SYDNEY – Three creative communications agencies, led by M&C Saatchi, made BRW’s Top 10 List of Australia’s Most Innovative Companies.
M&C’s Clever Buoy, a world-first smart ocean buoy that can detect sharks and alert those on the beach via the Optus network, created for the telco’s promotional campaign took 2nd place behind a cloud-based payroll software system created by a company called Xero.
The R&D project, which M&C Saatchi and Optus are driving to commercial viability by next Summer, arose out of a traditional ad brief to prove the efficacy of Optus’s network coverage.
Y&R Group, which won multiple awards for its ‘Air Force FM’ recruitment campaign and a mosquito-repelling beer carton in a campaign created for Papua New Guinea’s SP Brewery emerged in 4th place.
Another multi-awarded campaign ‘XTL’, a youth-focused initiative to promote responsible social media use, propelled UM Australia to 10th place.
M&C Saatchi described its 2nd place as a remarkable result for a marketing services company to finish ahead of the nation’s top software and product developers, science and medical research organizations and some of its largest corporations on the much-anticipated list.
“It’s brilliant for M&C Saatchi but equally it’s great for the industry as a whole to be recognized as ground breaking,” said CEO Jaimes Leggett. “Creativity sits at the heart of any great innovation – big ideas brought to life in new and interesting ways. Creativity has always been our raison d’etre at M&C Saatchi and it’s never been more important. This ranking is vindication of that and the tools and processes we’ve put in place to bring that ideation to life for our clients.”
Leggett paid a special tribute to M&C Saatchi’s clients.
“None of our moves to innovation would have amounted to much without their vision, bravery and support,” he said. “Optus has been simply brilliant in embracing Clever Buoy and helping drive the project to reach its full potential.”
