ad school. Hammoud cut his teeth by creating art and igniting conversations as a performance artist. This work led him to working at the Icon Agency. 

Joanne Painter, co-founder of The Icon Agency, describes Hammond as: “Talented, strategic, a big-picture thinker with the innate cultural understanding and tolerance to have a foot in both camps without losing legitimacy within his ‘tribe’.” 

This year, Hammoud has worked tirelessly on a government-funded digital initiative for young Muslims called Knafeh & Coffee, which is a three-part series of roundtable discussions on topics like relationships and identity. The series performed incredibly well as the audience saw faces just like theirs doing what they do every day – chat. Hammoud’s work cuts through the noise and always manages to create something meaningful. 

Jen Sharpe, Think HQ

In 2020, when the world was being turned on its head by the pandemic, Jen Sharpe built a new business by championing diversity and driving inclusion to the heart of communications campaigns.  

Sharpe founded Think HQ in 2020. As COVID-19 took hold, she saw the need for vital government education campaigns to reach the one in three Victorians and one in five Australians from non-English speaking backgrounds.  

In response, Sharpe built an in-house localisation and translation arm into the agency, swiftly creating the capability to produce full creative campaigns in 58 languages. She then recruited local translators and community checkers, generating employment for vulnerable workers. 

Think HQ was then able to get culturally and linguistically diverse creative out in dozens of languages at scale and pace. It was beyond successful, with Sharpe helping keep more than 240 external translators employed during the pandemic. 

Furthermore, Think HQ’s business revenue also increased by 107 per cent from June 2020 to May 2021. 

Ultimately, Think HQ was appointed the Victorian government’s crisis communications agency for CALD communications in March 2020, because it was the only provider with the capabilities to do the job.   

Sharpe isn’t just a champion for diversity – she creates opportunities and tangible change. 

Initiative

In a year characterised by chaos, uncertainty and constraint, the people at Initiative didn’t just survive – they thrived, delivering the most transformational year in the agency’s history.  

For Initiative, 2021 was the ‘Year of the Firebrand’ – a simple phrase with a powerful ambition to set the industry alight, spark progressive change, and blaze new trails toward pride and passion. 

This year, Initiative ensured it overrepresented on industry boards and task forces. It changed archaic planning via new-world programs like Beyond 3% and SheQual. 

The agency always took time to take care for its people supporting and encouraging workers, from twice daily check-ins to offering genuine flexibility. Initiative aims to always meet individual workers needs rather than just create overarching policies – something more important than ever during a pandemic.  

Initiative also offered talent opportunities when others wouldn’t by running remote internships. The agency also fought for sustainable pitch and client/agency relationship dynamics and won. 

On every front, Initiative thrived during the pandemic because it always made sure its people came first. 

The Royals

The Royals believes that long-term creative success is achieved by harnessing the power of the most diverse collective possible. This means the agency both champions and nurtures diversity.  

Despite the COVID curveballs this past year, it’s the strength of this aligned culture that saw The Royals record its highest overall Culture Amp confidence score in five years of 90 per cent. 

How exactly did the agency achieve this? Simply by investing in its people. From allowing truly flexible schedules (aka giving people the freedom to tailor their days), to instituting its Wellbeing Assistance Program and personal development plans for staff. The Royals continually invested back into its people during the pandemic.  

The agency has also succeeded by creating a melting pot of talent and reinvesting in that talent, offering support, kindness and space for creativity. This year, The Royals doubled down on its systems and supported its people more than ever.