Campaign Brief Creative Circle: What’s hot in October 2026?
Each month, Campaign Brief invites top creatives to choose one standout piece of Australian work made outside their own agency – a space to celebrate the fresh thinking, craft and homegrown creativity pushing the industry forward.
This month’s Creative Circle features ABEL’s Nicole Jauncey; Colony’s Ben Coulson; Clemenger BBDO’s Amy Weston; Emotive’s Gavin McLeod; HERO’s Anais Read; and Jeremy Hogg (Independent).
Special and Sunday Gravy are now level at the top of the agency pack in the 2026 Creative Circle League Table (see full table below) on 8 points apiece. Bear Meets Eagle On Fire holds third spot on 6 points, followed by Droga5 ANZ on 5 points. Ogilvy Australia joins 2045, BMF and Cocogun in shared fifth place on 3 points each.
Nicole Jauncey, ABEL
This one’s easy, it’s ‘The Fair Treatment’ for me. If this entire series is about pushing the industry forward, then this idea does it in every way.
On paper, the initiative is a necessary intervention, an anonymised experiment designed to dismantle the persistent gender gap in commercial directing.
On screen, it’s a masterclass in visual storytelling. The films come to life in a minimalist and stunning execution (with who we’d call the celebs of our industry) to pull the audience into a conversation about the harsh reality of systemic bias. And that’s precisely what gives it its punch.
It’s simple in form and fearless in purpose. Bravo.
Client: The Fair Treatment; Director: Madeleine Purdy; Production Company: Good Oil
Ben Coulson, Colony
We’ve endured old mate Frank Walker shilling his tiles and name on radio for years. I never expected to use the words Frank and creative idea in the same sentence. I was wrong. This is good. Annoyingly good. “You know my retirement dream, selling more of these stunning tiles”, of course you do Frank!
Client: National Tiles; Agency: Sunday Gravy; Director: Tony Rogers; Production Company: Guilty
Amy Weston, Clemenger BBDO
There’s a lot to like about The Heist, but really I like that they just went for it. A proper three-minute piece of entertainment, not a broadcast edit stretched into a director’s cut. And somehow the idea still lands in 30, 15 and even six seconds. Which is annoyingly good.
Client: MLC Australia; Agency: Princess – A Creative Company; Director: Mark Molloy; Production Company: EXIT Films
Gav McLeod, Emotive
There’s been plenty of great work out of Australia lately, but I loved the KFC Postie Hijack from Ogilvy PR. Quick, opportunistic and brilliantly simple. Smart tactical thinking that generated genuine earned impact, while also having the potential to shape how KFC shows up in LLMs long after the moment has passed. Tiny budget, outsized impact.
Client: KFC Australia; Agency: Ogilvy Australia
Anais Read, HERO
It’s wild we still need to have this conversation – every treatment and job should involve underrepresented people by default. This campaign is just the beginning!
Using the word count for my favourite directors: Siobhan Mulready, Olivia Altavilla, Lizzy Bailey, Annelise Hickey, Jemma Cotter, Aarushi Chowdhury, Hannah Ariotti, Aimée-Lee Xu Hsien, Lou Quill, Paola Morabito, Muraya Moore, Amber Mealing, Clare Plueckhahn, Aislinn Lowe, Tanya Babić.
Client: The Fair Treatment; Director: Madeleine Purdy; Production Company: Good Oil
Jeremy Hogg, Independent
It was a good month for fast food advertising. I was tossing up between pizza and chicken, but Domino’s Drop Everything gets my vote. Fun film, fresh OOH, nice writing throughout, and the pizza looked strangely appealing. This work feels like a great step forward for the brand — more distinctive, confident and pizza-like.
Client: Domino’s; Agency: Bureau of Everything; Director: Dave Wood; Production Company: Good Oil
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