SMART (advertising agency)

Infobox Company
name = SMART

type = Private
foundation = Sydney, Australia (2000)
founder = Ben Lilley and Paul Findlay
location_city = Melbourne
location_country = Australia
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
homepage = [http://www.smartinc.com/ www.smartinc.com]
intl =

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 [http://www.adnews.com.au/ "AdNews Magazine"] as "one of the best known independent advertising agency success stories" in Australia. [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 4 April 2008] ]

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". [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 4 April 2008] ] The company's business model has been described as a "borderless" approach, [ [http://www.bandt.com.au/news/11/0c01d511.asp B&T Magazine, 2 February 2004] ] 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. [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 19 October 2007] ] Marketing magazine "B&T" named SMART "the New Age ad agency" in its Agency of the Year awards in 2003. [ [http://www.bandt.com.au/ B&T Magazine, 17 September 2004] ] It has since been more broadly noted as part of a new breed of agencies who are "breaking away from traditional advertising models". [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 22 February 2008] ]

The media interest in SMART's "non-traditional" model is typical of a broader industry trend being observed in most developed advertising markets, [ [http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-10-09-goodson-profile_x.htm USA Today, October 9 2005] ] with independent agencies like TAXI and Strawberry Frog experiencing similar recognition for their unconventional business models.

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, [http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/ New York Festivals] and local Australian advertising shows. The business was named "B&T Agency of the Year" in 2003 [ [http://www.bandt.com.au/ B&T Magazine, 17 September 2004] ] 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. [ [http://www.brw.com.au/ Business Review Weekly, 14 October 2004] ]

The agency is known for taking a selective approach to its clients, focusing on "blue-chip" creative advertisers [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 4 April 2008] ] 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, [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/16/1087244976797.html Sydney Morning Herald, 17 June 2004] ] 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. [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 23 April 2004] ] A stunt that involved agency staff disguising themselves as takeaway delivery drivers to post recruitment advertisements inside competing agencies attracted considerable criticism. [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 13 February 2004] ]

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, [ [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/19/1082357106748.html The Age, 20 April 2004] ] and was named one of "AdNews's" forty top industry professionals under forty. [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews, 19 October 2007] ]

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", [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews 'Smartarse'] ] and is an annual on-the-spot reporter from the "Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival". [ [http://www.adnews.com.au/ AdNews 'Cannes Chronicle'] ] 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" [ [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/05/27/1211653999890.html The Age, 28 May 2008] ] and is co-author of the book "What I Wish I Knew at Eighteen".

References

External links

* [http://www.smartinc.com.au Official website]