20 years on Gatecrasher Perth continues to believe in the power of creative thinking

It’s been an amazing success story in the Western Australian market for the now 20 year old Gatecrasher. Campaign Brief remembers when founding partners Adam Barker, Tony Scampoli and Lori Canalini first broke away from Marketforce Perth in August 2001 and launched the agency in a small office in The Colonnade in Subiaco. After two subsequent office moves, the agency merged and moved into the BC&Y building in Rokeby Road Subiaco. Campaign Brief caught up with the three partners yesterday to reminisce on a few highlights from the past 20 years.

Adam Barker and Lori Canalini were at the height of their career at Marketforce in 2001 when they decided to invite work colleague Tony Scampoli to join them and launch Gatecrasher. Perth’s hottest creative team, Barker and Canalini had the year before created one of WA’s standout television campaigns with “Nice People” for the Cancer Council of WA. The commercial won a Silver Lion at Cannes, at a time when winning at the International Festival was very difficult.

Just a few months after this success Gatecrasher was born.

Barker said the original motivation for wanting to start their own agency was that at that point in their careers, they’d all worked in enough agencies to realise that organisational culture is everything.

“So, it was totally about wanting to create a special working environment where we could focus on doing meaningful work, and working with clients and colleagues who we genuinely liked and respected,” said Barker. “From the outset, we decided to be very selective about the clients we took on. And optimistically, we actually had an employment policy of only hiring people who were amiable and intelligent. The type of clients you attract and the type of staff you attract go completely hand in hand. 20 years later, that still holds true and we still stick to this principle. I like to think it defines us.”

In terms of highlights Scampoli says their appointment to HBF was the most significant.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that pitching and winning HBF within the first six months of opening our doors was the catalyst for the agency,” he said. “At a time when the agency landscape in Perth was stagnant, it really proved that a small, hungry and focussed agency model was needed; in stark contrast to the inflated, lumbering agency model. Within a year or two, we added Road Safety Commission and Make Smoking History amongst other clients. Starting an agency from scratch, setting it up on solid principles was always our dream.”

Gatecrasher has always been an agency that has done well at Perth’s creative awards. Barker said from day one, they have been lucky to work with clients who have real purpose behind what they do, and that’s always driven the agency to do powerful work.

So what have been the agency’s 5 best campaigns of the past 20 years?

“Purely in chronological order, I’d have to start with our television campaign for Alcoholics Anonymous Australia,” said Barker. “It is still running nationally fifteen years down the track because it continues to help people in despair find an answer to their problem.

VIEW ‘ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS’

“Three of our top campaigns are for Cancer Council WA and two of these are for Make Smoking History (MSH), ‘Sugar Sugar’ and ‘16 Cancers’. Many of our campaigns for MSH have been procured to run nationally because they are so successful. ‘16 Cancers’ has even run in the USA and UK for this reason.”

VIEW ‘SUGAR SUGAR’
VIEW ’16 CANCERS’

“Our best work recently would have to be ‘Menu app’ for LiveLighter and ‘Yeah Nah’ for the Road Safety Commission. Looking back and realising that all of our best work has been for meaningful causes makes us very proud.”

VIEW ‘MENU APP’
VIEW ‘YEAH NAH’

Scampoli said since 2001 to 2021 there has been some large industry changes but creative thinking still remains the key.

“There have been numerous changes in our industry over the last 20 years, particularly noticeable in a small regional market like WA. We could talk about digital transformation, networks versus independents, in-sourcing and out-sourcing, different remuneration models. But, I believe the more important thing to discuss is what has not changed in our industry… the power of creative thinking. It remains the singular most important aspect of our industry. It is why clients come to us and what motivates us to always strive ever higher.”

Gatecrasher has evolved as a business since merging with Bowtell Clarke & Yole in 2013.

As Canalini explains: “BCY had been producing videos and photography in-house for some years when we first merged in 2013. With more and more clients requiring quick turnaround, cost-effective content, we decided to grow that area of the business by creating a larger, purpose-built studio, editing suite and recording booth.

“In 2019, we branded our in-house production facility as ‘Stir Fry Content Kitchen’. Set up as a stand-alone service to appeal to a wider range of potential clients, we produce optimised content for platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, as well as full-scale TV productions. StirFry now has two full-time producers, an editor and DOP who regularly collaborate with some of the state’s best animators and other creative professionals.”

Where to from here for Gatecrasher?

“Who knows,” said Barker, “but as we’ve learned, change is the only certainty. We really look forward to seeing what we look will like in two, five and 10 years’ time. Based on the last 20 years, it will be challenging and fun, and we’re up for that.”

Pictured above 20 years ago (L-R): Adam Barker, Tony Scampoli and Lori Canalini. Pictured below Campaign Brief’s 2001 launch story on Gatecrasher.