The Edinburgh based independent agency, Union Direct – part of The Union Group has been named as one of only two Scottish agencies on an international list compiled by The Drum – the leading marketing and media industry publisher.
The Drum’s Indie 100 2026 ranks the publication as joint 72nd from a pool sourced from Toronto to New York and Sydney, Singapore and Johannesburg. Rethink Toronto has been ranked the world’s top independent agency in The Drum’s Indie 100.
This year the list is compiled on a new methodology which is performance-based. The results in The Drum’s World Creative Rankings are combined with success at The Drum Awards and verified client ratings from The Drum Recommends.
“Brave, brilliant work doesn’t need a London postcode,” said Emma Campbell, Executive Board Director at The Union Group. “Being ranked alongside some of the most respected independents in the world is a genuine honour. It means more because of how the list was built: on the work, the awards and what clients say about us. That’s the standard our team sets itself on every project, for clients such as Lloyds Banking Group, Greene King, schuh, Scottish Government, VisitScotland and ScottishPower.”
The work which The Union was given recognition for includes a campaign for Scottish Widows, part of the Lloyds Banking Group. Finding that the majority of people with a pension had never logged into its app, The Union came up with an innovative answer – Pension Mirror. This is an interactive ageing tool that lets people meet their future selves to find out what their pension could mean for them. Pension Mirror has now been used more than 800,000 times and drove a 193% increase in app registrations.
The campaign went on to win 23 awards on the national and global stage.
“Independent agencies are having a moment, and it’s not hard to see why,” said Campbell. “Without the layers and compromises that often come with scale, indies move faster and are more willing to take the creative risks that get work noticed. Pension Mirror is a good example. Financial services doesn’t usually push boundaries, and consumers don’t usually engage. This did both.”
The Union is an employee owned business celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and employing 84 people.
“This goes beyond The Union,” Campbell added. “Scotland has a habit of underselling itself, of assuming the best creative thinking happens somewhere else. We’ve never bought that. Scottish agencies belong on the same shortlists as the usual suspects, and we want to make that case loudly. This should be the start of something, not a one-off. We intend to keep proving it, one brief at a time.”
