Aussie expats Alex Little and Karsten Jurkschat launch new NYC-based creative agency ‘Tall Poppy’ focused on creative sustainability
Australian expats Alex Little and Karsten Jurkschat have launched a new creative agency Tall Poppy based in New York City.
In an industry currently questioning its business model and searching for new ways to sell more advertising, Little and Jurkschat have embraced the opposite and founded their creative agency on Creative Sustainability — a belief that successful brands of the future will make less work to matter more.
Little and Jurkschat, previously Ogilvy Melbourne, moved to New York in 2017 and, shortly after, were named AdAge US Creative Directors of the Year and propelled McCann NY to Cannes Lions #2 Global Agency of the Year with their work for Verizon and March For Our Lives. They were then hired by Translation NY — a hybrid record label advertising agency, and directed a group of 25 creatives over WhatsApp, AT&T and The New York Knicks. The two leaders have consistently established themselves as people who bring high impact, non-traditional thinking to clients.
The founders of Tall Poppy are behind the recent innovation the AT&T Connected Helmet — a life changing device for Deaf and hard of hearing football players that projects play routes on a display built into a helmet.
The helmet was approved by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) and is worn by players in real games today.
The leaders also launched WhatsApp’s first ever global platform — revealed in an Amazon Prime film they created starring NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, which adapted The Odyssey into a modern-day rallying cry for WhatsApp’s 2 billion+ users.
The viral gun reform video, Generation Lockdown, was also created by Little and Jurkschat. The 2-minute video shows a young school girl teaching a group of real adults how to survive a mass shooting. It has earned 55+ million views to date and was shared by news outlets, celebrities and played on the floor of Congress. It also won the Cannes Grand Prix for Good.
Little and Jurkschat are now channeling their unique approach into an agency that values quality over quantity.
Says Jurkschat: “No one wants more average ads in their life. Not people. Not CMOs. Consumers crave revalency and authenticity from brands but the ad industry has become like fast fashion — filling feeds and cities with more and more content because it’s easy, and getting easier with AI. And more work equals more billable hours. We focus marketing budgets on fewer but more impactful pieces that sustain a brand’s relevancy in culture.”
The agency’s ‘less is more’ approach is a reaction to the growing aversion to paid advertising among consumers.
Says Little: “Fading brands buy relevancy, relevant brands earn it. We believe PR is the last great mass media outlet and ensure every single project we touch, regardless of media budget, has a powerful earned media story at its heart that mixes and mingles with culture until it’s indiscernible from life. It’s about knowing when, where and which buttons to push to make culture care.”
Tall Poppy’s founding clients include Air Company, the pioneering environmental company transforming CO2 into an endless resource. The Houston based genealogy company, Family Tree DNA, and Harlem Grown, the iconic New York non-profit transforming urban blocks into urban farms.
6 Comments
As someone who moved from Aus to NYC, ‘Tall Poppy’ is a perfectly fitting name for the agency. Australia’s tall poppy syndrome is toxic compared to American optimism and encouragement. Good luck to you both!
I’ve never actually felt the whole tall poppy chat to true. Australia, to me (and I suppose its a very much about personal interpretation) feels far more accepting and encouraging of success, initiative, endeavour etc than say the UK does.
Anyway, I like the name and I also like the positioning of making less advertising – good luck to you!
Had the pleasure to work with US teams on secondment from Aus Agency anc loved their embracing and backing good ideas whereas in Aus it feels like everyone is protecting their own turf. No pressure but you are launching this proposition on behalf of all Creatives who are passionate about strong ideas and not just content. So wishing you rise above the masses of lazy creative….tall poppy I love it!
There is a generation of extraordinarily talented Australian millennial creatives working across the world in markets like NY,LA and London.Most have now been there for many years doing remarkable work,running large departments as CCO’s or starting their own businesses.
Sadly most won’t come back.
With the persistent pessimism and the growing conservatism in the industry and in fact throughout the country,why the f$&? would they return.
If you are young and think you are talented,go join them.
“Most won’t come back” – wanna bet? I would say most will. School, healthcare, family (read: free babysitters) are always a big pull. Work is just one portion of life and there’s much bigger forces at play when it comes to where you decide to live.
Pessimism? Pot, kettle, black.
If some of the bigger agencies were really smart they’d tempt some of that top expat talent home, by offering investment support in collaborative start ups.It could pay handsome dividends in more ways than one.