Ben Lilley reboots SMART with Cowan’s Dominic Walsh and Bob Price taking the lead

Ben Lilley is rebooting his former creative agency SMART as a brand innovation consultancy in a move to further diversify the McCann Worldgroup Australia business.

SMART was founded by Lilley, Paul Findlay, John Mescall and Ashley Darr in 2000. SMART was sold to McCann in 2011, and Lilley became the latter’s CEO. Lilley’s February acquisition of McCann Worldgroup Australia saw him repurchase SMART, alongside the Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney operations of McCann and PR agency The Red Republic.

Since it joined McCann, SMART has been operating is a creative boutique, and was integrated into McCann in Sydney in 2018.

Ben Lilley is rebooting SMART