‘We just did it’: Atomic 212 Brisbane boss on why it launched in Queensland
Atomic212 has sent a clear message of intent in Brisbane after winning one of the biggest pitches of 2022.
The Entain (Ladbrokes/Ned account), thought to be worth $50-70 million in annual billings, has enabled the agency to bump its Queensland team up to 14 staff. It came after Atomic 212 launched in Queensland in June, having won the Price Attack account, a move Brisbane general manager Damien O’Brien painted as a somewhat of an impulse decision to give the market a crack.
“I think I’m pretty confident we’ve got whoever we need to attack whatever opportunity comes our way. So I think that was it,” he says of the decision to take on the established agency landscape in the sunshine state. “We probably didn’t put as much thought into it as we should. We just did it.”
“Setting up a Brisbane office had been in the frame for years. We have a tonne of great friends and clients all from Brisbane and saw it as a place we wanted to be and a market with real potential in the long term.”
Moving from the Northern Territory to set up the new office after heading up the Darwin shop for four years, O’Brien said he was “somewhat surprised” with how quickly the agency had “managed to enter the market”.
“I don’t think we were coming in thinking we’re going to be sitting in the corner on our own,” he continued. “We just thought it might take a little bit longer.”
Damien O’Brien, Atomic 212 general manager, Brisbane and Darwin
O’Brien said Brisbane had some obvious appeal as it races towards the 2032 Olympics, but it was the relationship-focus of the market that made it a real fit for Atomic 212.
“We’re strong relationship people. We wouldn’t be here without relationships. We have strong relationships with our media partners and our clients that have stuck by us for years and years and years,” he said. “I guess the importance that we put on those things, that’s a bit of a natural fit.”
As to how the agency has been able to differentiate itself from a sea of established holdco media firms in the market, O’Brien said Atomic 212 leans into its origins as a performance agency, in terms of their approach to creating value for clients.
Pitching for Entain last year, he said the agency went into it thinking it would be “pretty tough”, but that it was Atomic 212’s independence and agility that helped it to come out on top.
“That whole process reinforced the product that we do have, and how different it was, and how different our thinking is,” he explained, “because we’re not tied down.”
“We’re able to dive deep on our processes, change really quickly, and come up with solutions that make perfect sense.”
At the crux of the pitch for Entain was the development of a bespoke tool that Brisbane group account director, Kelly Burnham, said a holding company might not have the opportunity or flexibility to create.
“I think a lot of the holding companies do have fantastic resources and tools and systems, but a lot of it is on paper not actually utilized sometimes,” she offered.
Kelly Burnham, group account director, Atomic 212 Brisbane
Having held the account now for five and a half months, Burnham said Atomic 212’s focus will be in “really embedding that account” into the agency.
O’Brien added: “It’s been a big job in terms of transitioning and I’m pumped. I’m excited about where we’ll be.”
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