Someone at Buntin had the brilliant idea to raid a colleague’s Saved folder and turn it into a content series. This is exactly the kind of lateral thinking that makes Indie Agency News members worth following.
While major networks continue endless presentations about “AI-powered consumer journeys” and PowerPoints full of indecipherable data visualizations that somehow all look like confetti, these smaller shops are finding inspiration in unexpected places—from Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce collections becoming eBay bidding wars to D/CAL’s playfully puzzling announcement about “new underwear for everyone” alongside their website refresh.
The agencies highlighted here aren’t just doing work; they’re finding clever ways to stand out without resorting to industry buzzwords or predictable approaches. It’s a refreshing alternative to the usual press releases about “synergy” and “disruption.”
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🏆 Trophy Shelf Chronicles
Where accolades meet acknowledgment, without the melodrama
Special New Zealand makes no attempt to contain their pride as Rhiana “Mentee” Merota earned a coveted spot in the LIA Creative LIAisons program. Fresh off her award-winning work for DB’s Cold Call Back Service, she’ll join 124 other emerging creatives in Las Vegas—where presumably what happens there stays there, apart from the career advancement.
Raindrop managed the remarkable feat of collecting three Telly Awards in a single sweep, including Gold for “Better Call Grüns” and “Start With Sprouts Farmers Market,” plus a Silver for their “CAKEStopia” series. The agency’s press release somehow resisted using the phrase “it’s raining awards,” showing admirable restraint.
Reach Agency is celebrating a Telly Award for their Lil Jon x Natural Vitality campaign in the Brand Collaboration category. The partnership evidently turned down the mundane and turned up results—a strategy that appears to be working consistently well for them.
Klick had a particularly glittering month, sharing their impressive Clios haul with mathematical precision: 8 Gold, 5 Silver, 12 Bronze, and “endless smiles.” If that weren’t enough, they also celebrated Jillian Baum being named a 2025 Clio Health Innovator, an honor that recognizes behind-the-scenes visionaries whose leadership shapes standout campaigns. One imagines their trophy cabinet requires industrial-strength reinforcement at this point.
🚀 Campaign Showcases With Substance
Launches that didn’t just make noise; they made sense
GYK has sauce enthusiasts opening their wallets for Sweet Baby Ray’s limited edition “30 Rack”, a collection featuring every flavor in the portfolio. The campaign celebrates those who boldly live “sauce first”—an ethos that apparently resonates strongly enough to drive eBay bidding wars through May 21st. The condiment collectibles have reportedly reached hundreds of dollars, suggesting there’s a previously untapped market for sauce-based memorabilia that other CPG brands will surely be scrambling to exploit.
VaynerMedia APAC flipped the traditional taste narrative for PepsiCo with their platform “You Can’t Hide Great Taste.” Rather than simply declaring deliciousness, they collaborated with street photographers to capture authentic “Taste Face” reactions. The revolutionary concept of showing rather than telling apparently remains groundbreaking in 2025.
🤝 Unexpected Bedfellows
Partnerships that raise eyebrows (in a good way)
Solve continues to deepen their partnership with HBCU Morgan State University, which has become intrinsic to the agency’s identity. What began as “Project Pipeline” has evolved into a relationship that the agency welcomes every opportunity to discuss—a refreshing take on collaboration that extends beyond the typical client-agency transactional dynamic.
Trade School celebrated their 11-year partnership with The Home Depot via the time-honored tradition of a pickleball tournament. Nothing says “successful long-term client relationship” quite like competitive paddle sports.
BackPocket Agency has been translating complex topics into elegant design for ASQ’s Lean & Six Sigma Review. The latest issue is “hot off the presses and about to hit homes,” delivering material that would otherwise induce immediate sleep in a visually compelling format that might actually get read.
🔍 Numbers Worth Knowing
Research that doesn’t just collect dust
Hatch shared a telling statistic: freelancers now represent over 50% of the creative workforce in marketing and advertising. The gig economy continues its relentless march through creative departments everywhere, making the agency holiday party headcount increasingly difficult to predict.
