IMAA announces largest-ever cohort for Pitch-Chella program

Independent Media Agencies Australia (IMAA), the national industry body representing independent media agencies, has today announced the largest-ever cohort for its 2026 Pitch-Chella event, with 24 agency teams from across Australia set to participate.

The program, now in its third year, is an opportunity for up-and-coming indie agency talent to sharpen their pitching skills, share knowledge and collaborate with their peers as they brainstorm a strategic, innovative and creative brief for a chosen charity.

A record 24 teams from 22 IMAA member agencies from across Australia, including NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, are set to pitch a campaign for the national anti-bullying organisation, You Can Sit With Me.

This year’s participating teams come from Adtorque Edge, Advertising Associates, Aeon Marketing, Alpha Digital, Audience Group, Bang Digital, Bastion, Campaignifi, Enigma, Hatched Media, Media Republic, Noisy Beast, Reload Media, Slingshot, Speed, Strat, TFM, The Media Store, Thinkerbell, This is Flow, TNT Media, and Yango.

Teams will now prepare written pitches for a national media campaign for You Can Sit With Me, focused on increasing the organisation’s brand awareness nationally, while also building community engagement.

Participants will be required to create a campaign that positions the charity as Australia’s leading voice for kindness, inclusion and belonging in schools, creating a deeper understanding of the social and emotional challenges faced by Australian children. The pitch will also need to support the organisation’s growth by boosting engagement among educators, students, parents and key strategic partners, while helping to drive schools’ participation, attract funding opportunities, and increase merchandise sales.

You Can Sit With Me is an Australian charity and inclusion initiative, focused on reducing bullying, loneliness and school refusal among children and young people. The organisation promotes kindness, belonging and connection in schools and communities through peer-led programs and education initiatives.

The written pitches will be reviewed by a panel of industry experts, including sponsor and Audience 360 Managing Director, Jenny Parkes, TrinityP3 Business Director and Global Media Lead, Stephen Wright, Orand Founder, Adam Hickey, and Founder and CEO of You Can Sit With Me, Sophie Sparks.

The judging panel will be looking for clear, strategic and creatively executed pitches. Entries will be judged on their ability to clearly articulate the brand’s objectives and challenge, offer compelling insights that provide clear direction for strategy and idea development, emphasise innovative aspects of the execution and demonstrate the campaign’s effectiveness.

Eight shortlisted finalists will be announced on Friday, June 26, before they present a virtual pitch to the judging panel on Tuesday, July 14.

Winners will be announced at an award ceremony at Sydney’s Beresford Hotel on Thursday, July 30.

Says IMAA CEO, Sam Buchanan: “We have been overwhelmed with the response to this year’s Pitch-Chella event. We have our largest ever cohort of participants, representing a record number of member agencies from across the country. To see this initiative become a widely popular national program, attracting nearly 80 up-and-coming young industry professionals, demonstrates its success in providing professional development and partnership opportunities for emerging industry talent.

“Our challenge for this year’s entrants is to focus on pitches that spark something. The strongest entries combine creativity with clear strategic thinking, demonstrate genuine audience understanding and have the confidence to challenge convention. We’re looking for pitches that have that ‘aha moment’ – it’s about originality, impact and the ability to turn insights into an idea that our judging panel will remember.”

The 2026 Pitch-Chella initiative is spearheaded by a steering committee of independent agency leaders, including Lisa Blackshaw (Co.gency) and Taylor Fielding (TFM Digital), along with the IMAA team.

This year’s program is proudly sponsored by gold sponsor Audience360 and supporting sponsors Are Media, Channel Factory, News Australia, Meta, Microsoft Advertising, Snapchat and Taboola.

For more information on Pitch-Chella, visit: https://theimaa.com.au/pitch-chella/

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