Laura Aldington (above left), former chief executive officer of Host/Havas and Host, and the current deputy chair of the Advertising Council of Australia’s board of directors; Simone Gupta (above middle) ex-chief executive officer of Havas PR, One Green Bean, Red Havas and entertainment agency, Organic; and Jon Austin (above right) former executive creative director of Host/Havas and Host (who also oversaw creative across One Green Bean and Red Havas) have co-founder a new agency, Supermassive, “with an ambition to set a new benchmark in effective non-traditional advertising and earned media”.
“A study by the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC)[1] of the 100 most effective campaigns concluded that ‘the most effective ads, all over the world, no longer look like ads. The top campaigns frequently used fame-building tactics, often built on a highly PR-able idea, with media in support; sociability, spin, salience and spectacle’,’” Aldington explained.
“Supermassive’s mission is to partner with brands who share our belief that to be effective, they need to entertain more than interrupt; lean into popular culture and not compete with it; outsmart when they can’t outspend, and make people want things by making things they actually want. We combine disciplined brand strategy with deep earned expertise, and put it in the hands of a creative leader with an exceptional track record in this space.
“91%[2] of people think advertising is more interruptive than ever. We want our ideas to exist and thrive where our audience do, in the forms they love. We want ideas that draw people in on their own terms, rather than pushing unwelcome into their lives. That’s not to say paid media doesn’t play a hugely important role in what we do, but we’re setting out to augment and amplify what goes into those channels so that our ideas can travel beyond their paid reach.”
Together, the Supermassive founders have been recognised at the Effies, Cannes, D&AD, LIAs, Clios, One Show and Spikes as well ad local shows, most recently the highly awarded Crime Interrupted podcast for the Australian Federal Police, which became the 2nd most popular in the country.
“We’ve worked in agencies that broke convention, businesses with agility and imagination like Host, One Green Bean and Anomaly NYC, and we have massive respect for the indie agency scene in Australia,” stated Gupta.
“We share a reputation for creating inclusive and kind cultures, with agencies under our leadership frequently featuring on ‘Best Place to Work’ shortlists. Our black book is bursting with world class talent, creators and collaborators across music, tech, gaming, sport and entertainment, keeping us in lockstep with culture. We’re bringing all of this knowledge together to create a fresh operating model that builds bespoke teams around what a client needs, rather than serving them what we have.”
The trios most famous work includes effective and non-traditional campaigns for brands such as Air New Zealand, The Body Shop, Amazon Alexa, Booking.com, The Palau Legacy Project; Tourism Fiji, and the Australian Federal Police .
Aldington added, “While it’s not relevant to our core proposition, we’re also proud to be one of Australia’s first majority female-founded creative agencies. Sim and I have both long advocated for gender equality in our industry, and with less than 1%[3] of agencies worldwide owned by women, it’s a privilege for us to be flying that flag at Supermassive.”
Supermassive is already working on projects. More news to follow.
[1] World Advertising Research Centre Effective 100 Report , 2019/20
[2] HubSpot Research, 2020
[3] Adweek, 28th March 2022.
