Showpony Advertising

What Showpony Advertising does

Showpony Advertising is an independent, founder-led Australian advertising agency headquartered in Adelaide, with additional offices in Melbourne and Hobart. Founded in 1998 by Jamie Scott and Parris Mesidis, the firm operates as a full-service agency covering strategy, creative, production, and media, and employs 40+ staff across the three locations. In-house film production and a proprietary consumer intelligence platform, Social Pulse (built on IBM Watson AI), are positioned as differentiating assets.

The agency's client base blends South Australian government accounts (SA Health, SAPOL, TAFE SA, Flinders University) with national and regional enterprise brands such as Bridgestone, OTR, Coopers, San Churro, and MACq 01. In 2023 the firm opened a Hobart office and formed Showpony Media, a joint venture with The Ad Room, extending the offering into paid media planning and buying and broadening the addressable pitch scope.

Showpony's business model is retainer- and project-based agency work billed on creative, media, and production services, with revenue derived from a mix of long-running government retainers and recurring enterprise brand engagements. Recognition includes multiple Effie awards, the AADC Gold Chair, a 2023 Campaign Brief ranking as the #4 Small Agency, and White Ribbon Accreditation, which collectively signal procurement-relevant credibility particularly for public-sector work.

Name

Showpony Advertising

Legal name

Showpony Advertising

Website

https://showpony.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Showpony Advertising is an independent, founder-led Australian full-service advertising agency with 40+ staff across Adelaide, Melbourne, and Hobart, serving a mix of South Australian government clients and national enterprise brands in automotive, FMCG, hospitality, and tourism via strategy, creative, production, and media services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Media Buying Agencies (54183)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Experiential, Event & Sponsorship Marketing (BPAFAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Commercial Production Companies (Live-Action) (MPAAAMAA)

Keywords

• Advertising services
• Brand strategy
• Creative agency
• Media planning
• Film production

Headquarters

HQ city

Adelaide

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Creative and Strategy Services: Integrated creative services including strategy, brand development, visual identity, and creative campaign development. Revenue generated through project fees and retainers for ongoing client relationships.
2. Media Planning and Buying: Full service media capabilities through Showpony Media joint venture, providing data-led planning, media strategy, negotiation, buying, implementation and monitoring across traditional and digital channels.
3. Film and Content Production: In-house film production services with writers, filmmakers, animators, web developers, producers and equipment enabling fast turnaround content creation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Showpony Advertising is an independent full-service advertising agency offering integrated strategy, brand development, creative, media planning/buying, film production, visual identity and digital services to government and corporate clients. The agency operates through deliberately smaller teams across three Australian offices (Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart), with all disciplines collaborating from project inception under one coordinated team. In-house production capabilities and proprietary brand and data tools support end-to-end campaign delivery.

Product overview

Showpony Advertising is a full-service independent advertising agency offering integrated advertising and marketing services across strategy, creative, production, and media. The agency operates with deliberately smaller, highly experienced teams in multiple offices, providing strategy, brand development, media planning and buying, creative services, visual identity, film production, and digital services. The service portfolio is structured as a unified full-service offering where all disciplines collaborate from project inception, rather than as separate product modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Strategic planning services including consumer, cultural and product/service insights that inform creative ideation and media selection, delivered as part of Showpony's integrated full-service offering for enterprise and government clients.
• Brand Development Brand creation and revitalisation service using the proprietary Spotlight methodology, helping clients articulate and build brand promise into reputation across boardroom-to-warehouse engagements.
• Creative Development Creative development service featuring collaborative 'tissue sessions' that bring clients into the creative process early to evaluate ideas at a conceptual level and deliver campaigns such as Bridgestone Hands and Moe's Hot Dogs.
• Media Planning and Buying Data-led media planning and strategy with negotiation, buying, implementation and monitoring across traditional and digital channels, delivered through the Showpony Media joint venture.
• Film and Content Production In-house film production service with writers, filmmakers, animators, web developers, producers and high-end equipment enabling fast-turnaround content creation for TVCs, digital and campaigns.
• Visual Identity Graphic design service creating distinctive visual identities for brands, including logo design and brand asset development.
• Digital Services End-to-end digital services including website development, community management, social listening and real-time asset evolution across digital channels.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sales targets smashed twice over for Moe's Hot Dogs campaign
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• The Ad Room / Melissa RobertscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2023Joint venture between The Ad Room's Melissa Roberts and independent creative group Showpony created Showpony Media. This partnership enables Showpony to offer full service capabilities including strategy and media planning/buying. Melissa Roberts, former managing director at MPG Australia, brings 15+ years of media expertise. The joint venture began operating in late 2023 and works on projects with TasWater, St Johns Ambulance, San Churro and Kez's Kitchen.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• BMF: BMF is a leading Australian independent creative agency with a similar full-service offering across strategy, creative, and media. It is the most natural direct peer to Showpony in terms of independent model, awards profile, and clientele across government and consumer brands.
• The Monkeys: Formerly independent Australian creative agency (now part of Accenture Song), The Monkeys competed with Showpony in the same independent-tier creative market with a similar multi-city footprint and award-winning creative output.
• Thinkerbell: Independent Australian creative agency known for 'measured creativity' blending PR, advertising, and experiential. It is a direct comparable peer to Showpony in independent positioning, mid-market size, and integrated offering.
• Cummins&Partners: Independent Australian creative agency with offices in Melbourne and other markets, offering a full-service integrated model. Comparable to Showpony as a private, founder-led, multi-city independent competing for similar enterprise and government briefs.
• Special Group: Independent creative agency with Australian and New Zealand operations, similar in size, structure, and creative-led positioning. A direct peer in the independent mid-market agency tier.

Broad incumbents

• Leo Burnett Australia: Australia arm of global network Leo Burnett, with full-service capabilities across creative, media, and production. A broader incumbent peer that competes with Showpony for enterprise and government pitches but at much greater scale.
• M&C Saatchi Australia: Australia operations of the M&C Saatchi global network, offering integrated advertising and media services. A broader incumbent competing for similar corporate and government clients in the Australian market.
• DDB Australia: Australian arm of global DDB network with full-service creative and media capabilities. Competes with Showpony in pitches but operates with substantially larger resources and account teams.
• Ogilvy Australia: Australia arm of the Ogilvy global network with capabilities spanning advertising, PR, and consulting. Competes with Showpony on enterprise and government briefs with a much broader portfolio offering.
• TBWA Australia: Australian arm of TBWA\\Worldwide, a global creative network with strong disruption-led brand strategy heritage. A broader incumbent competing for similar pitches at a larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInau.linkedin.com/company/showpony-advertising
• Instagraminstagram.com/showponyadvertising/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Showpony Advertising