A new 100 per cent female-owned creative collective, MAAD Collective, has launched in Sydney, targeting brands, governments, NGOs and social enterprises looking to rethink how they tackle complex business and communications challenges.
Co-founded by Mehreen Ahmed and Angela Denise, the independent outfit is built to work beyond traditional agency structures and focus on problems at their core.
Purpose-driven model to challenge convention
MAAD Collective positions itself as a strategic and creative partner for organisations navigating crises, reinvention, or meaningful cultural and social progress. T
he collective combines strategy, storytelling and design, and assembles bespoke project teams from a global network of talent rather than relying on fixed agency departments.
“We built MAAD to create a way of working that challenges the norm and doesn’t shrink when life expands – a model that makes space for the work, our families, and the chaos that comes with both. All while letting us create work we’re genuinely proud of. We get to the real problem quickly, think strategically, and bring in global minds when it makes the idea stronger. It keeps the process clear and efficient, for us and for our clients,” Denise, MAAD Collective co-founder and creative director, said.
Global agency experience, local focus
Denise brings more than 20 years of experience in New York’s top agencies, where she has led strategic work across beauty, retail, sneakers and snacks for brands including Disney, Keds, Procter & Gamble, Gerber and Peloton. Her campaigns have helped launch startups, refresh established brands and been recognised at the Clios, The One Show, Lürzer’s Archive and the Effies.
Ahmed’s background spans agencies such as Ogilvy Singapore, Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai and MullenLowe Singapore, working on global and regional APAC business for Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Coca-Cola. She also founded FMCG brand WeLove Pizza seven years ago, which has grown into a national category leader in independent grocery.
“Having spent time both agency side and in a manufacturing start-up launching a national food brand, I have an even greater appreciation and understanding of the Marketers’ agenda and that of the rest of the C-Suite. MAAD Collective is not afraid to ‘burn the brief’ and get deeper into a client’s business to develop realistic solutions,” Ahmed, MAAD Collective co-founder and business director, said.
Early clients include Onitsuka Tiger and Sydney law firm
Although newly launched, MAAD Collective has already begun working with major brands, including Onitsuka Tiger, which is experiencing a resurgence globally and in Australia, and boutique Sydney law firm Buttar, Caldwell & Co.
The collective partnered with Onitsuka Tiger on the opening of its Sydney flagship store and has since been appointed lead agency for in-store campaigns. “From the moment we began working with MAAD, it was clear they genuinely care about our brand and our ambition. They’re quick thinkers and they instinctively understand how to bring a global brand to life locally. We’re excited to keep growing this partnership into 2026 and beyond,” Onitsuka Tiger AU country manager Theo Kalivas said.
Sydney-based, globally connected
Based in Sydney but operating globally, MAAD Collective is targeting organisations that want to “rewrite the rules” of how they work with agencies, favouring nimble, project-based structures over traditional retainers and hierarchies. The founders say their model is designed to move quickly from brief to business problem to solution, while drawing on international perspectives when it strengthens the work.
MAAD Collective is now seeking further partnerships with brands and organisations looking for a more flexible and senior-led approach to creative problem-solving.
Top image: Mehreen Ahmed & Angela Denise