SharkNinja Picks Howatson+Company as Its ANZ Creative Agency of Record

SharkNinja has appointed Howatson+Company as creative agency of record for its Australia and New Zealand business. The agency joins a village that already includes VaynerMedia, Dentsu and PR shop The Haus.

SharkNinja's ANZ managing director Aby Shukla cited Howatson's understanding of the customer, full-funnel communications planning and creative impact as the deciding factors. The cultural fit note in the announcement is standard agency appointment language. The more telling signal is the type of agency being added.

Howatson+Company has built its reputation on brand-led work that earns attention rather than buys it. Their model operates at the business strategy level, not the campaign-by-campaign execution level. For SharkNinja, a brand that has built significant category presence through product-led performance marketing, bringing in Howatson signals intent to build something more durable above the funnel.

SharkNinja's growth story is one of the best in consumer product marketing of the last decade. They created the premium air fryer category in Australia and extended that credibility into multiple appliance categories. The risk for any fast-growth performance-led brand is that brand equity does not keep pace with distribution. You become a product brand, not a company brand. This appointment suggests SharkNinja is investing in closing that gap.

The SharkNinja model is instructive for any brand that has grown primarily through direct response. Performance marketing builds a customer base. Brand marketing builds the reason those customers talk about you and return without being retargeted. If your budget is heavy on performance and light on brand, map where you are in your category's development. Emerging categories need performance to build the habit. Established categories need brand to justify the premium. Most brands underinvest in brand until growth stalls. Do not wait for stalled growth to make that call.