Telstra dials-in TBWA and Bear Meets Eagle on Fire for creative duties; big names out

News 17 Oct 2023 - 3 min read

Telstra dials-in TBWA and Bear Meets Eagle on Fire for creative duties; big names out

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Brent Smart has shaken up his creative roster a year into his tenure as Telstra CMO

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The telco had previously worked with The Monkeys, CHEP and DDB, but has overhauled its roster, following a competitive review. The new partnership combines Telstra’s media agency OMD with indy Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and network agency TBWA in a bespoke unit called '+61'.

Telstra has appointed TBWA and Bear Meets Eagle on Fire as its next creative agency partners.

The shake-up sees Telstra end its relationship with The Monkeys, which has worked with telco since the late-2000s. The Monkeys has worked on some of Telstra's iconic campaigns, including the well-received This is Footy Country. CHEP and DDB severed ties with Telstra earlier in the review process.

Telstra CMO Brent Smart called a creative review 12 months after taking over the CMO reins from Jeremy Nichols, who changed roles to manage the telco’s digital sales and service operations.

At the time the review was called, it was rumoured that Telstra was looking to shake-up its creative agency model.

One idea that has previously been floated is that it would look to emulate an agency partnership similar to Apple’s bespoke agency The Media Labs, which is a sole multi-office creative shop for Apple led by TBWA in the US.

TBWA\Australia – the self confessed “disruption company” – has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. It was second top Agency Network at this year’s AWARD Awards behind Special Group, and its clients include Kellogg’s, NAB, Victorian Government, Heinz, Tourism New Zealand and mycar. Its work R (Return) Plates campaign for mycar picked up a Cannes Lions Bronze award for brand Experience and Activation.

Bear Meets Eagle on Fire is widely regarded as one of the hottest indies, claiming the AWARD Award for best individual agency. The US trade publication AdAge recently awarded the agency Small Agency of the Year, International, Silver. Bear Meets Eagle's work for NRMA and a black and white cartoon ad for trading platform Stake received wide acclaim. Coincidentally, the agency recently hired award-winning creative director Cass Jam from CHEP.

Smart, who has a team of around 300 marketers, previously worked with The Monkeys and CHEP during his time as the CMO of IAG.