Clems Sydney: Mumbrella Creative Agency Review – growth machine in need of a creative lift to ‘stand out’
The newly published Mumbrella Creative Agency Review examines Australia’s top 30 ad agencies. Today Robin Hicks examines how Clemenger BBDO Sydney has fared over the last 12 months.
Clemenger BBDO Sydney just misses out on our top ten table for its total score in our survey. With a reputation as a solid performer that produces some respectable work for clients such as Hungry Jack’s, Virgin Australia and Wrigley, the agency’s new business-winning streak made up for losing Vodafone, Codral and Air New Zealand; Clems can look back on a good year.
Winning 12 new clients, including Foxtel, Hungry Jack’s and Virgin Australia, which it helped rebrand from Virgin Blue, has seen the agency added 72 new people since September last year. Clems can now be called a genuinely big agency with 164 staff, and reports revenue up by 42% and profits up 86%. But opinion varies among the panel. One describes it as “an excellent all-round performer that’s been on top of its game for a long time now.”
Another calls it a “middle of the road agency that could learn something from its Melbourne sibling.”
72 new people….to make up for the ones that made a mass exodus?
A freelancer’s observation for Clems and others.
Freelancing around Sydney I’ve discovered something quite remarkable. Almost all agencies in Sydney have creatives who can come up with award winning ideas. But only the awarded agencies have account service people with the persistence and fearlessness to sell the concepts – and then keep them sold.
It’s the suits people!
@Peter I’ve worked at enough places to call BS on that one. In my experience I’ve seen plenty “designers” and dreadfully few “creatives”.
I agree with Peter. Plenty of shops that have award winning ideas sold into clients by great creatives, only for the suits to find ways of unravelling them before they hit production.
Anon, you must be working for the wrong places.
However, pointing the finger doesn’t help. We need to find ways of making it work. It’s hard, but whoever gets it right will kill it. I reckon a good start is demanding awarded account service – not just in effectiveness, but also creatively. Pretty hard for a creative to get a gig these days without shiny things, why is it different for suits?