Meet The Team: BMF is AdNews Agency of the Year

Creative agency BMF has been named AdNews Agency of the Year, sponsored by TikTok.

The company also was named Creative Agency of the Year and won Ad Campaign of the Year, racking up a total of seven nominations across the awards. 

It’s the first time that BMF has won the AdNews Agency of the Year award, though it did win Direct Agency in 2005 and Sydney Agency of the Year in 2002.

With BMF only a few years away from celebrating its 30th anniversary, BMF CEO Stephen McArdle says the agency has a lot to celebrate since its inception in 1996.

“We’ve been lucky enough to have achieved a lot in the past 26 years. One of the standout moments before my time was in 2010 when we won an agency of the decade award, which points towards the ability to, within a relatively short space of time, turn a startup into a really meaningful business that delivers great work consistently, over a long period of time. 

“For me personally, becoming the Effies Effective Agency of the Year in 2017 was definitely a special moment in time for BMF. That was what we really aimed for when we repositioned the agency as the ‘The Home of the Long Idea’, a positioning that’s in service of marketing effectiveness. Following that up in 2019 underlined the importance of creatively driven brand building and proved our approach wasn’t a flash in the pan. 

“More recently we were ranked number three in the world for creative effectiveness and number one in Australia on the WARC 100 Effectiveness Ranking, which was another endorsement of our marketing effectiveness, positioning, and the work we do.”

Department of Social Services’ ‘Bring up Respect’ campaign

Over the past six months, BMF has made a number of key hires across their creative, social and content divisions, as well as appointing a new head of effectiveness – a trend that reflects BMF’s growth overall and ties into the strategy for expanding their capabilities in 2023.

“We've had our biggest couple of years of growth, growing by over 30%, which gave us the opportunity to expand our capabilities. Within content and social, we’ve hired a number of people and built in more strategic capabilities to lead into the content production side.

“With regards to creative talent, we love to get the best people from around Australia, but we also keep our eyes on the US and the UK. In the past six months, we've been lucky enough to hire some great people from the world’s best agencies.”

BMF is known for being the ‘Home of the Long Idea’, an agency positioning that informs every piece of work that the creative agency produces. This allows an idea to come to life over a sustained period of time as opposed to a single campaign that’s never revisited.

“In terms of the theory behind a Long Idea, we talk to the fact that building trust is the number one guarantor of business success. The reality of that is that authenticity and truth is critical. The best way of explaining that is to point to an example, such as ALDI’s ‘Good Different’.”

A shot from inside the BMF office

BMF won Ad Campaign of the Year in the 2017 Agency of the Year Awards for ‘Good Different’, while also claiming the AdNews Effectiveness Award in 2019 for ‘Good Different: Questioning the Cult of Loyalty’.

“Good Different was developed when ALDI had been in the Australian market for 15 or 16 years and had experienced extraordinary growth, but they needed to engage a resistance segment of customers - customers who didn't really quite get the ALDI thing. 

“Shopping at ALDI is not your usual grocery shopping experience, and it’s definitely not like Coles and Woolworths - you won’t get a full ski outfit with your carrots there! Good Different is all about reflecting that truth. So, we built a story and narrative around that, which at that time, was about helping people understand why the business model was different and how they managed to keep their prices so low. 

McArdle said that the other key part of building a Long Idea is around the concept of ‘the fresh and the familiar’: you don't want ideas to be so fresh that consumers don’t understand the concept, but similarly you don't want it to come across as too familiar so people don’t bother to think twice about it.

Giving an example, McArdle pointed to BMF’s ‘Come Down For Air’ campaign for Tourism Tasmania.

Tourism Tasmania’s ‘Come Down For Air’ campaign

“If you think about that line, Come Down for Air, it’s common vernacular with a twist, which plays to the absolute truth of Tasmania - it’s the antidote to the relentless pressures of modern-day living.

