After a sold‑out debut last year, TBWA\RAAD and D&AD reunited yesterday to stage the Middle East’s second New Blood Portfolio Review, turning the agency’s Dubai headquarters into a live classroom where emerging voices sharpened their craft—and their career prospects—in real time.
Recent graduates and early‑career creatives rotated through intensive 1‑on‑1 critiques with TBWA\RAAD’s award‑winning art directors, copywriters, strategists, and digital specialists. Each session delivered tailored, actionable feedback designed to elevate portfolios from “promising” to “pitch‑ready”, giving attendees a rare face‑to‑face advantage in one of the world’s most competitive creative markets.

The reviews were followed by rapid‑fire talks led by TBWA\RAAD “pirates,” drilling into:

• Disruption® Thinking – turning rule‑breaking into brand‑building.
• Strategy as a Creative Superpower – why insight fuels impact.
• Crafting Social That Cuts Through – lessons from scroll‑stopping work.
• Interview & Career Best Practices – landing the job before the job.

Each session fused real‑world case studies with practical next‑steps, arming participants with the mindset and momentum to navigate—and reshape—the industry.

The day closed with certificates, networking, and the announcement everyone waited for: the Best Portfolio Award, granting its winner a coveted internship at TBWA\RAAD—an on‑ramp to real briefs, real clients, and real impact.

Introducing: The Unlicensed Protest—a citizens’ movement launched in collaboration with Transparency International Lebanon to compel government bodies like “Nafaa” to resume operations transparently and efficiently. Rather than using standard license plates, protesters display messages such as “Bring back the state,” “Until the thievery stops,” and “Until Nafaa employees get back to work.” By refusing to allow corruption to immobilize vital public services any longer, this initiative exemplifies a collective stance against systemic failings.
As part of the movement, car convoys rolled down major highways from the country’s northern to southern regions, voicing public frustration with widespread inefficiency and corruption. By taking to the streets in unity, protesters aimed not only to reignite dialogue around systemic reform but also to encourage renewed adherence to lawful procedures—once the system itself is set right.
The “Unlicensed Protest” underscores an urgent national need: to restore functional, trustworthy government services. Organizers hope these efforts will spark long-overdue reforms in Lebanon, ensuring that every citizen has fair access to the vital institutions meant to serve them.

TBWAWorldwide was named 2022 Network of the Year last week by Ad Age, Communicate's franchiser and a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media.

TBWA was recognized for its ability to create work that extends beyond traditional advertising, following an exceptionally strong business year across a wide range of global markets and its ability to drive disruptive, transformative growth for its clients. The publication also highlighted its body of creative work for its creativity and impact, for clients including Apple, McDonald’s, MTN DEW, and Nissan, among others. The Ad Age profile can be viewed HERE.

Earlier in March, TBWAWorldwide had been named to Fast Company's prestigious annual list of the World's Most Innovative Companies for 2022, ranking number one in the advertising sector and marking the fourth year in a row TBWA has been named one of the most innovative companies in the world. The list honors the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, ultimately thriving in today's ever-changing world.

TBWAWorldwide had additionally been named 2021 Global Agency of the Year in December 2021 by Adweek, the United States-based publication covering the brand marketing ecosystem.

In the Middle East and North Africa, TBWARAAD led the rankings in the WARC Creative 100 2022 top agencies report released last week, ranking first in MENA. The WARC Creative 100 is a ranking of the world’s most awarded campaigns and companies for creativity. It tracks the results of creative award shows around the world, and acts as a benchmark for creative excellence, allowing marketers to compare their performance with that of their peers.

TBWARAAD was also recognized as the Most Awarded Agency in the MENA region by The Drum’s World Creative Rankings Round-Up – the definitive guide to advertising's most creative brands, agencies, and people, released in February. These annual rankings spotlight the agencies that were most awarded in the ad industry’s major global awards shows in 2021.

“It's a tremendous honor and a great testament to the power of our collective and its 10,000+ creative minds, to receive all these prestigious recognitions,” said Troy Ruhanen, CEO of TBWAWorldwide, in a statement. “Being consecutively honored demonstrates the perseverance and ingenuity of our talent across different markets. It validates our ‘Always in Beta’ mindset and our commitment to continuous innovation. From evolving DisruptionX and using creativity to impact the entire brand experience, to how our innovation platform NEXT is helping our agencies become innovation incubators, to the outstanding business performance and creative product from our agencies around the world. We’re grateful to our clients who entrust us with their brands and partner with us to disrupt again and again.”

