MIRIMAR, founded by Aussie expat brothers John and Luke McKelvey, named ADWEEK’s 2024 Breakthrough Agency of the Year

MIRIMAR, founded by Aussie expat brothers John and Luke McKelvey in 2019, with offices in LA and New York, has been named ADWEEK’s 2024 Breakthrough Agency of the Year.

Chief Creative Officer John McKelvey, together with brother Luke McKelvey as Managing Director, launched MIRIMAR in October 2019, with the aim of developing and producing highly impactful creative communications at the intersection of advertising, entertainment and technology.

John McKelvey told CB: “We’ve been in the U.S. for nearly 15 years. Luke and I had dreamt of having a creative business together for years. The U.S. is the opportunity to work together on the biggest stage, with unique opportunities to partner with talent, musicians, and athletes and make brands authentically part of the culture. After my time at Droga5, I knew New York was a crucial market. So now, MIRIMAR being in both New York and LA suits the direction we are taking the business, including our brand-building and entertainment offerings.

“MIRIMAR’s mission is to be the place where our team and our clients can do the best work of their careers. We believe we can offer something interesting and compelling. The MIRIMAR leadership team has the shared vision and ambition to be one of the best independent agencies in the world. Building an independent creative company takes a leap of faith and a lot of work.”

During his career John McKelvey held a number of creative leadership positions at JohnXHannes, Droga5 and R/GA in New York and Southpaw in Sydney. Luke McKelvey was Managing Director at The Glue Society in Sydney from 2015 to 2018 before joining John at JohnXHannes in December 2018 as Head of Creative Projects. John had spent 15 years partnering with brands, athletes and celebrities to tell authentic stories that resonated in culture. He has been honored by the United Nations and ranked number one creative director on the One Club’s rankings in the U.S., among other industry honours.

Adds McKelvey: “MIRIMAR is creating the cultural impact that brands can’t achieve on their own. As it becomes harder and more expensive for brands to reach large audiences with traditional media, MIRIMAR shortcuts the slow, expensive paid media model with work that is an orchestrated mix of idea, PR, talent, and entertainment.

“By leading the way in engaging audiences at scale without relying on paid media alone, we’ve distilled our business to focus on the one thing that remains valued and rewarded: breakthrough creative work that drives tangible business results.”

MIRIMAR was named Cannes Lions Independent Agency of the Year—Entertainment for 2022, Ad Age’s Small Agency of the Year 2022, and named one of Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies.

MIRIMAR clients include Beats by Dre, Rocket Companies, Priceline, Montefiore Health System, Speedo International Ltd, Netflix and Harry’s Inc.

Earlier this year MIRIMAR snared Aussie creative team Jake Ausburn and Alex Polglase from The Monkeys, Sydney.

Jake Ausburn and Alex Polglase had only been working together for two and a half years. In that short time, they’ve won the 2014 Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix, shot on the steps of the Sydney Opera House with Aussie expat director Kim Gehrig for Play It Safe, sold a script to an acting prime minister, and written a story about a rural sports team that was voted Australia’s Best Ad of 2023 by Adland, ‘This is Footy Country’ for Telstra.