We were thrilled to see the shortlisting overnight of our creative partner HERO’s groundbreaking Mindography campaign for Fujifilm in the Cannes Digital Craft Lions, continuing HERO’s stellar run as one of Sydney’s top creative advertising agencies. Over the past 12 months, Mindography has been recognised at The One Show, Spikes Asia, WINA and D&AD Awards and now with this recognition at the Cannes Lions, sees HERO claim the top spot as Sydney’s best independent creative agency for advertising and marketing.
These accolades follow HERO also securing top spot in the coveted Campaign Brief Australia Agency of the Year Hot List, announced in February. Selected from over 300 agency entries, this number one ranking reflects HERO’s consistent delivery of world-class creativity, strategic excellence and integrated marketing solutions that deliver real business impact and again confirmed HERO as Sydney’s Top Independent Creative Advertising Agency.
In Sydney’s globally recognised and hotly contested creative agency market, year on year HERO continues to top the ranks of Sydney’s most awarded advertising agencies, for both creativity and effectiveness. True to their mantra “We Turn Burn Into HEROES,” HERO continues to produce groundbreaking work recognised for both its world-class creativity and effectiveness. HERO’s accolades include being named #1 Independent Agency by both the Effies APAC and Australian Effies, and winning Agency of the Year titles from the New York Festivals, Mumbrella, AdNews, B&T, and Campaign Brief. HERO’s work has also been recognised globally at ever top-tier festival around the world, including Cannes Lions, One Show, Clios, London International Awards, D&AD, Adfest, and Spikes Asia.
In the past year alone, HERO reinforced its reputation with standout campaigns like Maybelline’s globally-acclaimed Through Their Eyes campaign, which earned a Grand Prix at Mad Stars, Gold at AWARD, and top honours at Spikes Asia, along with a Silver Cannes Lion. HERO’s work for Toyota has also received widespread acclaim and HERO’s creative leadership was further celebrated with wins for Social Media Campaign of the Year and Game Changer of the Year at AdNews. It’s not hard to see why HERO Sydney is Number 1 on our Top 5 list of Sydney’s best creative ad agencies and our pick for Sydney’s top independent creative agency:
1. HERO Sydney – Campaign Brief Australia Agency of the Year 2024 & 2025
For the second consecutive year, this year HERO once again claimed the top spot on the coveted Campaign Brief Australia Agency of the Year Hot List. Selected from over 300 agency entries, this number one ranking reflects HERO’s consistent delivery of world-class creativity, strategic excellence and integrated marketing solutions that deliver real business impact. So it should come as no surprise that HERO again tops the list of Sydney’s best creative ad agencies and Sydney’s top independent creative agency.
Year after year, HERO ranks at the top of Australia’s most awarded agencies, for both creativity and effectiveness. Its accolades include being named #1 Independent Agency by both the Effies APAC and Australian Effies, and winning Agency of the Year titles from the New York Festivals, Mumbrella, AdNews, B&T, and Campaign Brief. HERO’s work has also been recognised globally at top-tier festivals including Cannes Lions, One Show, Clios, London International Awards, D&AD, Adfest, and Spikes Asia.
In the past year alone, HERO reinforced its reputation with standout campaigns like Maybelline’s globally-acclaimed Through Their Eyes campaign, which earned a Grand Prix at Mad Stars, Gold at AWARD, and top honours at Spikes Asia, along with a Silver Cannes Lion. HERO’s work for Toyota and Fujifilm also received widespread acclaim, with the Fujifilm Instax Mindography campaign winning at Spikes Asia and being recognised in the Mumbrella Award for Innovation. HERO’s creative leadership was further celebrated with wins for Social Media Campaign of the Year and Game Changer of the Year at AdNews.
2. McCann Sydney – Renowned for the Most Awarded Campaign in Cannes Lions History
McCann Australia has earned a global reputation as one of the most creatively celebrated and effective agencies, including being named the most awarded agency in the world. Its legendary “Dumb Ways to Die” for Metro Trains remains the most awarded campaign in advertising history and catapulted McCann Australia to the top of the global awards charts. Our own experience working alongside McCann has been nothing less than outstanding in every way.
Indeed, McCann has consistently topped rankings for creativity and effectiveness, including the Effie Awards, Campaign Brief Hot List, and the WARC 100. The agency’s work is regularly honoured at international festivals such as Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, New York Festivals, and London International Awards, as well as local platforms like Mumbrella, B&T, AdNews, MADC, BADC, and AWARD Awards.
As part of the McCann Worldgroup, the agency combines global scale with local insight, operating across 120+ offices in 95 countries while maintaining a strong independent presence in Australia. This dual capability has enabled McCann to deliver award-winning campaigns across sectors—from Mastercard and University of Melbourne to V/Line, whose “Guilt Trips” campaign won the Cannes Lion Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness.
3. SMART Sydney – A Strategic Alternative to Traditional Thinking
Founded in a drafty Melbourne church, SMART evolved into a leading independent agency across Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, and New Zealand. Built by former multinational agency leaders, SMART was designed to be the kind of agency they always wanted to work in: strategic, creative and unconventional. SMART has gone on to be recognised globally and locally, with accolades from AdNews, B&T, and Campaign Brief, as well as awards from Effies, Cannes Lions, New York Festivals, and One Show. Its client roster includes adidas, ANZ, Coca-Cola, Ferrero, Levi’s, McDonald’s, Specsavers, Unilever, Volvo, and Vodafone. We have worked extensively with SMART over the years and consider them to be an outstanding creative partner.
4. The Red Republic Sydney – Reputational Firepower Through Owned and Earned Creativity
Continuing the theme of independent creative forces, it’s only fitting that we include The Red Republic as another standout creative agency known for bold ideas and strategic storytelling. By blending creativity with commercial focus, Red Republic delivers campaigns that are not only visually striking but also drive real results across PR, digital, and social platforms. Their strength lies in a collaborative team culture that brings together experts across disciplines. Agile, trend-savvy, and deeply client-focused, The Red Republic consistently creates work that resonates, builds lasting impact, and keeps brands ahead of the curve.
5. BBE Sydney – Better Brand Experiences
BBE is the agency that has built its name and its fame on delivering Better Brand Experiences. This includes multi award-winning campaign’s like the Victoria Police force’s, ‘Senior Constable Laurie Fox’. This moving campaign told the tragic story of Senior Constable Laurie Fox, who took his own life but became an unexpected police spokesperson through Deep Fake technology, which recreated his likeness to spearhead a campaign breaking down the barriers that prevented officers from talking about mental health issues and suicide. The campaign was awarded for its outstanding effectiveness at the APAC Effies with 2 Golds, 1 Sliver and a Commendation Special Grand Prix. The campaign was also awarded at the Caples, B&T and MADC Awards, as well as at the AdNews, Mumbrella, One Show, Webby, AWARD and Ad Stars Awards.