Reda Raad, Group Chief Executive Officer at TBWARAAD, said, “We are thrilled to be number one across different rankings and to be recognized not only for our creative ideas but also and most importantly for our ability to use creativity as a catalyst for our clients’ business transformation and our commitment to innovating across the total brand experience, all while creating positive social impact as a global creative collective. Thank you to our people and our clients for their dedication and partnership, which made these recognitions possible.”

TBWA was recognized for an exceptionally strong business year across a large range of global markets and its ability to drive disruptive, transformative growth for its clients. The publication also highlighted its body of creative work for clients including Apple, Nissan, and PepsiCo, among others, its focus on innovation, and the progressive evolution of the company’s disruption methodology. The Adweek profile can be viewed here. 

“In one of the most competitive years Adweek's selection committee has ever seen, TBWAWorldwide was unanimously selected as 2021's Global Agency of the Year,” said David Griner, International Editor at Adweek, in a statement. “Our editors were impressed not only with the network's business growth and consistently high bar for creative, but also by its clear focus on developing strong talent and elevating a new generation of innovative leadership for the industry.” 

"Being named Global Agency of the Year—again—is a tremendous honor and a testament to the 10,000+ creative minds in our collective whose talent, perseverance, and ingenuity made this recognition a reality," said Troy Ruhanen, CEO of TBWAWorldwide. “It validates our ‘Always in Beta’ mindset and our commitment to continuous innovation. From evolving DisruptionX and using creativity to impact the entire brand experience, to how our innovation platform NEXT is helping our agencies become innovation incubators, to the outstanding business performance and creative product from our agencies around the world, 2021 was an exceptional year—but our best days are ahead.”  

Ruhanen added, “We are also grateful to our clients for entrusting us with their brands. Without their continued partnership and their belief in disruption, none of this is possible.” 

Earlier this year, the TBWA collective earned the #3 spot on Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Companies in the advertising category, appearing on the list for the third year in a row. Adweek last selected TBWA as its Global Agency of the Year in 2018. 

"We are extremely proud and honored to have contributed to this global recognition”, says Reda Raad, Group CEO of TBWARAAD. “We’ve had a phenomenal year, both on a collective and regional level. We managed to thrive and grow our business and turn chaos into opportunity, thanks to our solid trusted partnerships with our clients, our brave pirates who consistently produce great work, and our fantastic collective culture which brings us all together as one global team, breaking all boundaries. I look forward to an even greater 2022 for TBWA!”  

Williams joins from R/GA, where he was responsible for driving the creative output for advertising, digital product, service, and experience initiatives for some of the world’s leading brands. With a background in experience design, product development, and innovation in addition to advertising, Williams’ appointment is indicative of an expanded view of creativity that’s far-reaching in its ambition and scale.

“The industry has become preoccupied with capturing demand, separating brand and business, and creating experiences rooted in ‘best practice’ that are contributing to a sea of sameness. Disruption is more ambitious, unlocking opportunities for brands to develop transformative platforms that can influence every part of their company,” said Troy Ruhanen, CEO of TBWAWorldwide, in a statement. “One of the reasons why we’ve been named one of the world’s most innovative companies three years in a row is that we continually evolve our talent. And so, when seeking our next global creative leader, we wanted to find someone who understood the power of disruption and would see its potential in the context of our ever-expanding creative canvas, separating our clients from the conventions of their categories and placing them in a category of one.”

Ruhanen continued, “Ben’s ability to redefine categories, to innovate and create products that influence culture make him the right choice for our collective. His work sits at the nexus of advertising, experience design, and innovation. He will set an inspiring vision, unifying the breadth of creative skills within the collective, as well as attracting talent who are eager to create the new and invent ways for people to experience brands.”

