Independents Aren’t the Alternative, They’re the Blueprint

The best agencies in the world weren’t built in boardrooms. They were built by people who walked out of them.When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in ’97, the brand was on life support. He didn’t call a holding company. He called an indie. TBWA\Chiat\Day. The result? 'Think Different.' A campaign that didn’t just reposition a brand, it reignited a culture.

When Nike needed to find its voice, Phil Knight gave the brief to a then-unknown shop in Portland: Wieden+Kennedy. 'Just Do It' followed.

These weren’t safe choices. They were brave ones. Because brave creative doesn’t come from bureaucracy. It comes from belief.

And that’s exactly what independents are built on. Right here in Australia, my dad, Tony White, started an indie. Eventually sold it to FCB. Foote, Cone and Belding. Three people. Indies.This isn’t nostalgia. It’s the playbook. And it’s repeating itself.

Ferrier. Bradbourne. Green. Aldington. Gupta. Howatson. Walker. Bullen.

Not outliers. Not anomalies. Just the next generation of people doing what this industry has always done when it’s healthy. Leaving the structure. Building something better.

Let’s stop calling indie the alternative. It’s not a niche. It’s the blueprint. Every great agency began this way. And now, clients are starting to realise something we’ve known all along.The best work doesn’t come from the biggest agencies. It comes from the most focused ones. The fastest. The bravest. The ones not built to protect a model, but to protect the idea.

That’s what Sunday Gravy was built for. Not to be different. To pave our own way. We’re not here to scale safe work. We’re here to make the best creative product possible. The kind that earns attention. Moves culture. Wins business. The kind that doesn’t get lost in rounds of process and global sign-off.

Every new client, every bigger brief, every person we hire makes the work better than it was the week before. And that’s what builds momentum. That’s what attracts talent. The creativity. The work.We also built Cuttable because we could see where the industry was heading. And we had the freedom to build for it. No pressure to keep things the same. No legacy systems to protect. Just a clear runway to adapt, experiment, and move toward the future.

It wasn’t about disrupting for the sake of it. It was about evolving on purpose. The shift to independents isn’t new. It’s cyclical. And it’s good for clients. Because it means the best people are in the room. The thinking is closer to the decision. And the work gets made by the people who actually believe in it. It’s not about being small. It’s about being sharp. And right now, that’s where some of the most interesting work is happening.