November 24, 2025
Every good story starts with an underdog, and in 2023, that was us. A small(ish), stubbornly optimistic group of talented people with a firm belief that culture is serious business, and the brands that shape it are the ones that grow.
We launched with one simple ambition: work with brands on a mission and help them make things that matter. Not just work that ticks boxes or nudges metrics, but work that impacts culture in interesting ways.
Almost three years in, 1,018 days, to be precise, that underdog spirit has shaped something bigger. Hopeful Monsters now stands out like a glitch in the matrix: a culture-first agency swimming against the tide of dashboards and efficiency-at-all-costs thinking.
And then, last week in London, we received the kind of recognition we dreamed of from the start.
At The Drum Global Awards Festival, we pulled off a Hopeful Monsters hat trick:
…plus Gold in Social Purpose: Environmental Cause for The Great Unwaste with End Food Waste Australia.
To hear The Drum describe us as “part of a new breed of agencies doing things your own way… with amazing spirit and creativity in everything you do” hit differently, because it captured exactly what we’ve been building.
That mindset and spirit have fuelled work like - helping the world sleep better with Resmed (Say Goodbye to Your Sleep Monster), sparking a national movement to end food waste with End Food Waste Australia (The Great Unwaste), and empowering thousands of emerging creatives across 34 countries with Converse (All Stars). And that’s alongside standout collaborations with Adobe, NFL, Westholme, Wheelchair Rugby Australia, Club Med, Proximo Spirits, Heaps Normal, Modibodi, One Generation, ID. Know Yourself, and more. All incredible partners.
This recognition matters to us. It tells us the Hopeful Monster way is not only working, it’s resonating globally.
Big love to our team, clients, partners, and to The Drum for backing a growing agency with an underdog spirit.
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