Havas Village creative communications agency One Green Bean is celebrating 18 years in business, marking nearly two decades of using earned-led ideas to crash pop culture, shift behaviour, and deliver some of Australia’s most memorable campaigns.
Now, with a refreshed leadership trio and a sharpened focus on innovation, the agency is setting itself up for its next wave of growth.
Founded in 2007, One Green Bean arrived just as the media landscape was rewiring itself – Twitter had launched, Netflix was beginning to stream, and the first iPhone hit the market.
The agency’s proposition was simple: bold, personality-led ideas with earned thinking at the core.
That approach has fuelled 18 years of culture-jacking campaigns – from Ikea’s April Fool’s Doggy highchair to Doug Pitt’s “Fair Go Bro” for Virgin Mobile and more than a decade of MLA’s Summer Lamb work, delivered with The Monkeys (now Droga5).
In 2012, the agency made regional history as the first PR shop in APAC to win a Cannes Lion for its Well-Worn Volley campaign.
Leadership recalibrated – and commercial momentum restored
The agency’s next phase has been steered by CEO Amber Abbott, Managing Partner Lauren Bailey and Head of Content Laura Byrne – a team appointed in 2023 and credited with delivering “some of the strongest growth and commercial success in ogb’s history”.
“ogb is a special place. Our success has been built on creativity, true client partnerships, innovation, and a people-first culture,” Abbott said.
“As we grow into our next 18 years, we’ll lean into all those things that got us to where we are today… We’ll always remain true to our DNA, and that means serving up inspiring, personality-packed creative ideas that drive meaningful conversation for our clients.”
‘Deliberately Different’
Havas ANZ Group CEO James Wright positioned the milestone as a reminder of the agency’s indie spirit within a scaled global network.
“One Green Bean has always been a pioneer, an ideas-centric agency driving conversation and attention through earned channels and world-class creative thinking,” Wright said.
“Under the leadership of Amber, Loz and Laura, they have the ideal foundation to propel the agency further into an innovation-driven future, and at 18, they are finally old enough to buy me a beer or three.”
The anniversary also coincides with Havas ANZ’s new strategic platform, “Deliberately Different”, reinforcing a Village model designed to marry entrepreneurial culture with scaled capability.
A creative engine built on integration – and now AI
One Green Bean’s offering spans PR, social, influencer, content and integrated creative, operating across Sydney, London, Amsterdam and Doha as part of the Havas Network.
Recent years have seen the agency expand its in-house studio team, formalise its influencer division and integrate AI-driven tools and intelligence systems available across the Village.
That breadth has attracted new clients – including SafeWork NSW, EPA NSW, Netball WA, Levande, the Push-Up Challenge and WA Museum – while fuelling major campaigns for Budget Direct, OMO, Weet-Bix, St John WA, Lotterywest and more. A growing trans-Tasman remit now covers Sanitarium and Bayer.