Ardent Communications: The Duo Effect
Meet the husband-and-wife business and life partners
As both business and life partners, Managing Director and Founder Danny Massa, and Chief Operating Officer Elouise Hahn, are no strangers to commitment.
At home, they have three children under the age of five.
At work, they have built a successful independent, Australian-owned full-service marketing agency with a team of 21 in-house experts working across six departments.
Marking its sixth year as a full-service agency it’s true what they say, you get better with age.
The Ardent Moat
Today the dynamic duo is on a mission to ignite marketing innovation and be instrumental in the success of their clients.
Genuine passion runs deep at Ardent with a belief that no goal is unachievable. Whilst Ardent welcomed 14 new partners and increased FTE by 71 per cent in 2023, it ensures that every client is approached with care and understanding so that meaningful long-term relationships are built. The Ardent team take no shortcuts, love challenges and will always go that extra mile.
“It’s this boutique approach that remains core to Ardent’s success. We deliver results not smoke and mirrors and this is what clients want,” explains Massa.
The Ardent moat lies in its core ability to develop and execute a holistic 360-degree marketing strategy using in-house teams to dramatically scale client’s business growth.
The agency has adopted a bold goal of doubling client partnerships and revenue by 2026.
Danny Massa
Back in late 2016, Danny left a senior position working in mainstream media to build an agency of his own. Channelling years of experience as a highly skilled advertising and media specialist, he kissed goodbye the status-quo and created an agency with ambition built on trust, transparency, and efficiency. (Ardent means very enthusiastic or passionate!)
With a master’s degree in strategic marketing and management, Danny's business prowess and background in media planning and buying, account performance and business development solidified Ardent's stature as a catalyst for transformation in the marketing industry.
His experience and passion resulted in Ardent's team and client portfolio doubling in size year on year since 2018.
Danny attributes the agency's success to being a trusted partner that offers five core points of difference.
“Offering seamless simplicity, better performance and an integrated approach that sits alongside powerful creative and an awesome team of experts is what drives our agency to deliver outstanding results for our partners,” Massa said.
Talking with a smile and sense of pride Elouise explains Danny’s approach to life is what gives Ardent its winning edge.
“Danny has such a strong sense of determination and care for others both at work and at home. He leads authentically and with a passion to grow. He has genuine care for our clients and works hard to ensure their performance is the best it can possibly be.”
Elouise Hahn
After the birth of their daughter Grace (child number two), Elouise joined Danny permanently behind the wheel at Ardent.
With a master’s degree in human rights law and policy and media experience spanning 15 years, she is a former journalist and not-for-profit marketing executive with experience in executive management and development. Her experience sitting on not-for-profit boards and involvement in the charity sector drives her commitment to ensure altruism remains at the heart of Ardent.
Danny believes that Elouise has an intuitive sense of business performance and provides a different lens to the growth and development of Ardent.
“She knows what works and doesn’t work and provides growth strategies for Ardent to help solidify our journey of continued expansion.” Massa explains.
Partnership obstacles
When it comes to the inevitable challenges of living and working together Elouise believes the key to success is to lean into the duo dynamic.
“For the first few years of our business relationship, especially during the scaling up of Ardent we encountered hurdles that could often end in disagreement. We tried to put barriers up around work and home life however over time learnt to embrace the fact that we are partners across both realms of our lives.” Hahn said.
“We have different strengths and management styles that ultimately complement each other. Even when we have differing opinions, we are respectful of each other’s point of view.” Massa explains.
Laughing he adds: “Don’t get me wrong, there are times of disagreement and stress however ultimately, we understand life is about balance. The give and take, the ebbs and flows that go along with it around the kitchen table and at work.”
The duo takes the responsibility of partnering with their clients and being custodians of brands with a great deal of respect.
“We deeply value our growing team who each and every day bring their best selves to the office.” Explained Hahn.
Together, they are managing to balance a successful business along with the joys of raising a young family, whilst continuing to spearhead the growth of Ardent and the prosperity of their employees and clients.
Ardent's key focus is on producing seamless media and communication strategies to deliver the greatest possible value. When it comes to these two partners, the results certainly speak for themselves.
About Ardent
As a full-service agency, Ardent delivers insightful strategic media solutions and compelling creative campaigns to inspire evolution across the entire brand and user experience.
Ardent is an independent, Australian owned media agency fueled by a passion to challenge, deliver and evolve your brand to build deeper, more enduring consumer loyalty.
Our marketing specialists provide thoughtful advice and work in-house across national and global campaigns to provide smart and simple strategic advice.
We know how to seamlessly fuse online and offline media strategies and build campaigns independently with transparency and honest accountability.
We work as an extension of your marketing team. This deep immersion into your business is the driving force behind Ardent’s impact, enabling our diverse array of partners to grow exponentially and expand into national powerhouses.
Shannon Muscolino