What Akcelo does

Akcelo is a Sydney-headquartered brand experience and innovation agency founded in 2015, operating across five offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Vancouver, London, and Los Angeles. The company delivers end-to-end brand transformation services spanning ten core offerings: Brand Platforms, Integrated 360 Campaigns, Customer Experience, Events & Experiential, Social & Content (AI-assisted), Gaming & Promotions, Retail & Merchandising, Platforms & Technology, Martech & Data, and Visual Identity & Design. Its stated differentiator is a proprietary 'Brand Experience (BX)' methodology positioning the firm against utility-focused CX competitors by emphasizing emotional, integrated brand moments over frictionless but forgettable interactions.

Akcelo's technology stack is platform-agnostic by design, drawing on partnerships with Adobe, Sitecore, Acquia, Salesforce, SAP, and AWS for delivery, and with Snap, Meta, and Google for distribution and creative collaboration. The company has produced notable experiential and integrated work for global brand owners including McDonald's (Squid Game: Dare To Play, Mates Make It Macca's, FIFA Women's World Cup Fry Thru), Netflix (Squid Game Sydney, Stranger Things The Upside Down Under), TikTok (2024 Olympics), Gatorade (Water Wasn't Made For This, Sweat Exchange), PlayStation (Spider-Man 2 Spectacular Save), LEGO (Playwaves Google Assistant voice experience), Anytime Fitness (Find Your Fitphoria), Amazon (Giftmania), and Victoria Bitter (Very Bitter Tissues).

The business model rests on three revenue streams: long-term Agency of Record retainers (subscription/recurring), campaign and project fees (one-time/project), and customer experience services (professional services). GTM motion is enterprise field sales targeting global consumer brands seeking comprehensive brand transformation, supplemented by event-driven business development via award-winning work and community-led marketing through platform partnerships. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors, was acquired by Aden Hepburn (CEO), and expanded inorganically via the September 2025 acquisition of POPULA. The agency has accumulated 600+ awards, recognitions, and shortlists since 2020 across B&T, Mumbrella, Campaign Asia, One Show, Clio, Webbys, Cannes, and APAC Effies.

Name

Akcelo

Legal name

Akcelo

Website

https://akcelo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Akcelo is a Sydney-headquartered independent brand experience agency founded in 2015, serving global consumer brands across QSR, streaming, beverage, gaming, and retail with integrated 360 campaigns, experiential activations, customer experience design, and platforms/technology delivery across five offices in Australia, UK, Canada, and the US.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advertising & Brand Experience Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising (541850)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Strategy & Positioning (BPAFAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Product Launches & Brand Activations (Experiential Marketing) (MPAGAHAD), Mobile/Digital Experiential (AR/VR, Interactive Installations) (MPAAAGAI)

Keywords

• Brand experience design
• Integrated marketing campaigns
• Experiential activation services
• Creative advertising agency
• Customer experience consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Agency of Record Retainers: Long-term contractual relationships with brands where Akcelo serves as their primary marketing partner, providing ongoing strategic and creative services.
2. Campaign & Project Fees: Fees for specific integrated campaigns, brand platforms, experiential activations, and digital experiences delivered for clients.
3. Customer Experience Services: Fees for CX transformation services including design thinking, architecture, design, and engineering of experiences across digital and physical touchpoints.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Akcelo is a brand experience and innovation agency that designs and delivers integrated 360 campaigns, brand platforms, customer experience, events and experiential activations, social and content, gaming and promotions, retail merchandising, martech and data, visual identity, and platforms and technology services for global consumer brands. It operates as an agency of record for enterprises such as McDonald's, Netflix, TikTok, Gatorade, Anytime Fitness, and PlayStation.

Product overview

Akcelo is a brand experience and innovation company offering a comprehensive suite of service offerings organized around brand transformation. The portfolio includes strategic Brand Platforms, Integrated 360 Campaigns, Customer Experience design, Events & Experiential activations, Social & Content creation powered by AI tools, Gaming & Promotions, Retail & Merchandising, Platforms & Technology delivery (leveraging Adobe, Sitecore, Acquia, Salesforce, SAP, AWS), Martech & Data services, and Visual Identity & Design. Akcelo delivers client-specific campaign projects across major brands including McDonald's, TikTok, Gatorade, Anytime Fitness, Amazon, Netflix, and PlayStation, among others. The company operates across multiple global offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Vancouver, London, and Los Angeles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Platforms Strategic brand development service that creates brand platforms by fusing cultural behaviours, market intelligence, and bold strategic thinking to uncover whitespace positioning for enterprise consumer brand clients.
• Integrated 360 Campaigns End-to-end brand experience design via fully integrated campaigns traversing content, product, service, spatial, social, and digital touchpoints for global consumer brand clients.
• Customer Experience Experience design and engineering service using design thinking to architect, design and engineer experiences across multi-screen design systems, enterprise platforms, mobile experiences, and real-world spatial interactions for enterprise brand clients.
• Events & Experiential Brand experience design and delivery service covering activations, internet-breaking moments, and large-scale conferences that turn audiences into advocates for enterprise consumer brand clients.
• Social & Content Award-winning social creativity service powered by strategy, community insights, and AI-powered tools, including community engagement, talent management, and agile production, delivered in partnership with Snap, Meta, and Google for enterprise brand clients.
• Gaming & Promotions Brand integration and promotional design service injecting brands into gaming culture through in-game integrations, creator collaborations, and large-scale gamified promotions for enterprise brand clients.
• Retail & Merchandising Retail experience design service that elevates journeys from shelf to screen through merchandising strategy, end-to-end journey mapping, design systems, and store-of-the-future reimagining for enterprise retail brand clients.
• Platforms & Technology Systems thinking and technology delivery service across web, mobile, app, and commerce leveraging technology-agnostic partnerships with Adobe, Sitecore, Acquia, Salesforce, SAP, and AWS for enterprise brand clients.
• Martech & Data Customer connection service underpinned by data, platforms, and marketing science spanning CDPs, CRM, and analytics to turn insight into action and grow loyalty, advocacy, and revenue for enterprise brand clients.
• Visual Identity & Design Brand design service delivering design systems built for every platform, from logos and typography to UI kits and campaigns, blending craft with consistency for enterprise brand clients.