Williams will lead TBWA’s global creative core, a roundtable composed of CCOs from the collective’s top agencies, which also includes Chief Innovation Officer Luke Eid, Chief Strategy Officer Agathe Guerrier, Global Creative Chair John Hunt, and others. He’ll engage with TBWA’s top global clients, some of which include Adidas, Apple, McDonald’s, Nissan, PepsiCo, and Philips. He will begin in January 2022, initially based in New York, with a move to Los Angeles later in the year.

Earlier this year, TBWA evolved its trademarked disruption methodology to multiply its impact, both upstream on clients’ businesses and downstream on all brand experiences in a strategic operating system upgrade called DisruptionX. Williams will partner with TBWA’s creative leaders around the world to set the vision for how disruption is creatively expressed across every touchpoint of a brand, ranging from advertising to events, interactive commerce platforms to product design, physical stores to services, and everything in between, guided by a powerful brand platform that sets the stage for transformative growth. He’ll also explore and build experiences across the 25 emerging spaces identified within TBWA’s global innovation platform NEXT.

“The Disruption Company rang true to me as a creative. I believe creativity has the power to solve business and human challenges in today’s world—not just marketing or communication problems—and yet few recognize its full potential,” said Williams. “Throughout my career, I’ve worked to disrupt the expected, the status quo, and do that through design, technology, experience, commerce, and advertising. To be able to do those things within a company that sees disruption as the antidote to incrementalism is exciting. We share a vision for the future of creativity and the scale and measurable impact our work can have in the world. I can’t wait to get started.”

Williams is a highly respected and award-winning creative, with 25 years of experience in experience design, advertising, and innovation. As Global Chief Experience Officer at R/GA, he has led the creative output for digital product, service, and experience initiatives for brands like Nike, Google, American Express, Samsung, and Equinox. There, he led teams of strategists, designers, and writers to deliver world-class experience strategy, concept development, and creative execution for clients, continually honing ways of working conducive to innovative work that sets a new standard.

Some of Williams’ most notable projects include the Nike+ FuelBand, the wearable that paved the way for the entire digital sport and fitness category; Nike+ Running, the app which gave a global community a new way to experience running; A/R Jordan, which leveraged augmented reality to reimagine the sneaker drop, putting Air Jordan sneakers back to the top of people’s minds and creating the first way for people to purchase directly within Snapchat; an evolution of Oprah’s Book Club, where he and a team created a platform to bridge the physical and digital for a more connected reading experience; and a reinvention of Converse.com that blurred the line between content and commerce.

Prior to joining R/GA, Williams spent a number of years at both Publicis and AKQA. Before moving to the US from Australia, Williams partnered with agencies large and small before founding his own design studio that represented brands such as Ford, Yellow Pages, Toyota, Kraft, Subaru, Quiksilver, and Sneaker Freaker magazine. He also spent ten years leading the creative design and execution of digital platforms and experiences for the biggest touring music festival in the world — Big Day Out.

But as we begin to emerge from the darkness, I can’t help but ask what we’ve done as an industry to evolve. What have we learnt? What insights have we gained? And how have we used those insights to redefine who we are? The last thing any of us should want is to re-emerge as a carbon copy of our previous selves. Consolidation, amalgamation, and the death of agency brands were commonplace prior to the pandemic, and that will continue unless we refine and rethink important elements of our business.

Talent. Everything begins and ends with people. Any agency’s success depends on how smartly we recruit, how effectively we coach, how beautifully

we empower, and how successfully we retain. We are in the business of people, after all, and that means reflecting the diversity of the markets in which we operate, championing both equality and inclusion, and listening when new employees come through our doors. It also means consistently evolving our employment strategy.

We committed to protecting our people during the pandemic. Health, wellbeing, security, and stability were chosen over award shows and fame. But many agencies played freely with the lives of others. They discarded employees too easily, cut salaries without a second thought, and went against everything they had previously stated they stood for. As the crisis worsened and leaders panicked, too many companies chose to cut development programs that were designed to retain and invest in talent. Years of talent development unraveled, sometimes overnight, and many people have been lost to our industry forever. What does this say about us and our future?

