The New Wave ~ Sunday Gravy
The New Wave is Campaign Brief’s Q&A series spotlighting the next generation of independent creative companies and exploring how the indie model is evolving. From structure and speed to culture and capability, we unpack where these businesses are finding their edge and what’s driving client decisions today. Next up is Ant White, Co-Founder and CCO, Sunday Gravy.
1. Give us the elevator pitch – who are you and what do you do?
Sunday Gravy is an independent creative company on a mission to entertain Australia.
We build brand worlds people actually want to spend time with. Not just ads. Ideas that earn attention, create conversation, and move through culture.
What makes us different is the calibre of senior talent we’ve brought together across strategy, brand, design, creative, earned, social and production. In most agencies, those disciplines are split across departments, politics, and revenue lines. We put them all in the same room from day one with one shared objective: make work people care about.
We believe there are only a handful of truly great agencies in any era, because there is only a handful of exceptional talent. The agencies that attract that talent and create an environment where those people can genuinely collaborate are the ones that rise.
2. Are indies still challengers, or have they become the norm?
The best indies aren’t challengers anymore. They’re often setting the standard.
Clients today are less interested in whether an agency is independent or part of a network. They care about whether the work cuts through, whether senior people are actually on the business, and whether the agency actually cares about them.
There are incredible people inside holding companies and incredible people inside independents. But increasingly, many of the best senior talent want to work in places where creativity moves faster, and the work isn’t diluted by layers of process or internal agendas. These people just want to do what they got into the industry for in the first place.
3. What’s your unfair advantage over the networks today?
Our advantage is that we have one single focus.
We’re not trying to protect silos, feed multiple departments, or optimise for internal politics. Every person in the business is pointed at the same thing: making brands impossible to ignore.
4. How are you using AI to compete above your weight?
My brother Jack and I co-founded Cuttable, one of the fastest-growing AI advertising platforms in the world, recently valued at $100 million and now launched in the US.
That means we’re not fearful of AI, and we’re not distracted by it either. We understand exactly where automation creates efficiency and where human instinct and taste become even more valuable. Sunday Gravy is fully focused on the opposite end of the spectrum.
5. What kind of clients are choosing indies right now – and why?
The clients coming to independents are usually the ones with ambition.
They’re looking for an unfair share of attention in a market where most advertising looks and feels the same. They want senior people in the room. Faster decisions. More honesty. More integration between paid, earned, social and production. Most importantly, they want work that stands out culturally. Because today, brands don’t just compete against competitors. They compete against all entertainment.
6. What’s next – growth, staying lean, or something else?
The goal isn’t growth for growth’s sake. It’s building one of the most culturally influential creative companies in the country.
That’s why we recently launched Sunday Gravy Originals, our own entertainment and IP division. We’re developing original shows, formats and cultural properties that brands can participate in, rather than interrupt. Several projects are already in production with major talent attached.
Successful agencies need to adapt. That’s always been true. For us, it’s not about AI and technology, but being truly entertaining, and not always making ads.
Check out the other New Wave Q&As below:
Read Bastion Australia’s Q&A here
Read We Are Different’s Q&A here
Read SICKDOGWOLFMAN’s Q&A here
Read Kill Boring Dead’s Q&A here
Read Oblong Creative’s Q&A here
Read The Many Australia’s Q&A here
Read Bureau of Everything’s Q&A here
Read Art of the Possible ANZ’s Q&A here
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