Hello Social Rebrands to Hello, Unveils Full-Service Offering to Fix Broken Agency Village Models

Hello Social has officially rebranded to Hello: a full-service integrated agency designed to address marketers’ frustrations with agency village models by offering social, creative, strategy, media, events, PR, and influencer capabilities. 

“There isn't an offering like this, with this range of services, in market at the moment,” managing partner Sam Kelly said at an upfront event in Sydney yesterday. 

He expressed frustration with Hello traditionally being bolted on to agency village models, and often receiving a last-minute call to build out a social idea as part of a bigger campaign.

“Rather than brands giving us a business problem, you've already decided what the problem we solve is by what agency you're going to pick to deliver on it,” he said. 

“And that's a challenge. We might go and choose the influencer agency to solve this business problem, but it might be better solved through an earned moment that connects with performance. This is where we're going, and this is the sort of thing we want to fix.

“There are frustrations with activating agency villages. We know we can do it by working with five or six different agencies, but speed and turnaround times are a problem. The cost is really expensive, and it takes too long. It shouldn't take a year to get a campaign out the door that's got multiple touch points.”

He will retain sub-brands like Hello Social to reflect “how the market buys” and work within silos and villages where necessary, but he hopes the offering gives clients the confidence to choose Hello for services like creative and media.

“We haven't solved it, and I don't know if it is solvable, but we're going to try, because we can't sit here and continue going the way we're going, because the agency world is going to fall apart. It is not working.”

After 12 years as one of Australia’s most prominent social media and influencer marketing agencies, Sam told LBB ahead of the upfront that Hello has spent the past two years building out its capabilities, and "doing work under the wrong name”. Now, it is ready to reflect the realities of "brand experience for the digital era".

“We wanted to make sure that when we entered this full-service space, we had the runs on the board,” he said of work for clients like Uber, Paramount+, and Budget Direct.

Hello also recently commissioned the ‘Australian Marketing Leadership Survey 2025,’ which polled over 150 senior marketers. 32% of those polled cited the cost of activating a full village as their top frustration.

“The top frustrations for marketers are speed, cost, and disconnected plans,” Sam explained. 

“Our model brings creative, media, and strategy together under one roof, so we can move at the speed of culture.”

45% of the 150 marketers surveyed are rethinking their PR strategies in response to the decline of traditional press and the rise of creator-led publications.

“People are spending more time on social, and most campaigns now are digital-first,” Sam said. “If you’re not brave and bold, you’re not going to cut through.”

What sets Hello apart from other full-service agencies, Sam Argued, is its foundation in social media and ability to tap into cultural trends.

“Our foundation in social means we’re more culturally connected than any other agency,” he said.

“We’re not just clustering different businesses under one banner — we’re one team, one strategy, one panel.”

He added, “This isn’t just a name change — it’s a strategic response to the demands of the digital era.” 

“We’re positioning ourselves to deliver end-to-end experiences that resonate with today’s audiences.”