Named customers14 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and technology.

• Anytime Fitness AustraliacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Akcelo appointed agency of record by Anytime Fitness Australia, Australia's largest fitness network with over 585 clubs. Partnership drives marketing transformation across brand, customer experience, digital, social, and CRM. Builds on prior successful initiatives including the Day Zero Sale and Apple Fitness+ partnership launch. Goal to inspire one million healthier lives by 2030 through customer experience transformation and new brand campaign building on Find Your Fit platform.
• Anytime Fitness AustraliacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Creative agency of record appointment including initiatives such as a podcast, national PR campaign, and audience research to develop new brand experience strategy. Support for digital and physical customer journey improvements.
• Anytime Fitness AustraliacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Primary marketing partner for Australia's largest fitness network spanning 585+ clubs. Partnership builds on prior successful initiatives including the Day Zero Sale (most successful sales campaign in brand history) and national PR campaign for Tread As One event that generated 90.5 million in earned reach.
• SnapstrategicGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic partnership with Snap for social and digital ecosystem collaboration. Akcelo closely partners with Snap to transform brands across the digital ecosystem.
• MetastrategicGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic partnership with Meta for social and digital ecosystem collaboration. Akcelo closely partners with Meta to transform brands across the digital ecosystem.
• GooglestrategicGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic partnership with Google for social and digital ecosystem collaboration. Akcelo closely partners with Google to transform brands across the digital ecosystem.
• AdobetechnologyTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for platforms and technology capabilities. Akcelo delivers deep systems thinking and technology capability leveraging Adobe solutions.
• SitecoretechnologyTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for platforms and technology capabilities. Akcelo leverages Sitecore for web, mobile, app and commerce solutions.
• AcquiatechnologyTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for platforms and technology capabilities. Akcelo leverages Acquia for digital experience solutions.
• SalesforcetechnologyTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for martech and data capabilities. Akcelo leverages Salesforce for CDPs, CRM and customer connection solutions.
• SAPtechnologyTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for enterprise technology capabilities. Akcelo leverages SAP solutions for platforms and technology delivery.
• AWStechnologyTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for cloud infrastructure and platform capabilities. Akcelo leverages AWS for scalable technology solutions.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• 72andSunny: Global creative agency with strong integrated and brand-experience credentials, serving clients like Google, Nike, and Activision. Comparable in integrated-campaign and cultural-activation approach, though larger and more US-centric than Akcelo.
• Droga5 (Accenture Song): Globally recognised creative agency within Accenture Song, known for integrated campaigns, brand platforms, and experiential work for major global brands. Comparable in capability and ambition, though embedded within a much larger holding-company ecosystem.
• R/GA: Global innovation and brand experience agency with deep expertise in CX, digital products, martech, and connected campaigns. Comparable to Akcelo's CX/Platforms offering and enterprise client base, though materially larger and broader.
• Dentsu Creative: Global creative network from Dentsu offering brand experience, integrated campaigns, and CX at holding-company scale. Comparable in integrated-service mix but competes on procurement-driven global AOR pitches where Akcelo cannot match media scale.
• Leo Burnett: Global creative network with strong ANZ presence and award-winning integrated/experiential capabilities. Comparable in serving global enterprise clients but with significantly larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Direct peers

• Thinkerbell: ANZ independent agency blending brand strategy, creative, PR, and experiential under a single 'measured methodology' framework. Highly comparable to Akcelo's integrated BX approach and target client base of major consumer brands.
• Special Group: Australian-founded independent creative agency known for integrated campaigns, brand platforms, and award-winning work for clients like Airbnb, Google, and Uber. Closely comparable to Akcelo in size, geography, integrated model, and AOR positioning.
• Howatson+Co: Australian independent creative agency producing award-winning integrated campaigns, brand platforms, and content for major consumer brands (e.g., Audi, Bonds, Aldi). Directly comparable in ANZ independent positioning, integrated-campaign orientation, and enterprise client roster.
• The Monkeys (Accenture Song): Award-winning Australian creative agency (now part of Accenture Song) known for integrated campaigns and brand platform work for QSR, telco, and consumer brands. Direct competitor in the ANZ creative category and comparable in AOR-style engagements.
• Mother London: Independent creative agency with a strong reputation for integrated campaigns, brand platforms, and experiential work. Comparable in independent-agency positioning and brand-building orientation, though operating primarily from the UK.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/akcelo
• Instagraminstagram.com/akcelo
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@akcelo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/akcelo
• Facebookfacebook.com/akcelo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Akcelo