Our industry has always been stressful, but 2020 brought a whole new level of pressure. And that pressure accelerated a problem we can no longer tame: the need to address burnout at an organizational level. Whether we like it or not, the pandemic has brought a sense of urgency into our professional lives. It has imposed extended working hours and endless screen-time, and led to increases in client demands that have generated tremendous workloads. All of which, when mixed with anxiety, illness, and the fear of what’s to come, has left us with an exhausted, stressed, and worn-down workforce.

According to a survey published in the Harvard Business Review in February, 89% of respondents said their work life was getting worse, 62% said they were struggling to manage their workloads, and 57% said the pandemic had had a ‘large effect on’ or ‘completely dominated’ their work. Let’s face it, yoga and wellness sessions will not cut it as a remedy. The solution is much more intricate and requires bigger and bolder decision-making

We have begun implementing some practical measures at the agency that will hopefully instill positive change in the long term. We are launching a 24/7 counseling initiative, led by an organization that provides employee assistance and health & wellbeing programs. We hope this will encourage our employees and their families to open a conversation about topics that matter to them, as well as provide advice and action plans to help them solve any issues they may be facing in the workplace or at home. We have also introduced flexible working hours, allowing people to structure their time in the most suitable manner. And finally, we gave our employees the freedom to work from home for a month during the end-of-year holiday season, which allowed many to travel home and spend quality time with their loved ones.

I strongly believe that the agency of the future will need to be smarter, not just in recruiting and retaining a diverse and strategic range of talent, but in evolving its systems and offerings. It should also make the right investments, be mind- fully smarter, and have an empathetic leadership team. Our industry has to take collective action to ensure a healthier, happier, more flexible, balanced, and rewarding work environment – one where employees can be more productive and creativity can thrive.

Culture. Culture is the glue that binds people together. If that glue isn’t strong enough, agencies will fail. But the nature of that glue is changing. Values, ethics, shared experience, and a single- minded focus on creative excellence remain incredibly important, but we’re now moving beyond a sense of the collective towards a wholehearted embrace of the individual. In its most basic form, that means moving from a fixed to a flexible work- force. At its most profound, it borders on an almost spiritual concern for every single employee.

Discussions around flexibility have been around for a while, but they are accelerating. Harvard Business Review believes flexibility will shift from location to time in the not-too-distant future, meaning employees could soon be able to satis- factorily balance their personal and professional lives. That’s why we’re experimenting with three or four-day weeks and with hybrid models that allow people to choose where and when they work. The traditional employer/employee dynamic is chang- ing, and it is our job as agencies to satisfactorily respond to that shifting dynamic.

But that’s just the beginning. Harvard Busi- ness Review also believes the coming year will see employers shift from managing employee experience to managing their life experience. That’s a potentially huge undertaking that will revolutionize an agency’s idea of what constitutes corporate culture. It’s also a huge responsibility. It’s all very well fostering human connection and transparency, but digging into mindfulness and the overall wellbeing of any given individual is a different ball game altogether. Agencies that get this right will witness an increase in the number of high performers within their teams.

Creativity. For me, the advertising industry has always been about the creative product: the mentality of wanting to consistently produce great work through the application of bravery, passion, ingenuity, and imagination – all with the singular goal of building brands and in turn driving growth. But as we negotiate a potentially bumpy 2021, the significance of creative ideas as drivers of demand will heighten. And if you haven’t got creativity hard-wired into your soul, you’ll be in trouble.

Agencies more than proved their worth last year. Our teams rose to the occasion, driving business impact when our clients needed it most and coming up with convention-breaking creative ideas that helped their brands grow. We innovated for our clients in a myriad of ways, helping them navigate months of uncertainty by creating cam- paigns, products, and experiences for an entirely new shared reality. Creativity during Covid-19 simply required a little more ingenuity, teamwork, and imagination.

The post-Covid world offers an opportunity for brand disruption and creative innovation. And using creativity to drive growth will be key to the success of clients. Intractable problems require unconventional thinking, not the same repackaged solutions. For us, that’s where Disruption comes into play. Marketers need Disruption to create interest and desire, and to drive business impact. They need it to create a branded experience that accelerates growth. By reinventing how we work and the products we offer, and by recognizing the centrality of creativity in building businesses, strong agencies will be able to own their leader- ship position, shifting from service to strategy and from ads to the business of brand.

