Small but mighty: independent Bennett Agency wins Effie alongside the world's biggest agency networks
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Bennett Agency won an Effie in the Long-Term Effects – Product category at the Australian Effie Awards, presented in Sydney on Friday 9 October.
The Effies are Australia's premier award for advertising effectiveness. Entries are judged on hard evidence that marketing grew a business, not on creativity alone. This year drew a record 144 finalists, and just 32 agencies were recognised. Bennett Agency, founded in Hobart in 2014, was one of only two winners in its category.
Advertising Council Australia CEO Tony Hale told B&T that entrants must “prove the causal link between the work and the results. That rigour is why the Effies are respected here and recognised as arguably the toughest test of effectiveness in the world.”
The agency's model is part of the story. Strategy is led from Australia, while its creative team, Creative Director Tim McAllister and copywriter Mike Fleming, is based in the United Kingdom, giving a small independent agency access to world-class creative talent.
The winning entry, Original Tasmanian Timber, is an eight-year brand-building campaign for Tasmanian Oak, a hardwood used in flooring, joinery and furniture. When the campaign began, the product had little brand recognition and competed largely on price. Bennett Agency built it into the timber that now leads the category nationally.
Independent brand tracking since 2018 shows:
- Awareness among specifiers rose from 79% to 99%
- Consideration rose from 71% to 96%
- The share who use it most often more than doubled, from 21% to 55%
- The product's price rose 66% in five years, outpacing its competitors
Claire Bennett, founder of Bennett Agency, said:
"The Effies are tough to win because you have to prove your results, and prove they came from the marketing, not from anything else happening in the market. To win one in a room full of the world's biggest agency networks, as a small independent agency founded in Tasmania, tells you effectiveness isn't a function of size. It's about the discipline to build a brand patiently through research, strategy and execution and to measure everything. It also shows great talent isn't bound by geography. My creative team, Tim McAllister and Mike Fleming, are based in the UK, and they're phenomenal."
"Most marketing today chases short-term sales. This campaign is eight years of consistent brand building, and the results show what that patience is worth in real business effects."
"I'm proud to lead an agency that punches well above its weight, and I hope this shows what's possible for businesses of every size. Well-executed marketing drives growth whatever your budget. In fact, the smaller your budget, the harder every dollar has to work. The key to brand growth is consistency over time, and long-term campaigns are the ones we love to run."
The Effie is the campaign's seventh national award. Bennett Agency has previously been named Australian Marketing Agency of the Year (2023), and was a finalist again in 2024 and 2026, and Claire Bennett was a finalist in the Marketing category of the 2026 B&T Women in Media Awards.
