completely reshaping how people feel about it
In the ongoing human effort to make commerce more honest and less adversarial, a small Australian creative agency called Born has been entrusted with shaping the voice of Carma — a used-car marketplace built on the belief that buying a vehicle need not be an exercise in distrust. Selected through a competitive pitch overseen by independent matchmaker Hustle, Born now carries the task of translating Carma's customer-first philosophy into feeling, distinctiveness, and cultural meaning. It is a quiet but telling moment: two independent businesses, each betting on the idea that ambition and authenticity, when properly aligned, can reshape an entire category.
- The used-car industry has long been defined by opacity and friction, and Carma was built specifically to dismantle that reputation — making the stakes of its brand work unusually high.
- A competitive pitch process, facilitated by Sydney-based connector firm Hustle, created pressure to find not just capable hands but a genuinely aligned creative partner.
- Born emerged from the field with clear energy, substantial ideas, and a concrete vision — chemistry that Hustle's founder described as apparent almost immediately.
- Carma's marketing director set a precise brief: match our ambition, translate strategy into distinctive creative, and bring real curiosity about where this brand can go.
- The partnership now positions Born to deepen Carma's emotional resonance and cultural footprint as the marketplace enters its next phase of growth in the Australian pre-owned car market.
Born, an independent creative agency, has won the brand and creative account for Carma — a used-car marketplace that entered the Australian market to challenge the opacity and friction long associated with traditional dealerships. The win, decided through a competitive pitch process, hands Born the task of evolving Carma's existing platform, 'It's all good,' into something with deeper emotional pull and greater cultural distinctiveness.
Carma's premise is straightforward but ambitious: buying and selling a vehicle should be transparent, quality-assured, and genuinely customer-focused. In practice, that has made it one of those rare brands that doesn't merely improve a category but changes how people feel about it entirely. Born's mandate is to protect and amplify that momentum.
The pitch was facilitated by Hustle, a Sydney firm that specialises in pairing brands with independent creative and strategic partners. Hustle's founder noted that genuine alignment between agency and client tends to surface quickly in these processes — and in this case, it did. Carma brought ambition and a strong internal team; Born arrived with ideas, energy, and a clear sense of direction.
David Coupland, Born's co-founder and strategy director, described the opportunity as rare: a business that is genuinely reshaping how an entire category feels to consumers. Emily Meier-Murren, Carma's marketing director, confirmed that Born met every criterion in the search — ambition, creative translation, and authentic curiosity about the brand's potential. Together, the two businesses now move into what Carma is calling its next growth phase, with creative firepower intended to extend its cultural reach and deepen its connection with customers.
Born, an independent creative agency, has won the account to shape Carma's brand and creative direction following a competitive pitch process. The win marks a significant moment for both businesses—Carma, a used-car marketplace built on the premise that buying and selling vehicles should be transparent, quality-assured, and customer-focused, and Born, tasked now with deepening the emotional resonance of Carma's existing brand platform, 'It's all good.'
Carma entered the market to disrupt the traditional dealership model. Rather than accepting the friction and opacity that have long defined car sales, the company positioned itself as a modern alternative—one that prioritizes clarity and puts the buyer's interests first. In doing so, it has become one of those rare Australian brands that doesn't merely improve an existing category; it fundamentally reshapes how people think and feel about it. That momentum, and the trust Carma has already built, is what Born will now work to amplify and evolve.
The pitch process was facilitated by Hustle, a Sydney-based firm that specializes in connecting brands with independent creative partners and strategic advisors. Ed Womersley, Hustle's founder, observed that alignment between brand and agency becomes apparent quickly in these processes. In this case, he saw genuine chemistry: Carma brought ambition and a strong internal team; Born arrived with substantial ideas, clear energy, and a concrete vision for where the brand could move next. Both businesses, Womersley suggested, are positioned to grow meaningfully from the partnership.
David Coupland, co-founder and strategy director at Born, described the opportunity as special from the first conversation. He emphasized that Carma's team is exceptional, and that the brand represents something increasingly rare—a business genuinely reshaping how people feel about an entire category. Born's mandate is to inject more feeling, distinctiveness, and cultural relevance into the work, in ways that remain unmistakably Carma.
Emily Meier-Murren, Carma's director of marketing, outlined the criteria that guided the search: find a partner that matched the company's ambition, could translate strategic thinking into distinctive creative work, and demonstrated genuine curiosity about the brand's potential. Born met all three. The partnership signals the next phase of Carma's growth—one in which the brand will continue to disrupt the pre-owned car industry, now with creative firepower designed to deepen its cultural footprint and emotional connection with customers.
Notable Quotes
Carma is one of those rare Australian brands that's not just improving a category, it's completely reshaping how people feel about it.— David Coupland, co-founder and strategy director at Born
When we set out to find a new creative partner, the criteria was simple: match our ambition, translate strategic thinking into distinctive ideas and be genuinely curious.— Emily Meier-Murren, Carma's director of marketing
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What made this pitch different from the dozens of other agency reviews happening in Australian marketing right now?
Carma isn't a typical brief. They're not asking an agency to refresh a logo or run a campaign. They're asking for a partner who understands that they've already changed how people think about buying used cars—and now they need creative work that makes that shift feel inevitable, not just smart.
Born is independent. Does that matter to a brand like Carma?
It does. Independent agencies often move faster and think differently because they're not managing competing client interests or internal politics. Carma wanted someone who could be genuinely curious about their next move, not someone running a playbook.
The phrase 'It's all good' is their platform. How does an agency actually deepen that?
That's the real work. It's not about changing the words. It's about making people feel that promise in every interaction—in how the brand shows up culturally, in the ideas it champions, in the way it speaks. Born has to make 'It's all good' feel like a movement, not just a tagline.
Hustle facilitated this. Why does that matter?
Because Hustle removes the noise. They know which agencies think like which brands. They can see alignment before the pitch room even happens. That's why Womersley could say with confidence that this felt right—he'd already done the real matching work.
What's the risk here?
The risk is always the same: execution. Both businesses are ambitious. Both have momentum. But momentum only carries you so far. Born now has to deliver ideas that feel as disruptive as Carma's business model. That's the test.