Business. Economically, the repercussions of the pandemic have been severe, but prompt action from the UAE government in terms of stimulus packages and the Targeted Economic Support Scheme helped to provide much needed stabi- lity. The Central Bank and the UAE government provided stimulus and relief packages totalling AED282.5 billion in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Targeted Economic Support Scheme extended until 30 June. This, combined with an efficient and impressive vaccination strategy and the superior containment of Covid- 19, has enabled the return of positive sentiment.

Sure, we’re nowhere near where we should’ve been, but I expect a strong recovery in the second half of this year as confidence returns. In the UAE, we’re already well on the road to recovery, with containment, vaccination, and the lessening of restrictions set to generate a far healthier business environment in the run-up to Expo 2020. Saudi Arabia, too, continues with its large investment and infrastructure projects, accelerating growth in sectors such as finance, trade, tourism, and construction. Beyond the Gulf, Egypt’s economy is also performing well, with a stable outlook and tremendous growth opportunities, especially in those sectors that remain under-served. So, there’s all the reason to be optimistic, with the major economies of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt driving growth for the rest of the region.

The Central Bank of the UAE expects the country’s economy to grow by 2.5% this year, and although the pandemic will continue to test our resilience for a while, we should be optimistic that growth and vibrancy will be consistent throughout the next few years. And it will be those agencies who have weathered the Covid-19 storm the best and who have prepared for a return to growth that will benefit the most.

Office of the future. Last year, everyone was talking about the continuation of remote working and the decreased importance of the office; but moving forward, it will be much deeper than that. All agencies will have to evaluate how they evolve in the post-Covid-19 era. Do they reduce office space, increase project-based teams, embrace auto- mation, utilize shared working spaces? How do we ensure that as an industry we become more sustainable? How do we give back at an even greater scale? Do agencies make all-encompassing commitments to the use of low-emission transport, to reducing energy consumption, to reductions in water usage? These are some of the important questions that will have to be answered in the coming months and years.

Everything comes down to the question of what kind of industry we want to be; what kind of agencies we want to be. Do we want to be tradi- tionalists who believe in the sanctity of bricks and mortar and in the rigidity of traditional corporate culture? Or do we believe in agility, in the freedom of location, and in adapting to our people rather than the other way around?

It’s time to disrupt how we work, think, behave, and interact with each other. It’s time to rethink the implications of our decisions, actions, and reactions, not just on our business, but on who we are as humans and who we aspire to become as a community and as agencies of the future. This will require ambition, boldness, and reinvention – the very attributes of the city we live in. In the space of a single troubling year, the Emirates has managed the Covid-19 crisis and reached Mars. If that’s not ambition, I don’t know what is.

This article was published in Communicate’s Q1 edition. You can access the full magazine here.

And as a special bonus, Reda Raad, Group Chief Executive Officer of TBWARAAD provides an exclusive piece where he takes stocks of the lessons learnt in 2020 and what they mean for the industry moving forward.

Check it out online here or grab a hard copy at a store near you.

What drove such a large expansion at this specific point in time?

Sander Volten: The past year has proven that the world has never been more connected. It has also revealed the relevance and efficiency of collaborative work, encouraged by technology and all the tools it made available. By opening more hubs across key areas around the world, we’re building and strengthening 180’s ecosystem of global creativity and bringing different cultural perspectives to clients.

We have been covering the MENA market for quite some time, particularly Qatar. The Middle East is evolving and innovating at a remarkable pace, with advancements in technology, healthcare, education, in the environment, and even in science and space. It is only logical for us to be there and take part in this culture of evolution.

How will 180 MENA position itself within the larger TBWA network vis-a-vis other agencies? Vis-a-vis its competition?

S.V.: 180 is a stand-alone agency ecosystem. 180 MENA will be an access point for ambitious clients in the region to access the global award-winning talent of the 180 ecosystem, whether it's the highly revered FMCG and partnership experience from Amsterdam, the social and tech expertise of the NY hub, or the award-winning entertainment experience of our LA team.

Our difference will come down to three simple things: We work fast, flat, and connected. We promise a fresh perspective. Our work will be famous, human, and seamless – created to work in a world where ideas need to live in and at the speed of culture.

