This year, Pure Public Relations’ founder, Phoebe Netto, once again stepped into one of her favourite professional roles: judging the Smart50 Awards. For her, it is an opportunity to champion ambitious Australian SMEs and shine a light on the people shaping the future of marketing, culture, and business performance.
As a judge for two categories – the Marketing Award and the People Power Award – Phoebe noticed that exceptional entries shared three qualities: clarity of purpose, strategic discipline, and measurable impact. Whether assessing a marketing initiative or a workplace culture overhaul, she looked for deliberate decision-making backed by evidence, not just enthusiasm or good intentions.
This year’s winners demonstrated precisely that. They showed commitment over time, the courage to innovate, and the maturity to adapt.
Here’s what set the winning entries apart from the rest.
Marketing Award: Michu Pet Supplies shows the power of listening
Michu Pet Supplies took out the 2025 Marketing Award for its thoughtful, sustained, and commercially effective approach to promotion. What impressed Phoebe most was the brand’s understanding that marketing is not a one-way broadcast but a conversation.
Michu invested meaningfully in marketing and was therefore able to point to clear returns in their entry. The brand’s strategic use of social media not only drove sales but also strengthened customer loyalty. Instead of treating social platforms purely as promotional tools, they used them as feedback channels to inform product development – a sign of real marketing maturity.
Phoebe notes that many SMEs start strong and then allow their marketing to taper off. Michu has done the opposite: it’s consistent, long-term investment signals a business committed to growth and willing to back that commitment with resources. The result is a brand well-positioned for continued expansion and a winning entry for this year’s Marketing Award!
People Power Award: Equality Media + Marketing proves that progressive policy is a powerful strategy
This year, the People Power Award went to Marilla Akkermans of Equality Media + Marketing, recognised for courageously rethinking how work should function, not just in theory, but in practice.
Equality’s four-day workweek on full pay directly tackles systemic inequities that disproportionately affect women and caregivers. What stood out to Phoebe was the rigour behind the initiative. This was not a symbolic gesture; it was a carefully measured, continually evaluated system designed to ensure benefits for staff and clients alike.
By treating the policy as a living framework rather than a static rule, Equality has demonstrated that people-centric workplaces can strengthen commercial performance. As Phoebe observed, they have proven what many suspect but few test: that genuine investment in people is not idealism, it’s strategy.
Congratulations to all winners and finalists of this year’s Smart50 Awards. Their achievements reflect the strength, creativity, and resilience of Australia’s SME sector. The businesses celebrated this year show what is possible when leaders combine courage with discipline and when innovation is matched with evidence.
The Smart50 Awards continue to set the benchmark for excellence, and Pure Public Relations is proud to help spotlight the businesses raising the bar. We look forward to seeing the calibre of nominees in 2026!
You can view the full list of Smart50 Award winners here.
