PR has changed dramatically in 18 years. And so has Havas Village Australia’s One Green Bean (ogb). Now more aptly called a creative communications agency, it services its clients with a passion for meaningful, culture-led creativity across its PR, social, influencer and content capabilities, fuelled by innovative use of tech and AI.
Founded in 2007, ogb launched with a fresh take on PR just as the media landscape was being reinvented – Twitter was taking off, Netflix began streaming, and the first iPhone hit the market. And while the power of “culture-driven” campaigns is only beginning to be a full-blown trend in advertising and marketing, ogb has been tapping into culture for 18 years to deliver personality packed ideas, industry firsts and famous campaigns – from the April Fool’s Day Doggy highchair for IKEA to Fair Go Bro starring Doug Pitt (brother of Brad) for Virgin Mobile and delivering MLA’s Summer Lamb campaigns (with The Monkeys, now Droga 5), for the past 11 years and counting. The agency also made history in 2012, becoming the first PR agency in APAC to win a Cannes Lion for its Well-Worn Volley Dunlop Volley campaign, and went on to be named Agency of the Year at many, many award shows.
A new leadership team formed in 2023 with Amber Abbott, CEO; Lauren Bailey, managing partner; and Laura Byrne, head of content, has delivered some of the strongest growth and commercial success in ogb’s history, with an eye firmly on what’s next.
Amber Abbott stated, “ogb is a special place. Our success has been built on creativity, true client partnerships, innovation, and a people-first culture. The secret sauce has always been our talent – a team of smart, passionate people who love what they do and who they do it with. As we grow into our next 18 years, we’ll lean into all those things that got us to where we are today – the tools we use might look a bit different, but we’ll always remain true to our DNA and that means serving up inspiring, personality-packed creative ideas that drive meaningful conversation for our clients.”
James Wright, Group CEO, Havas ANZ and global chair, Havas PR Network, added, “As One Green Bean celebrates this incredible 18-year milestone, it’s a reminder of what makes our Village and our agencies deliberately different. One Green Bean has always been a pioneer and has kept evolving as an ideas-centric agency driving conversation and attention through earned channels and world-class creative thinking.
“ogb maintains its independent spirit, backed by the power of Havas – its big personality holds a valued, vital and special place in our Village. The Beans continue to grow and thrive through shared access to Village intelligence, complementary skills from sibling agencies and IP like AI investment, proprietary research and tools that fuel our integrated approach and collaborative strategic thinking. Under the leadership of Amber, Loz and Laura they have the ideal foundation to propel the agency further into an innovation driven future….and at 18 they are finally old enough to buy me a beer or three.”
18 Years of One Green Bean Milestones:
• 2007 – Founded in Sydney
• 2010 – First PR agency to hire a head of social • 2011 – Bought by Havas and joins the Havas Village
• 2012 – Becomes first PR agency in Asia-Pacific to win a Cannes Lion, for ‘Well Worn’ Dunlop Volley campaign
• 2012 – Wins the first of many Agency of the Year accolades, which it has gone on to achieve across every industry trade show in Australia multiple times
• 2014 – Now CEO Amber Abbott joins as an account executive 11 years and counting with the agency, an incredible trajectory
• 2015 – Opens UK office, introduces enduring positioning, ‘Creativity that Powers Conversation’
• 2015 – Nike and Meat & Livestock Australia become clients – and still are! First of 11 and counting MLA ‘Summer Lamb’ campaigns • 2017 – Officially launches its influencer division
• 2022 – The return of James Wright to Australia in January 2022 as CEO Havas Creative Network
• 2022 – Major recruitment of talent! Lauren Bailey, Managing Partner rejoins ogb and Laura Byrne, joins as Head of Content
• 2022/23 – PR Agency of the Year and Best PR Employer of the Year (again!)
• 2024 – Launches in-house studio team
• 2025 – Certified as a Great Place to Work
As One Green Bean marks its 18-year milestone, Havas Group ANZ is celebrating its own – the launch of a bold new positioning, Deliberately Different, that reinforces the Group’s unique Village model, agencies with the agility and entrepreneurial spirit of an indie, backed by the scale and resources of a global network.
