Yakusan

What Yakusan does

Yakusan Pty Ltd, trading as Yakusan Brand Experience Group, is a Sydney-headquartered brand experience agency that designs and produces bespoke experiential marketing campaigns for enterprise clients. Founded in 2006 by Gilles Merry, the firm operates with a lean team of approximately 11 staff structured across creative, account management, and production functions, organized around six service pillars: Ideation (concept development), Experiential (integrated brand activations), Events (corporate and public event production), Retail Theatre (point-of-sale and merchandise), Amplification (social media and PR content extension), and Collaboration (sponsorship and partnership activation). The agency sells its services on a bespoke, quote-based engagement model rather than through standardized packaging, with pricing not publicly disclosed.

The client base is concentrated in major consumer brands, with deep penetration in premium spirits (William Grant & Sons' Hendrick's Gin, Glenfiddich, and Grey Goose; Beam Suntory; Dewar's; Patrón via media partners), and active engagements spanning technology (Uber at Melbourne Cup Carnival and Grand Prix; Ubisoft), entertainment (The Star; Dark MOFO/MONA), food and beverage (Little Creatures; Arnott's Tim Tam), retail (The Body Shop, Canberra Centre), luxury (Vacheron Constantin; Jaeger-LeCoultre), and automotive (MINI). Notable flagship engagements include producing the Hendrick's Parlour of Curiosities at Dark MOFO (engaging over 47,000 festival-goers), the three-year Uber/Victoria Racing Club activation at Flemington, and the inaugural Keepers of the Quaich Australian event produced alongside eight leading spirits houses including Pernod Ricard, DIAGEO, and Bacardi Martini.

The business operates almost exclusively within Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory) with no international footprint, no external institutional investors, and no M&A history. The model is dependency on founder relationships and creative talent rather than proprietary technology or IP, with distribution handled through direct enterprise client engagement and an organic social/portfolio-driven marketing presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Name

Yakusan

Legal name

Yakusan Pty Ltd

Website

https://yakusan.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Yakusan is a Sydney-based, founder-led brand experience agency that designs bespoke experiential marketing campaigns for enterprise clients across premium spirits, technology, entertainment, retail, and luxury sectors in Australia, operating with roughly eleven staff since 2006.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Avalon

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Brand Experience Services: Professional services revenue generated from creating and executing bespoke brand experiences, including ideation, experiential activations, events, retail theatre, and amplification campaigns for enterprise clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Yakusan is a Sydney-based brand experience agency that ideates, designs, and executes bespoke brand experiences, events, and experiential marketing campaigns for enterprise clients across the spirits, entertainment, technology, retail, and luxury sectors. The agency operates through six service pillars — Ideation, Experiential, Events, Retail Theatre, Amplification, and Collaboration — to deliver end-to-end brand activations from concept through to on-the-ground execution and post-event content amplification.

Product overview

Yakusan is a Brand Experience Group that provides experiential marketing and event production services. Their offering consists of six interconnected service pillars: Ideation (creative concept development), Experiential (integrated brand experiences), Events (corporate and public events), Retail Theatre (bespoke POS and merchandise), Amplification (social media and PR), and Collaboration (sponsorship and partnership activation). Rather than a traditional product platform, Yakusan offers a portfolio of service capabilities that work together to create bespoke brand experiences for their clients across various industries including spirits/alcohol, entertainment, retail, automotive, and technology sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ideation

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 47,000 festival-goers engaged at Dark MOFO activation
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and flagship.

• ShazamsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerShazam partnered with Yakusan on the CCA Refresh Your Spirit campaign to encourage consumer engagement and drive footfall into venues where consumers could experience bespoke drinks menus.
• The Urban ListsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Urban List partnered on the CCA Refresh Your Spirit campaign to encourage consumer engagement and drive footfall into participating venues.
• Sydney HelicopterssupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerSydney Helicopters partnered with Grey Goose for Fly Beyond packages offering flights in Grey Goose wrapped helicopters and exclusive gift packs as part of the French Riviera summer campaign.
• Broadsheet MediasupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerBroadsheet Media partnered with Maker's Mark for The Makers event, driving awareness through media partnership and hosting consumer competitions with content production including Sydney event listings.
• Broadsheet MediasupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerBroadsheet Media partnered on Hendrick's Midsummer Solstice campaign for media coverage, special OOH builds, and content creation.
• Concrete PlaygroundsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerConcrete Playground was media partner for Patrón Tequila activations, providing event and editorial coverage to drive consumer foot traffic and brand advocacy.
• Keepers of the Quaich Australian CommitteeflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerYakusan worked as part of the Australian committee led by Colin Rochester (William Grant & Sons AUS MD) to create an inaugural event celebrating the international Scotch Whisky society, with support from eight leading spirits houses: William Grant & Sons, Pernod Ricard, DIAGEO, Beam Suntory, Spirits Platform, Bacardi Martini, Campari & Brown Forman.
• Victoria Racing ClubflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerUber won a three-year partnership as the official rideshare partner of Victoria Racing Club, with Yakusan producing the activation concepts and experiences for Uber at Flemington during Melbourne Cup Carnival.
• MONAflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMONA partnered with Hendrick's Gin, with Yakusan creating the Parlour of Curiosities activation at Dark MOFO festival, creating a meaningful partnership delivering value to shared consumers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• MKG: US-based creative experience agency focused on brand experiences, events, and content. Closely aligned to Yakusan in offering and target client base (premium consumer and B2B brands) and a useful benchmark for what a scaled mid-sized experiential agency can become.
• Amplify: Australian brand experience agency delivering activations, content and retail theatre. The closest local head-to-head competitor to Yakusan in the Australian market across the same client verticals.
• GMR Marketing: Global experiential and sponsorship agency with strong sports, lifestyle and consumer brand credentials. Direct overlap with Yakusan's experiential and collaboration services for premium consumer brands.
• Imagination Group: Independent global brand experience agency with offices in London, New York, Shanghai and Sydney. Directly comparable to Yakusan in creative-led brand experience work for premium clients, including a Sydney presence that competes for the same Australian briefs.
• Sparks: US-based brand experience agency (part of Cheil) delivering experiential marketing, events, retail, and digital activations. Same client types (premium consumer brands, technology, automotive) and similar service model to Yakusan.
• Octagon: Global sports and experiential marketing agency (part of IPG). Comparable to Yakusan in delivering brand experiences and live activations, with deeper specialisation in sports-adjacent campaigns relevant to Yakusan's F1, Australian Open and Melbourne Cup work.

Regional players

• Mash: Australian creative agency with a strong experiential and activations practice, working with FMCG, alcohol and entertainment brands. Direct overlap with Yakusan in client mix and regional market.
• TAVI (The Art of Visuals Initiative) / Australian experiential independents cluster: Boutique Australian experiential and creative production houses competing in the same market. Comparable as regional independent peers of similar scale to Yakusan in the Australian premium-activation space.

Broad incumbents

• George P. Johnson Experience Marketing: Large global experiential marketing agency (part of Project Worldwide) specialising in brand experiences, events, and trade show activations. Overlaps with Yakusan's experiential, events and trade activation pillars but at significantly larger scale.
• Jack Morton Worldwide: Global brand experience agency (part of IPG) and one of the largest experiential marketing networks in the world. Directly comparable to Yakusan in service offering (live brand experiences, events, activations) but operates at global scale with thousands of employees across multiple continents.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/yakusanbrandexperience
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yakusan-pty-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/yakusan_brandexperience

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Yakusan