How TBWA posted its best year ever by moving beyond advertising

TBWA for decades built its reputation on iconic advertising, from its much-heralded Absolut vodka print ads to the classic “Mac vs. PC” campaign for Apple. But the Omnicom-owned network’s move beyond advertising is what is fueling its success these days—including in 2021, which TBWA calls the greatest growth year in its 52-year history. It posted a 5-to-1 global win-to-loss ratio—including snaring big accounts like Discover in North America and global health technology marketer Philips, while retaining its top 20 clients, growing its relationship with 65% of them. See all of Ad Age's A-List 2022 winners here. The agency’s 2021 work often had very little to do with traditional ads. For Nissan, TBWA in South Africa created a version of the Waze driving navigation app that made use of IsiZulu, a commonly spoken language in the country not previously available on Waze. The product fed into Nissan’s “Intelligent Mobility” brand position, while endearing the automaker to local residents by feeding into the movement to promote native African languages. TBWA even got into the toilet business, creating a prototype voice-controlled public toilet in Japan meant to ease COVID fears and aid accessibility. The effort came from TBWA\Hakuhodo and TBWA’s Disruption Lab, an innovation and design studio. The approach stems from a pivot TBWA made a couple of years ago to up its strategy game, hiring new heads of planning and other consumer intelligence experts who are guiding clients on a lot more than advertising. Its top creative executive, Ben Williams, who was hired last year from R/GA, has the title global chief creative experience officer, a moniker that is indicative of TBWA’s mindset. Buy your ticket for the Ad Age A-List & Creativity Awards Gala at AdAge.com/ACGala. “The problem is when you just get classified as an advertising person, then you are there just to solve a communication challenge. We are much more than that,” said Troy Ruhanen, CEO of TBWA Worldwide. “I believe the only viable business model going forward is proactivity. That is where you have to lean on intelligence and knowledge and insight and data and turning that into proactive business partnering and thinking for our clients.” While TBWA has long preached about “disruption,” clients became more receptive to it during the pandemic as their business models were upended. “Clients had the openness to have that conversation about how we can help them solve problems in all the different spaces,” said Deepthi Prakash, TBWA global director of product and marketing. For instance, Nissan turned to the agency to develop test-drive experiences that did not involve dealership visits, she said. For McDonald’s, TBWA/Spain created the ”Big Good” burger, made from locally sourced ingredients from livestock and farmers affected by COVID-19. TBWA is “constantly pushing our thinking and approach toward creative bravery,” said McDonald’s Global Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Flatley. “They excel at driving a global strategy and expressing it locally, finding relevance in individual markets and moments.” TBWA scoffs at traditional advertising labels. It does not use the phrase “client services” because with that title, “you get into a mindset of reactive” rather than proactively solving business problems, said Ruhanen. TBWA even banned the term “network,” preferring instead to call itself a “collective.” That speaks to the autonomy the agency gives local offices and its 10,000 employees worldwide. “A collective is about 10,000 people and how do we activate them and democratize information and give them the power to be proactive to our clients,” Ruhanen said. See all of Ad Age's A-List 2022 winners here. Of course, TBWA still does regular advertising really well, including for Apple via its ongoing “Shot on iPhone” campaign from TBWA/Media Arts Lab. And TBWA excels on advertising’s biggest stage, the Super Bowl, where its 2021 “Alexa’s Body” ad for Amazon starring Michael B. Jordan from TBWA boutique agency Lucky Generals won plaudits from multiple ad reviewers. TBWA’s Big Game spot for Mtn Dew was more than an ad—it was a game, urging people to count the number of bottles in the spot and tweet the number for a chance to win $1 million. It led to 11.3 billion earned media impressions, according to the agency. With results like that, it’s clear why TBWA was counting a lot of new dollars in 2021.

How TBWA posted its best year ever by moving beyond advertising

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