Akkomplice

What Akkomplice does

Akkomplice Group Australia Pty Ltd was an independent creative agency founded in 2014 in South Melbourne by Kenny Hill, a former Managing Director of M&C Saatchi Melbourne with prior tenure at DDB, 303Lowe, and JWT London. The agency positioned itself as a 'special ops' creative partner, providing brand strategy, campaign development, social media management, brand identity design, consumer activations, and new product ideation to enterprise clients on a retainer and project basis. Its core competency was FMCG campaign work, evidenced by long-running engagements with Kellogg's Australia & New Zealand, Darrell Lea, Sirena Tuna, Pringles, MorningStar Farms, Sorbent, Grove Juice, and Hydralyte, alongside adjacent verticals including automotive/trucking (Daimler, Freightliner, Fuso), legal services (Slater & Gordon, Shine Lawyers), hospitality (Choice Hotels Asia-Pac), and sport (Cricket Australia). Revenue was generated through professional creative services fees; the firm was bootstrapped by Hill as sole owner with no external funding and no publicly disclosed revenue or pricing.

In April 2024, Akkomplice merged into Howatson+Company, with Hill and his team joining H+C's Melbourne office and clients being onboarded to the larger platform. Post-merger, H+C's combined headcount reached 135 staff, giving Akkomplice's book of business access to integrated CX, digital, and media capabilities that the sub-10-person independent could not offer alone. The underlying technology is human creative production across TV, OOH, social, digital, print, and experiential channels, with no proprietary software, AI/ML systems, or platform architecture disclosed.

Name

Akkomplice

Legal name

Akkomplice Group Australia Pty Ltd

Website

https://akkomplice.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Akkomplice is an independent Melbourne creative agency founded in 2014 by Kenny Hill, providing brand strategy, campaign development, social media management, and consumer activations to enterprise clients across FMCG, automotive, legal, and hospitality. It merged into Howatson+Company in April 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

South Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Revenue generated through creative agency services including brand strategy, advertising campaigns, social media management, brand identity design, consumer activations, and new product ideation. Works on both retainer and project-based engagements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Akkomplice is an independent creative agency that develops brand strategies, advertising campaigns, social media content, brand identity systems, consumer activations, and new product concepts for enterprise clients. It operates on retainer and project-based engagements across FMCG, automotive, legal, hospitality, and sports sectors, delivering work through TV, outdoor, digital, social, print, and experiential channels.

Product overview

Akkomplice is an independent creative agency that operated as a single unified offering before merging with Howatson+Company in April 2024. The agency specializes in strategic creative services including brand strategy, campaign development across multiple channels (TV, OOH, social, digital), brand identity design, consumer activations, and new product ideation. The portfolio below represents client work across FMCG brands (Darrell Lea, Pringles, Kellogg's, Sirena Tuna, Sorbent, MorningStar Farms, Grove Juice, Be Natural, Madame Flavour, Hydralyte), automotive/trucking (Freightliner, Fuso, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz Trucks), legal services (Slater & Gordon, Shine Lawyers), hospitality (Choice Hotels, Plush Sofas, Aussie Farmers Direct, Mismatch Brewing, 78° Degrees), sports (Cricket Australia), and retail (Totally Workwear).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Creative Agency Services Full-service creative agency offering brand strategy planning, advertising campaign development, social media management, brand identity design, consumer activations, and new product ideation for enterprise clients across FMCG, automotive, legal, hospitality, and sports sectors. Delivered on retainer and project basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sirena Tuna achieved largest ever month of sales since 1956 brand launch within 6 weeks of campaign launch
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Howatson+CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 April 2024Kenny Hill's Akkomplice merged into Howatson+Company in April 2024. No earn-out period; businesses merged as one unit from day one. Akkomplice's clients (Slater & Gordon, Sorbent, Totally Workwear) rolled over to H+C. Hill and team joined H+C's Melbourne office on Chapel Street. Deal described as Howatson's first and potentially last acquisition.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Clemenger BBDO: Omnicom-owned leading Australian creative agency, regularly ranked among the country's top creative shops. Comparable on creative reputation and enterprise client wins, with far greater scale and integrated services.
• Leo Burnett Australia: Publicis-owned creative agency with strong FMCG heritage in Australia. Competes with Akkomplice for the same brand-campaign and new-product-ideation briefs at larger scale.
• Ogilvy Australia: WPP-owned global agency network with full-service brand, advertising, and PR capabilities. Comparable on FMCG and legal services clients, with broader media and CX offerings.
• DDB Australia: Omnicom-owned creative network with deep Australian operations. Kenny Hill previously worked at DDB; it competes for the same FMCG and automotive brand briefs at greater scale.

Direct peers

• Thinkerbell: Australian independent creative agency applying 'measured magic' methodology across brand strategy, creative, PR, and shopper. Comparable in service mix and Australian indie competitive set.
• The Monkeys (Accenture Song): Award-winning Australian creative agency now part of Accenture Song. Competes head-to-head with Akkomplice on creative-led brand work for major Australian and APAC clients.
• M&C Saatchi: Global independent creative agency network. Directly comparable as Akkomplice's founder Kenny Hill was formerly MD of M&C Saatchi Melbourne; both compete for the same Australian brand strategy and campaign briefs.
• Special Group: Indo-Australian independent creative agency with similar mix of brand strategy, campaign development, and content. Operates in overlapping FMCG and challenger-brand segments across Australia and New Zealand.
• Howatson+Company: Australian independent creative agency and Akkomplice's merger partner since April 2024. Comparable in offering — strategy, creative, brand, content — and now operates as the parent entity of the Akkomplice team, making it the most directly comparable peer.
• BMF Advertising: Leading Australian independent creative agency. Closely comparable on independent positioning, creative-led brand work, and FMCG client roster — a direct competitor for the same brand-strategy pitch lists.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/akkomplice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Akkomplice