The one-year-old agency, led by former Pure Creative head Chris Clarke, won the A$100 million (US$64.2 million) account for the telecommunications giant when it pitched against a host of multinatinal agencies, including incumbent Dentsu Young & Rubicam.
With the appointment, Nitro is the first China-based agency assigned a promotion job for an overseas client, targeting an overseas market.
The three-year contract calls for Nitro to work on Telstra's business and government work in Australia on above and below-the-line and internet activities. The first effort, a print campaign, was just recently rolled out. Singleton Ogilvy & Mather will continue working on Telstra's retail business.
Clarke, a former music video director, had worked with Telstra previously in Australia through Pure Creative. The pairing worked successfully doing some "powerful work that won a lot of awards and drove the brand".
After Nitro launched in September last year, the company handed Clarke some strategic work, before asking him to pitch for the account.
"I put the strategic work together. They really liked the creative and wanted it produced quickly. Jennifer Lau (ex-JWT New York) went to Australia to do the photography (on the current print campaign), we finished the art direction in Shanghai and they said, 'if this is the standard we would like to work with Nitro Shanghai'," he said.
Clarke, 35, said he realises the selection of Nitro would be controversial, especially in his native Australia, but to him location shouldn't matter, as it is all about the creative.
"The clients are there to buy creativity. They are not there to buy account services. Account services bridge the gap between the creative team and the client - that's what I see their role as. They obviously help the creative process but really, clients come to agencies for creativity. Some agencies have forgotten that."
Clarke said Shanghai would be his sole China base. He has spent the past year attracting international talent to what he called his "creative centre for excellence". In Australia, Nitro has an account service office feeding the creative work in China.
The agency has done work for chocolate brands Dove, Mars, Snickers, M&M and Maltesers, cat food Whiskas and brands for pharmaceutical giant Schering Plough.
To keep up with the business, Nitro will expand from 20 employees to about 40 over the next couple of months.
"In China, from a client's perspective, I am hearing there is a lack of creativity," Clarke said.
"Account services and strategics are solid, but creative is not where they want it to be. So there is an opportunity for us and other players to really lift the bar creatively. There's some good work out there but it is all about doing consistently good work."