Whybins Sydney: Mumbrella Creative Agency Review – New business, new capabilities, ‘pretty good’ work
The newly published Mumbrella Creative Agency Review examines Australia’s top 30 ad agencies. Today Robin Hicks examines how Whybin\TBWA\Sydney has fared over the last 12 months.
Whybin\TBWA\Sydney is the third most highly-ranked agency from a multinational network, after Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and Host, and is described by one panellist as “one of the most exciting shops in Sydney”.
Having joined the agency three years ago as general manager, Paul Bradbury is now a year into the role of CEO. In that time Whybins has secured new business wins such as Insurance Australia Group, Energizer and a part of NAB, after a pitch that involved incumbent Clems Melbourne, adding to an impressive client list that includes Apple, Visa, Fairfax and Nissan.
Update: Whybins has just won the Tourism New Zealand business.
The last client to leave the agency was more than two years ago, which is at odds with its lowest rank in our survey – for client stability. It is no surprise, however, to see Whybins register its highest rank for momentum.
One panellist comments: “Unbelievable run in the past 12 months. Extraordinary new business success and the ability to hire talent quickly to keep up with their commercial success. The work’s pretty good too.”
Whybins has produced some interesting campaigns, the better of which has seen Underbelly actor Simon Westaway cast as a creepy bank manager for RaboDirect, and a hapless film lover who misses out on Tropfest tickets in a promotion for the Sydney Morning Herald. However, the agency fares less well for its creative output than in other categories. Whybins’ best traits, according to our survey, are for integration, commercial success and impact on the industry.
And it is a better agency in the eyes of Mumbrella’s readers than our panel, who – possibly because of its massive ANZ win – rate the Melbourne office more highly overall. The year ahead for Whybins will be about digesting its new clients, and kicking on creatively.
It will be interesting to see how the two PR agencies in the group – Fleishman Hillard and Eleven PR – help Whybins raise its profile. Despite the agency’s upward tragectory, the Whybins brand does not possess the buzz factor of its smaller rivals in Sydney.
To read more about Whybin\TBWA\Sydney, including full details on how it was scored by both our expert panel and Mumbrella’s own readers, to view examples of the agency’s work and read its own assessment of its performance, buy a copy of the Mumbrella Creative Agency Review priced at $75. The book features an assessment of the country’s top 30 ad agencies. To buy the book, click here.
