SMART

SMART, now part of HERO Australia, was launched as a creative independent in 2000 by creatives Ben Lilley, Paul Findlay and John Mescall. The agency began life as a boutique creative agency of five, working with a handful of clients from a drafty church in Melbourne. SMART quickly grew though, to become Australia’s largest independent, with over 100 staff across Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland and New Zealand. The founding vision was “a smarter strategic and creative alternative to traditional agency thinking”; for clients and staff alike. Because its management team worked in multinationals prior to launching SMART, they were dedicated to creating something different. The kind of agency they’d always wanted to work in,but could never find. SMART received significant recognition in the press and award shows the world over. Described by AdNews as “one of the best known independent advertising success stories in Australia” and “the new age ad agency” by B&T Magazine, SMART was recognised in the AdNews, B&T and Campaign Brief Agency of the Year awards, as well as local and global creative and effectiveness award shows including the Effies, Cannes Lions, New York Festivals and One Show. Its clients included adidas, ANZ Bank, Coca Cola, Ferrero, Levi’s, Mambo, McDonald’s, News Limited, Specsavers, Unilever, Volvo and Vodafone. In 2011, SMART was acquired McCann Worldgroup in a ‘reverse takeover’ that saw its leadership take over the managed of McCann across Australia and New Zealand. It was a successful merger that soon saw McCann Australia become the most awarded agency in the world, creating globally recognised work like the iconic Dumb Ways Today, still the most awarded campaign in advertising history. In 2020, both the McCann Australia and SMART businesses were sold to Ben Lilley. Today, SMART continues to operate independently, working alongside McCann as part of local Australian creative independent HERO.