Delve Deeper published data revealing that most digital programs are running at negative RoAS—and no one wants to admit it. Their Digital Fundraising Report puts hard numbers to a problem many organizations would prefer to keep quietly buried in spreadsheets, providing an uncomfortable reality check for anyone still believing their digital strategy is performing better than it actually is.
🎙️ Conversations Worth Catching
Industry chatter that rises above the noise
House of Rabbits! CCO Daniela Vojta sat down with The Gerety Awards Indie Founders Series to discuss why “fortune favors creativity.” The discussion neatly avoided the cliché of declaring creativity “the new currency,” opting instead for the slightly less worn metaphor of luck favoring the creative.
Buntin launched a series built around the universal truth that everyone knows someone with a goldmine in their Saved folder. The agency’s approach transforms this digital hoarding tendency into content worth sharing—the intellectual equivalent of turning water into wine.
👋 Fresh Faces & New Directions
Personnel moves that might actually matter
St. John introduced Aimee, their new social strategist, who apparently “knows how to make brands worth following”—a skill set that, if genuine, should command a salary well into seven figures. She previously elevated Harry’s Pantry from unknown to “must-follow,” suggesting either remarkable talent or a previously untapped public fascination with pantry organization.
Pereira O’Dell made organizational moves, elevating two longtime Creative Directors, Julie Rutigliano and Fernando Pallares, to Executive Creative Director roles. In what appears to be a strategic talent retention play, the announcement tactfully avoided stating whether this was a reward for loyalty, exceptional work, or simply the inevitable march of title inflation. Later posts highlighted their work with Mother London and Culture Amp, suggesting the newly promoted ECDs will have plenty to keep their expanded titles busy.
✨ Clever Ideas That Caught Fire
Creativity that extends beyond the press release
D/CAL has been notably prolific, announcing “a fresh internet website and new underwear for everyone” at dcalagency.com—leaving delightfully unclear whether the agency is pivoting to apparel or simply celebrating their digital refresh with new foundation garments. Not content with just digital renovations, they also highlighted findings from the Lions State of Creativity Report 2025, where 51% of brand leaders believe their authentic voice is critical—yet ironically, many still struggle to find it. The agency appears to be simultaneously solving brand identity crises and potentially launching an underwear line, making them this month’s masters of productive contradiction.
BarkleyOKRP shared Creative Week wisdom from Ben Pfutzenreuter, who defined creativity as “just eccentric helping.” The refreshingly straightforward definition cuts through the industry’s tendency to mystify its own processes, while simultaneously justifying every odd habit creative departments have ever cultivated.
🧩 Hard to Pin Down (But Worth a Look)
Defying categorization since 2025
Campfire offered the philosophical reminder that “all the technology in the world cannot replace the power of a well-told story”—a sentiment expressed, ironically, on a technology platform. The observation manages to be both timeless and timely as AI continues to infiltrate creative processes. In another introspective moment, the agency ruminated on the value of “creativity that sticks” at Programmatic I/O, suggesting a continued preoccupation with the human elements of brand communication even while surrounded by ad tech.
SRH teased that for “the rare few who suspect there might be more to the story”, there’s a full dispatch available on their site. The hint at hidden depth plays to every agency person’s conviction that they’re among the select few who truly grasp the nuance others miss. They doubled down on this intellectual exclusivity by advising readers to “Stop making sense. Start making magic” in another post—an approach that somehow manages to be both pretentious and refreshingly honest about what most agencies are actually selling.
Artemis Ward published the latest issue of “The So What,” where senior copywriter Olivia DuCharme unpacks the rise of longevity tech and poses uncomfortable questions about who benefits from the quest for extended life. The piece straddles the line between industry commentary and existential inquiry—raising the intriguing possibility that an agency blog might actually contain something worth reading.
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