“Beyond that emotional benefit, it’s the most southern part of Australia, and when the wind is blowing in the right direction, it’s the purest air in the world! Obviously, there’s a narrative that you've got to tell through execution, but a platform like this gives you the ability to build on it over time whilst still keeping it fresh.

“In the cases of Good Different and Come Down For Air, there were multiple campaigns over multiple years. For ‘Good, Different’, Christmas is a particular time when we need to embrace the season and retail hard, so we developed ‘You Can’t Overcook Christmas’, which has been a creative standout.”

McArdle said that with many agencies performing similar work in similar areas, it’s ultimately the output and the culture that differentiates BMF from other agencies in the market, something the agency prides itself on both internally and externally.

“To thrive, rather than just survive, it’s imperative we create a place where people feel safe and supported, a place which allows people to experiment and fail in the quest for work that’s fresh, distinctive, and effective. Doing this breeds creativity and bravery. 

“When we set the positioning up for Home of the Long Idea, we also redefined our internal values. We previously had a set of six words, but no one could remember more than three of them. We wanted to articulate something more distinctive, compelling, and ownable, something more BMF. ‘Cheeky, Gutsy, Humble’ were the three values we landed on. 

Australia for UNHCR’s ‘The Reluctant Shanty campaign

“While there are other agencies who are pretty good on the effectiveness front, our culture, the nature of the style of the work we produce, and ultimately the outcomes we deliver, is often what sets us apart.”

Having been at BMF for over 11 years now – and having served as CEO since July 2020 – McArdle said he’s seen the industry not only move much more to embracing technology, but also an embracing of the value of long-term ideas.

“In 2012, we built a direct business for Commbank that largely involved dropping letters on people’s door mat! Now it’s all about the tech, CX, AI, and deep personalisation. 

“When we defined the ‘Home of the Long Idea’, it was at a time when marketing technology and social media were starting to dominate. This meant the majority of marketing was focused on the short-term and brand building work was really starting to suffer. So really, ‘Home of the Long Idea’ was pushing against the current at the time, but it felt like that was our special sauce. Something BMF had been built on and something we certainly saw as critical to the future of marketing effectiveness.” 

Jessica Sutanto, Planning Director

What’s the biggest challenge in your role?  

Making sure to get enough stimulus. As our time gets crunched it’s too easy to draw on things we know or hit up comfort sources. So, one of the biggest challenges is to be rigorous enough, have really varied inputs, check my own biases, and safeguard time to twiddle my thumbs, see, feel, watch, read, and experience things broadly for the sake of it, not just in the context of a brief. 

What attracted you to BMF? 

For me, it was threefold: The clients, the work, and Christina Aventi. 

The clients:  Getting to tackle thorny problems like domestic violence is both interesting and fulfilling.

The work: BMF builds brands with real personality and a full spectrum of tone. Brands that make me want to go full pagan ritual and then also trust tradies enough to get a reno.  

And Christina Aventi – enough said.  

What are you focused on for 2023? 

A new normal! But really… I’m not sure I can deeply concentrate in an open plan office anymore, I have too much FOMO. So, 2023 is about finding a new equilibrium, between office collaboration and solitary confinement to develop a better working rhythm. Also getting out of the content funk, consuming more stuff, from more sources…but also in moderation.

Josie Fox, Associate Creative Director

What’s the biggest challenge in your role?  

I would say the biggest challenge for all creatives is getting great work made. Back when I was a junior, I attended a talk where a panel was asked a series of questions, one of which was: ‘what’s the most important quality of a creative?’. My favourite response was ‘a short-term memory’. The panellist went on to explain that great creatives need to be able to come at the 3rd debrief with the same enthusiasm as the 1st. And given the current advertising, and broader global climate, this sentiment is still incredibly relevant. Research, feedback, or just the call of the beach on a hot day while working from home - all have the ability to challenge even the most motivated of us. But channelling our inner goldfish can sometimes be the trick to pushing past good to great. (And the occasional lunch time dip!) 

