There's a conversation happening in boardrooms across Australia right now. It goes something like this: "The agency delivered what we asked for. On time, on budget. So why does it feel... fine?"

Fine isn't good enough anymore. And if you've been working with agencies for a while, you probably know exactly what we mean.

The thing is, most agencies operate on what we call "industry standard" – a collection of practices that have become so normalised, they're barely questioned. Templates with the wrong client names. Quarterly catch-ups that happen in January and never again. Media reports that tell you money was spent, but not whether it worked.

It's not malicious. It's just... standard.

But here's what we've learned after working with 100+ brands: standard isn't a ceiling. It's a floor. And the space above it? That's where The Sunny Standard lives.

The Real Cost of "Standard"

Industry standard looks professional on paper. It ticks boxes. It follows processes. But dig a little deeper and you'll find the gaps – the moments where "good enough" becomes the enemy of "actually good."

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Take offshoring, for instance. It sounds efficient – leveraging global talent, optimising costs. But what actually happens when your brief gets handed off to someone who's never seen your brand, doesn't understand your market, and is three time zones away from your questions?

You get work that's technically correct but fundamentally disconnected. Because efficiency without context isn't efficiency – it's just distance.

The Sunny Standard? If you're paying us, you're getting us. In-house, on-shore, no handoffs, no mystery. The person solving your problem is someone who knows your business, not someone who's meeting it for the first time in a templated email.

When Nobody's Watching

Here's where industry standard gets really interesting – what happens when the client isn't looking?

We've all seen those internal  messages. The casual shrugs. The "near enough" mentality that creeps in when deadlines tighten and nobody thinks anyone will notice.

But here's the thing: standards aren't about what clients can see. They're about what your team believes is acceptable. And if your team thinks "close enough" is good enough, that philosophy doesn't stay internal for long.

The Sunny Standard recognises that quality isn't a client-facing promise – it's an internal standard we hold for each other. Even when no one's watching. Especially when no one's watching.

The Middleman Problem

Then there's the structural issue that most agencies pretend doesn't exist: layers.

Account managers managing strategists managing creatives managing freelancers. Each layer adds time, loses meaning, and creates distance between your questions and the people who can actually answer them.

It's not anyone's fault – it's just how the industry has evolved. But evolution doesn't always mean improvement.

The Sunny Standard cuts through the layers. The person solving your challenges is the person you speak to. No translation needed, no waiting for someone to check with someone else, no playing telephone with your own marketing.

Proactive vs Reactive

Perhaps the biggest difference between industry standard and The Sunny Standard is timing.

Industry standard waits. Waits for monthly reports. Waits for problems to become obvious. Waits for clients to ask what happened to their budget.

The Sunny Standard anticipates. We catch problems before they become expensive. We optimise campaigns while there's still time to matter. We tell you what's happening before you need to ask.

It's the difference between a smoke alarm and a sprinkler system. Both respond to fire, but only one prevents the damage.

Why Standards Matter

None of this is about throwing other agencies under the bus. Most agencies are filled with smart, well-intentioned people doing work they're proud of. But good intentions operating within standard systems still produce standard results.

The question isn't whether industry standard works – it does. The question is whether it works well enough for what you're trying to achieve.

If you're looking for campaigns that get noticed, strategies that drive genuine growth, and partnerships that feel genuinely collaborative, then standard probably isn't your answer.

But here's what The Sunny Standard looks like in practice:

• No lock-in contracts – because we back ourselves every day, not just for 12 months
• Direct access to decision-makers – no account managers managing other managers
• Real-time optimisation – not "we'll look at it next month" but "we caught it this morning"
• Transparent reporting – access to everything we're doing, have done, and are planning to do
• Agnostic media planning – we're not here to sell inventory, we're here to deliver outcomes
• In-house execution – your work stays with people who know your work

Raising the Bar

The Sunny Standard isn't about being different for the sake of it. It's about recognising that your marketing deserves better than "fine." Your budget deserves more than "technically delivered." Your brand deserves partners who care as much about the work as you do.

Industry standard has its place. But if you're reading this, chances are you're looking for something above standard. Something that takes the foundational expectations and builds something genuinely better on top of them.

Because here's what we've learned: when you expect more from your campaigns, they deliver more. When you expect more from your partnerships, they become more valuable. When you expect more from your agencies, they become agencies worth expecting more from.

That's not industry standard.

That's The Sunny Standard.

Ready to experience the difference? Let's talk about what The Sunny Standard could mean for your next campaign.