How does this expansion illustrate a renewed focus on the MENA region? What are the potentials that you have identified that led to it? 

Youssef Chahine:  The MENA region, and particularly the Middle East, has risen to the spotlight over the past few years, placing cities that had been long-isolated entities on the global scene. This evolution has blurred the boundaries between different parts of the world and was caused, in particular, by the advances some cities in MENA made through innovation across different sectors.

The UAE is one of those regions that have managed, in a very short time, to become part of the world, a melting pot of nationalities and cultures, launching global initiatives such as the Expo 2021, the Hope Probe Mission to Mars, the Museum of the Future, amongst many others. KSA has also joined the global scene when it opened up to become a tourism destination and embraced innovation at an unprecedented pace. The same applies to Qatar, which has been holding events such as the Qatar Innovation Week, launching the Qatar Science & Technology Park, and preparing to host The FIFA World Cup in 2022, as the first-ever Muslim and Arab country to host the Cup.

The region has embraced evolution and modernity at an unprecedented pace. Countries that were once unknown to many parts of the world are now on everyone’s list of places to visit. The potential here is enormous as the growth phase in MENA has only just begun, and many more cities are set to join the race. This exposure to the world only reinforces and justifies the need for a connected ecosystem that understands different cultures and creates the global brands of tomorrow.

What challenges are you expecting to face and how will you address them?

S.V.: We’re excited about the challenge of setting up the offering. Much of it is already in place as we can build around existing Omnicom structures that we’re connected to. We are meeting with clients already – meeting and sharing our vision. It’s clear that they are excited about having access to our global talent, but having a team available on the ground also means they have extra reassurance of an understanding of local sensibilities and that we can provide the day-to-day service we know clients demand. If they share our ambition to see the world as it could be – creating brands that are famous, human, and seamless – then we can do business.  

What can you tell us about the operations in MENA?

Y.C.:  I will be leading the operations in MENA, with an initial team of around 25 that will be available to clients on a daily basis to ensure a seamless partnership and collaboration across strategy, creative, production, and client/project management. Our team on the ground will also provide our clients with access to the global ecosystem of 180 advisory and expertise, from brand building and design to brand strategy, digital, and partnership experience.

Why did you choose to launch a Qatar operation on top of the Dubai one?

S.V.: In light of our longstanding success in the market, having a team on the ground will allow us to build relationships with new clients and grow new brands. Our presence will also allow us to be aligned with the culture and ambition of the market.

TBWARAAD is the Disruption agency. How important was it to position yourself as experts in dealing with the ultimate disruption we’re currently going through?

Jennifer Fischer: While they sound the same, there is an important distinction between “disruption” with a small “d” and Disruption with a big “D.” The one with a small “d” refers to a disturbance, break or interruption in the normal course [of events], more often than not with a negative consequence. This is what the whole world is facing now.

At TBWARAAD, we are experts at Disruption^® with a big “D.” The difference comes from the intent. We look at ways to break conventions and accepted beliefs, not for the sake of it, but to achieve a higher purpose, to unlock a better future, to accelerate the desired business outcome.

In times of crisis, this way of thinking is more important than ever. It’s easy to let fear and uncertainty guide business decisions towards following the crowds, going with the flow, and sticking to what you know. Success comes from carving new ways and dictating your own paths; this is where the expertise around Disruption is essential.

What was the strategy behind the development of all this covid19-centric content?

J.F.: Everyone agrees that this is a time of great change. And many changes are obvious: a slowed economy, a growth in online commerce, changing media habits or the impact of social distancing. Others are much more ambiguous, more complex, and less easy to spot or predict. I’m talking about shifts in culture, behaviors, belief systems, values, leadership, or creativity. This is where the traps and opportunities lie for brands and businesses. It is where relevance and meaning become hits or misses.

Everything we have created during this period is meant to help brand owners navigate this sea of uncertainty with the right insights, data, tools, and expertise.

What are each of these initiatives meant to achieve and how do they work together?

J.F.: Each initiative plays a different and complementary role in helping businesses identify what they should do both now and next.

