How Atomic 212° is forging a brave new path for independent agencies

AOY Insights is a series celebrating some of the top wins from Campaign Asia-Pacific's Agency of the Year awards. Join us as we take a closer look at the entries that struck gold this year.

Key win: Australia Digital Innovation Agency of the Year (Gold)

Other wins: Australia Media Agency of the Year (Silver), Australia / New Zealand Performance Agency of the Year (Bronze)

New clients: GWM, BlueScope (Colorbond & TrueCore), Our Watch, Darrell Lea, Busy Bee’s

Key clients: Bupa, Aware Super,  BMW Group (BMW, Mini), GWM, Origin Energy, BlueScope (Colorbond &TrueCore), Craveable Brands (Red Rooster, Oporto, Chicken Treat)

In a market dominated by giant conglomerates with ever present rumblings of further consolidation, Australia’s Atomic 212° had set itself an ambitious goal: to be a Top 5 media agency, in five years, with over $500 million in billings. Atomic 212°’s stellar run at Agency of the Year, including an extremely impressive performance last year clearly indicate that the goal is well within its reach. 

The agency’s success has been built on data-driven media buying, an exceptional client servicing model, and being able to break through the ceiling for independent agencies, competing on rates, technology, and service offering with larger, globally networked competition. CEO Rory Heffernan has continued the agency’s focus on delivering client-centric solutions and products, driving both effectiveness and growth for the agency.

Atomic 212° aims to take the subjectivity out of media planning and is doing so by integrating data sets, building predictive models, and implementing rigorous measurement. Investments to the tune of over $1 million are being channelled towards technology development such as modelling capabilities. To keep themselves accountable to innovating against a rapidly changing landscape, the agency also set itself an aggressive revenue target against brand new products in research, SEO, data, and brand tracking, accomplishing 75% of that goal.

Some of the solutions that have resonated particularly well with clients include market research tool Sonar which offers insights into areas like consumer behaviour, brand tracking and marketing performance. A channel planning tool was created by the agency to systemise, streamline and elevate the media planning process. To date it has reduced the baseline planning process down to 15 minutes from one day, by integrating disparate data sources to inform the most impactful media mix for clients.

Meanwhile the agency continued to develop its impressive data and measurement capabilities, further extending its credentials and capabilities in econometrics and advanced marketing measurement.

Such tools have helped Atomic 212° deliver tangible business results for its clients. For instance, the agency demonstrated proprietary testing and measurement frameworks, that helped Australia-based fast food chain Red Rooster realise considerable savings by switching off a particular channel and demonstrating no loss in business revenue. The budget saved could then be reallocated to more effective channels.

Ready-to-eat-meal category leader My Muscle Chef (MYMC), wished to expand into a new, highly competitive segment. However, by analysing business data, the agency discovered a discrepancy between that segment and customer value, shifting the strategy to focus on expanding acquisition and loyalty within its core audience. At the same time, the agency targeted new customers through a first purchase event and leveraged extensive first party data to build retention campaigns for returning users. The combined approach delivered impressive growth for the client.

Along the way, Atomic 212° also prides itself on being able to retain key clients — its longest relationships with brands like Origin and O’Brien Glass have lasted a decade now and the retention rate over the judging period stood at 81%. The strong retention rates extend to the team as well with 84% staff retained and referrals emerging as the primary source of new hires.

The agency’s approach has impressed the judges who highlighted the “clear vision and set of objectives for staff which consequently they have met and surpassed.” The judges attributed business performance and high staff retention to the specificity of these goals. Even the development programmes from Atomic 212° were praised for being “refreshingly grounded in reality.”