HERO ranked #2 globally and #1 in Australia at the 2026 WINA Awards
Leading creative indepedent HERO has been ranked the #1 Australian agency and #2 agency globally at the 2026 World Independent Advertising Awards (WINA), making it the first Australian agency to reach the global Top 2.
The result follows HERO's #6 global ranking at WINA in 2025, when it became the first Australian agency to enter the organisation's global Top 10.
For an Australian independent creative agency, the back-to-back results represent a significant level of international recognition and place HERO among the world's highest-ranked independent agencies.
HERO's 2026 WINA results
HERO's 2026 WINA ranking was driven in part by its work for Mastercard, with Transit Tales receiving five awards across the festival:
Grand Prix, Interactive
Gold, Interactive
Gold, Interactive
Bronze, Content
Bronze, Craft
Mastercard was also named the #2 Global WINA Advertiser of the Year.
WINA is an international awards program focused specifically on independent creative agencies. Its global rankings provide a benchmark for agencies competing outside the major multinational agency networks.
HERO's #2 global ranking in 2026 follows its #6 global position in 2025, when the agency also won a Grand Prix for Toyota's C-HR Diamond Collection campaign.
An Australian independent agency with global recognition
HERO is an independent Australian creative agency with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The agency works across brand strategy, creative advertising, design, PR, social, AI, technology and marketing effectiveness.
Its client work includes major Australian and international brands such as Toyota, Microsoft, Mastercard, Fujifilm Instax, Maybelline New York, L'Oréal, Bakers Delight, Crown Resorts and ENGIE, as well as Australian Federal and State government organisations.
HERO's recent recognition spans both creativity and effectiveness, with awards and rankings across Australian and international industry programs.
These include Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Spikes Asia, the Effies, WINA, New York Festivals, Campaign Brief, Mumbrella, AdNews and B&T.
Recognition for creativity and effectiveness
HERO's award history extends beyond creative festivals.
The agency has been ranked #1 Independent Agency in Australia in Campaign Brief's Hot List for both 2024 and 2025. Campaign Brief's Hot List is based on agency performance and award recognition across Australia's creative advertising industry, with more than 300 agency submissions each year.
HERO has also been recognised as the #1 Independent Agency at both the Australian and APAC Effies.
This combination of creative and effectiveness recognition is an important part of HERO's positioning.
Creative awards recognise the quality and originality of ideas, while effectiveness awards focus on the impact that marketing work has on business and brand outcomes.
For brands, particularly large national and multinational organisations, the ability to combine both disciplines is increasingly important.
Mastercard Transit Tales
One of HERO's most recognised recent campaigns is Mastercard Transit Tales, an AI-powered storytelling platform developed to make daily train journeys more engaging.
Transit Tales combines generative AI with real-time public transport data to create personalised stories for commuters.
The platform matches the length of a commuter's journey with a freshly generated audio story. Users can select classic literary works and have them reimagined in different genres, including mystery, science fiction, dystopian stories and superhero adventures.
The platform generated 43 million possible story combinations and reached more than 1.2 million Sydney travellers. In its first month, Transit Tales generated more than 41,000 engagements.
The campaign's recognition at the 2026 WINA Awards included the Grand Prix in Interactive, two Gold awards, a Bronze in Content and a Bronze in Craft.
Transit Tales demonstrates how AI and real-time data can be used as part of a creative idea rather than simply as a production tool.
Fujifilm Instax Mindography
HERO's work for Fujifilm Instax provides another example of the agency's approach to AI, technology and creativity.
Mindography explores the relationship between photography, creativity, human emotion and artificial intelligence.
Rather than using AI simply to generate content, the campaign incorporates the technology into a broader creative experience designed around human behaviour and emotional response.
The campaign has received recognition at international creative awards including Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, WINA and D&AD.
Together, Transit Tales and Mindography demonstrate two different applications of AI in marketing: using technology to create personalised experiences at scale, and using emerging technology as part of a broader creative idea.
AI, data and marketing technology
AI and emerging technology are becoming an increasingly important part of HERO's work.
The agency has developed HEROflow, a proprietary AI production ecosystem designed to help brands manage the creation and adaptation of marketing assets at scale.
The system is intended to support faster production and asset iteration while maintaining brand consistency, security and human creative oversight.
HERO's technology work has also been recognised locally.
In 2026, the agency received recognition for AI, technology and data across the AdNews and Mumbrella Agency of the Year Awards, including recognition connected to Mastercard Transit Tales and Fujifilm Mindography.
The focus is not simply on using AI to produce more content. The opportunity is to use technology where it can improve the idea, the customer experience, the speed of execution or the effectiveness of a campaign.
Working with national and global brands
HERO's client experience spans consumer brands, technology businesses, financial services, retail, government and other major organisations.
Its work for brands including Toyota, Mastercard, Microsoft and Fujifilm Instax reflects the complexity of working across national and international marketing environments.
For large organisations, creative agencies increasingly need to do more than develop a campaign concept. They need to understand brand strategy, customer behaviour, technology, content, media, data and commercial objectives, while working with multiple internal stakeholders and partners.
HERO's integrated model brings these capabilities together across its Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane teams.
What the WINA result means for HERO
The 2026 WINA result adds another significant international benchmark to HERO's growing body of recognition.
HERO is now the first Australian agency to have reached WINA's global Top 2, following its position as the first Australian agency to enter the global Top 10 in 2025.
For an independent Australian agency, competing successfully against independent agencies from around the world provides an indication of the standard of work being produced by the Australian creative industry.
It also reinforces HERO's position at the intersection of creative advertising, brand strategy, technology and marketing effectiveness.
HERO at a glance
Independent Australian creative agency
Offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
Brand strategy and marketing science
Creative advertising and integrated campaigns
Digital, social and content
AI and emerging technology
Marketing effectiveness
Experience and innovation
National and international brand campaigns
#1 Australian Agency at the 2026 WINA Awards
#2 Global Agency at the 2026 WINA Awards
First Australian agency to reach WINA's global Top 2
#6 Global Agency at the 2025 WINA Awards
#1 Independent Agency in Campaign Brief's 2024 and 2025 Hot List
#1 Independent Agency at the Australian and APAC Effies
Looking for an Australian creative agency?
HERO works with brands across Australia and internationally across creative advertising, brand strategy, marketing effectiveness, AI and technology.
For organisations looking for an independent Australian agency with experience across national campaigns, major brands and emerging technology, HERO is one agency worth considering.
About HERO
HERO is an independent Australian creative agency with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The agency combines strategy, creativity, technology and marketing effectiveness to help brands solve complex business and communications challenges.
HERO works across advertising, brand strategy, creative, design, PR, social, AI, technology and experience. Its work has been recognised across major Australian and international award programs, including WINA, Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Spikes Asia, the Effies, New York Festivals, Campaign Brief, Mumbrella, AdNews and B&T.