National cultural institution · Federal cultural institution · ACT
Complete · 2026

Six bus-shelter art directions — Stories that travel, Come listen, airport hero
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Always-on media buying for a national cultural institution.
The institution was moving from a campaign-pulse media model to a permanent always-on relationship with audiences. We built the full operation — channel plan, creative direction, measurement framework — at a 15.5% agency fee on a $750K media budget, holding back $634K of working media versus typical 18–22% holdco rates.
- Annual media
- $750K
- Fee vs 18–22% market
- 15.5%
- Working media preserved
- $634K
Annual media
Fee vs 18–22% market
Working media preserved
The problem
Cultural institutions priced out of working media.
Most agencies optimise for $5M+ accounts, leaving a $750K budget under-served. Holdco fees of 18–22% strip away $135K–$165K before a single paid impression is bought.
Our approach
Always-on framework, AI-leveraged ops, culturally-aware QA.
60/30/10 always-on / exhibition surge / test-and-learn split across paid search, social, YouTube/CTV, programmatic, DOOH, transit, audio, podcasts and creator partnerships — with First Nations content review through an Indigenous Reference Group.
What we delivered
- Always-on framework with 60/30/10 portfolio split
- Channel plan across 10 paid channels + Canberra DOOH map
- AANA + ACCC compliant creator briefs + AI Use & Disclosure Policy
- Five-gate creative QA with First Nations review pathway
- Tessitura-aware measurement + GA4 + modelled attribution
- $634K working-media preserved on a $750K total budget






