TLDR
Bunnings is reviewing its creative agency requirements, B&T reported on 21 October 2026; Bunnings declined to comment and no timing is public. It follows Bunnings moving its Australian media account to PHD in 2025 and retaining PHD in New Zealand this month.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What is under review and what is not
Bunnings is reviewing its creative agency requirements, and the process is underway, B&T reported on 21 October. Bunnings declined to comment, so neither the agencies involved nor a timeline are public. B&T reported that the retailer's current agency village includes The Brand Agency in Melbourne.[1]
Media sits outside the review. Omnicom's PHD won the Australian media account in May 2025, replacing IPG's Initiative, which had held it since 2010.[2] This month Bunnings reappointed PHD Aotearoa in New Zealand after a competitive review, extending a 24-year relationship.[3] Bastion handles experiential and activation work in both countries, and Bunnings' marketing is led by Justine Mills.[1]
A run of agency decisions
The creative review follows a busy 18 months for one of Australia's biggest retail advertisers. In March 2025 Bunnings launched Hammer Media, its own retail media network, after trials in Victoria and New South Wales, offering suppliers access to its website visitors, stores, social channels and magazine, with 300 digital screens installed across 150 stores.[4] Mills called it "a significant step forward in our commitment to innovation" at the launch.[4]
Two months later the Australian media account moved to PHD, and in October the New Zealand media account was retained. PHD Aotearoa chief executive Abby Parkin said: "Our partnership with Bunnings has endured because we've continued to evolve and challenge the work we produce together."[3]
What is at stake
Bunnings has never disclosed what it spends. Reports in 2010 put its annual media billings at around $40 million, a figure B&T said is likely to be significantly larger now.[2] For creative agencies, a retailer that has its own media network and a newly settled media agency is an account where the brief may look different from a classic brand pitch. Bunnings has not said what it wants from the review.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which agency currently holds Bunnings' creative account?
Who holds Bunnings' media buying in Australia and New Zealand?
What is Hammer Media?
Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.
