TBWA tops world's most innovative and creative lists for 2022

In addition to this, Ad Age international has just recognised TBWA\ as 2022 Network of the Year.

“It's a tremendous honour to be recognised as one of the most innovative companies in the world, and at home in South Africa, yet again. It’s challenging enough to simply set your sights on winning and being recognised in any of these awards, but to hold onto a leadership position for four years is an extraordinary achievement. And if it weren’t for the passion and creativity of our people, we would not be recognised at all”, says Luca Gallarelli, CEO, TBWA\South Africa.

“Globally, these wins put us on par with the likes of Canva, Roblox and SpaceX. It’s a position we intend to hold, and we defend and define this position every day through consistently innovating, selling great thinking, and prioritising excellence in creativity in all we do”.

The TBWA\ Group’s move beyond advertising is key to fuelling these successes, and the work speaks for itself. Some of the most notable projects include:

• Juniper Park\TBWA’s Signal for Help, a hand gesture created for the Canadian Women’s Foundation that serves as a distress signal for domestic violence. The signal helped to save an abducted teenager’s life after she used it to alert a driver that she needed assistance after learning it on TikTok, where it had been shared millions of times.

• TBWA\Media Arts Lab’s Hollywood in Your Pocket, which enlisted Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow to introduce iPhone 13 Pro’s new cinematic mode by shooting five different genre scenes (romance, war, gangster, space thriller, and Western) in a campaign that extended into an interactive digital experience.

• TBWA sibling agency Lucky Generals created one of the best ads of the 2021 Super Bowl to show off Amazon’s new Alexa, putting the virtual assistant in giving her the only body that could possibly compare - Michael B. Jordan’s - on the world’s biggest media stage

• TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris South Africa’s Shwii by Nissan which demonstrates how Shwii by Nissan uses descriptive language to help users navigate through South Africa's local roads on Waze. Voice commands are available in isiZulu and local SA slang, and downloadable via a link or QR code that lets South African’s navigate the road in a mother tongue.

TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris South Africa has taken home three 2021 The Creative Circle Ad of the Year awards for Shwii by Nissan, including Digital Communication, Radio & Audio and Integrated Campaign.

“We pride ourselves on the work we do for our clients and on our people. Through them, we are able to make a profound impact on both industry and culture at large, driving disruption across some of the most dynamic sectors of the economy represented by our client mix”, says Gallarelli.

“These wins bear testament to the fact that we’re no longer just an advertising agency. We’re a global creative collective that uses creativity as a catalyst for our clients’ business transformation, innovating across the total brand experience and driving positive social impact. We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2022 has in store,” concludes Gallarelli.