What are you focused on for 2023? 

Helping see the BMF netball team to victory. But more broadly, developing my style as a creative leader. Thankfully, adland continues to evolve its archetype of a creative leader. And the industry not only recognises but celebrates people who break that mould. For me, it’s really important to hone my leadership skills in a way that feels true to who I am. I was awarded ‘Most Emotional’ student at my year 12 graduation, and while it wasn’t intended as a compliment I see my emotions as a strength, particularly when it comes to being a creative director. I plan to spend the year leading with empathy and creating an environment where everyone is comfortable to be their emotional selves too.  

What do you love most about your role? 

Forgive the cliché but I love the diversity. One day I’m hyper focussed on Turduckens, and the next I’m guiding teams to help improve the mental health of young Australians. As an ACD, I’m able to flex both my creative and creative directing muscles in the same day. Cracking a brief yourself, and guiding teams to do the same are entirely different experiences but are equally rewarding. 

Aisling Colley, General Manager

What’s the biggest challenge in your role?

I’d say maintaining our famous culture.  It’s literally the most important thing to protect, but also the most challenging. Protecting the culture of the agency is fundamentally protecting our people and our values, so we’re consistently producing work that’s world class. Culture can’t be set and forgotten. We’re keeping an eye on it daily… are there good vibes flowing? Awesome, let’s find out why and grab it by the horns. Are there weird vibes this week? Not so awesome, let’s find out why and make them go away.  

What attracted you to BMF?

Everyone always talked about BMF: the work, the people, and the fact it was hard to get into (mostly because nobody ever left?!). I had a lot of retail experience and back in 2012 a job popped up working as an Account Manager on ALDI. It was the perfect opportunity to break in and I’ve been at BMF ever since. There’s no way you can stay in a company for 11 years and not enjoy it. The work is brilliant, we have fun making it, and it’s effective - who wouldn’t want to be part of this agency when you’re constantly learning, challenged on the daily, and producing great work with brilliant people by your side? 

What are you focused on for 2023?

Having been out last year on mat leave means I’m in an optimal position to provide a fresh perspective on what’s working well and what needs optimisation. This includes supporting my existing clients, one of them being ALDI – it’s been a relationship I’ve been nurturing for 11 years out of our 21-year partnership – so a big focus is to ensure our QA is of the highest standards across the board. And given long term partnerships are our BMF superpower, nurturing new client relationships will also form part of the plan for the year…all whilst making sure our lovely culture is protected and humming so we’re our best selves.  

Lincoln Grice, Head of Art & Design

What attracted you to BMF? 

I have been at BMF for almost 10 years, with a little hiatus in the middle. Asking what attracted me to BMF is probably less relevant than the question ‘what keeps me at BMF?’. I have never not enjoyed being here. There is a little term we use at BMF - it’s part lame, but mostly awesome - of a BMF boomerang. We use it for ‘consummate BMFers’, who know where their bread is buttered, and so they return to BMF after leaving. I’m a proud boomerang. BMF is a place where you get treated like a human being first, you get backed to make the most creative work possible and get to be part of a truly vibrant and caring culture. It is exactly what you want to make it. The harder you engage in the work and the culture, the more you get out of it.   

What are you focused on for 2023? 

2022 was very much a breakout year for the design and craft peeps of BMF. Having always excelled at this side of things, we had been building towards being recognised for it. Winning a branding, design & CX agency of the year award was both hugely exciting and largely unexpected. But the truth is we had been working towards it for some years. 2023 is about consolidating that win as a platform to really hone in on more branding and design specific work.

What do you love most about your role? 

To say ‘the people’ feels like the most boring answer I could give. But it’s so true. I never have to drag myself to work. I am always challenged and encouraged by my mates at work. Getting people together to get the best results is highly rewarding. And seeing teams improve, progress, and succeed is actually pretty addictive. So, if that’s boring. I’ll take it any day.