Pearmill has been named to The Drum's Indie Agency 100, the publication's annual global ranking of the world's top independent agencies.

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The 2026 edition of the Indie 100 introduces a new methodology. Rather than an editorial shortlist, each agency's position is determined by a combined score across three signals: standing in The Drum's World Creative Rankings, performance at The Drum Awards, and client ratings from The Drum Recommends, where marketers rate the agencies they have worked with directly. Eligibility is limited to agencies with 500 or fewer staff that are not owned, in whole or in part, by a major advertising or marketing holding company.

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Pearmill is one of roughly two dozen US-based agencies on the list, which spans North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia.

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"We didn't submit for this. The ranking is built from the work, the awards and what our clients told The Drum about working with us, and that is exactly the kind of recognition we care about," said Nima Gardideh, CEO and Co-Founder of Pearmill. "We're a small, independent team competing against agencies many times our size. Landing on this list says the model is working: creative and performance run as one system, with AI embedded in how the work gets done and human judgment kept firmly in charge."

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The recognition follows a run of industry honors for Pearmill's client work over the past two years, including a Gold in Commerce at The Drum Awards for Marketing 2024 and a Silver in Media at The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas 2026, both for its work with 3D-printer brand Toybox, as well as two 2026 Webby Award nominations for work with Orkin and Toybox. Pearmill also holds "Awarded by The Drum" recommended status on The Drum Recommends.

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The Indie 100 caps a year of change at the agency. In April, Pearmill launched a refreshed brand platform built around the belief that growth lies in the tension between creative and performance, data and instinct, and AI and human judgment. In August, Pearmill launched Pedal, a new company that brings the same performance methodology to small and mid-sized businesses.

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"Independence lets us make decisions in weeks that take a holding company quarters," said Dino Hodjikj, Head of Performance, Pearmill. "We rebuilt how this agency operates around AI agents in under a year. You can only do that when the people running the work also own the company."

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Thank you to our clients, and to the team who earned this.

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The full Indie Agency 100 is at thedrum.com/indie-agencies.

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