Mediaweek has teamed up with the IMAA to give its indie leaders a platform to talk about their work, thoughts about the industry and their interests outside of their 9 to 5.
MAK Media, based in Townsville, joined the industry body in 2022. Digital director Matt Huppatz told Mediaweek, the agency proudly wants to show that “world-class work doesn’t have to out of Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne – it can (and does) come from regional Queensland.”
What sparked your interest in launching your indie agency and what sets your agency and its offering apart from others?
As one of the longest-standing full-service agencies in Queensland, MAK Media has been serving our clients for over 45 years.
Coming out of COVID, we knew we needed to evolve as a business to stay relevant. We saw clients facing the same problems time-and-time again – larger metro agencies often weren’t the right fit for their businesses, whether because of budget, scale, or a lack of flexibility. On the other hand, smaller shops sometimes struggled to offer the depth of service or technical capability clients desired.
We made the decision to pivot to serve this gap.
We doubled-down in digital, investing heavily into developing our own audience and targeting software, as well as data platforms, ad tech and training for our staff. We wanted to continue to ensure that all of our services were delivered in-house, with no offshoring or outsourcing.
Several years later, and this has paid dividends. We regularly win pitches against bigger agencies. And our investment in systems and processes means that we can continue to be a quick, nimble and dependable partner for our clients. Our clients recognise this – we have a significant portion of our client book who have been with our business for over 10 years (some for 30 years+), and our annual churn is less than 15%.
Indie agencies are increasingly seeing success with major pitches. What differentiates your pitch approach from that of larger agencies?
Our history in regional media gave us a great foundation in the importance of audience. There’s no margin for error in the regions. While larger agencies lean on third party tools or one-size-fits-all approaches, we built our own audience identification platform from scratch. It means that no matter what the postcode, we can provide relevant insights, hyper-local context, and ultimately a data-driven media plan that is tailored exactly to the local market.
Who have been your latest Agency account wins?
• Townsville Enterprise (major tourism/economic body for North Queensland)
• Great Barrier Reef Masters Games (with Cairns Regional Council)
• Northern Australian Festival of Arts
With 77% of indie agencies expecting ad spend to rise or remain stable in FY26, according to the IMAA Indie Census, how are you preparing for that growth?
We’ve overhauled our project management from the ground up in the last 12 months. We made a significant investment into a purpose-built project management system tailored to our agency needs, and have set up processes and training pathways to ensure we are set up for sustainable growth,
What’s another indie agency that you see is crushing it and why? (Whether it’s their work output, client relationships or culture/DE&I policies)
Vetta Creative in Townsville. They consistently deliver award-nominated creative that puts regional talent on the national stage
What’s a piece of work you’re most proud of?
There is plenty – but the work I’m particularly proud of the work that the team does that benefits the communities we live and work in. We work with various local councils, community and cultural groups on promoting projects and events that are vital to regional Queensland.
To give a specific example, we recently worked with Townsville Enterprise on a hydrogen campaign, with potential to massively impact the future of regional Queensland industry, jobs and sustainability.
As a leader, how do you switch off from work and unwind after a busy week?
I’m a member of my local community garden. It’s a great way to switch off, and it’s also a great way to get to know my neighbours and participate in the local community.
What does success look like for you over the next 12 months?
Success means deepening our partnerships and embedding even deeper into our client’s business. Our best work for our clients comes when we act as an extension of their marketing team, and if we can continue to do this we should see positive outcomes all around.
What can the industry expect from your agency?
We want to show that world-class work doesn’t have to out of Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne – it can (and does) come from regional Queensland.
See here for past editions of IMAA Spotlight.
Top image: Matt Huppatz