• The Flash-Advisor was created at the start of the crisis when every brand under the sun was planning initiatives and content related to Covid-19. There was a lot of confusion about what brands should or shouldn’t do, and this interactive tool gave some simple no-nonsense guidance.
• Backslash Reports help to keep the finger on the pulse, identify and decode emerging trends as they evolve with a focus on the MENA region.
• Live Sessions – tackling topics as diverse as decision making, creativity and cultural trends – deliver inspiration and guidance on how we should act and react as both brand owners and business leaders.
• The final piece of the puzzle is the Rebound Accelerator Workshops. We’ve essentially tailored our Disruption methodology to fit this period of accelerated change and to deliver effective growth-focused plans uniquely built for each brand.

All of these initiatives, along with some of the recent work created for our clients, are hosted on our insights microsite: insights.tbwaraad.com

How were these various initiatives received?

J.F.: The response has been overwhelmingly positive. The insights website has received several thousand organic visits with a pretty impressive session duration.

Live Sessions have been popular across the entire global TBWA network, with our clients and prospects of course. Most funnily though, we’ve had lots of people joining from other agencies!

The next Live Session is scheduled for Thursday, June 4th.

How do you create the content of the Backslash Reports?

Remie Abdo: Finding triggers has always been part of our everyday work, even pre Covid-19. Staying up to date with what’s happening, actively looking to be in sync with culture, reading everything that comes in front of our eyes, are part and parcel of being a planner. This wasn’t new. We usually use these triggers to make sure brands are part of the culture at all times.

But the triggers that we encountered at the start of the pandemic were revolutionary and transformative, and we naturally started asking ourselves “What if” and “Imagine if.” I remember the first question we discussed internally was, “What if this was the end of the outdated school system and the start of a new one that fits better our 21st-century modern lives?”

The “What Ifs” we highlight in the reports are the ones from which we believe marketeers and businessmen can benefit.

The Edges are our expression of a future trend or shift; they are the final piece of the cultural puzzle when we identify our “What Ifs.”

How do you manage the balance around providing content on Covid-19 and avoiding pandemic fatigue?

R.A.: This pandemic has brought something new every single day. We’d go to sleep with one piece of news and wake up to another. It is certainly tiring to have all the work revolve around Covid-19. However, there has been no mundane day during these past two months.

Creative people also thrive on challenges and crisis. Everyone rolled up their sleeves to collaborate, find solutions for our clients, and proactively come up with initiatives or content.

Ironically, and maybe it’s not appropriate to say this, but a part of me enjoyed the challenge. But can we please go back to normal life already?

In terms of perception, there’s a thin line between being proactive and useful, and the appearance of profiteering. How do you manage this delicate perception issue?

R.A.: While other agencies may keep their insights or tools for themselves to impress or charge their clients, we put all our knowledge, ideas and tools out there, on a free public platform for anyone to read, enjoy and use. We wanted not only to give back to marketeers and business people, but also to elevate the role our industry can play during times like these.

When it comes to the work we produced for our clients, we made a conscious effort to ensure that none of it was using the pandemic to our “advantage.” Every piece of work was created to either uplift the spirits with a positive message, promote a helpful service, or convey useful information vs. just communicating.

Our first concern when the pandemic started, was how to be useful. We applied this logic to everything we did for our clients, and for ourselves as an agency.

How long do you project to keep creating this content and why?

R.A.: As an agency, we always come up with initiatives and thought leadership content that contribute to our industry and is there for anyone to use. Our Covid-19 special content got more visibility and recognition because of the nature of the situation. The uncertainty and unpredictability of the situation made the content more valuable and appreciated by others. Also, everyone was in front of their screens consuming every single Covid-19 related content, and we were amongst the first to launch our different initiatives, so we got on people’s radar quickly.

As our initiatives have been received well, we will continue to produce this particular kind of content with a longer-term vision in mind. However, the context will evolve as the Covid-19 situation evolves, and the topics will transform as the culture transforms. I wouldn’t be able to put an exact time frame to it, or tell you how this content will transform, as these initiatives are living things that adapt to the lives we are living.

The team also consists of award-winning talents such as Alberto Triana and Fredrico Mariani, who have been appointed as Associate Creative Director. Both have collaborated and held integral roles in major iconic campaigns such as Nissan’s “#SheDrives” and have worked with the agency’s top-tier brands.

“I am more than confident in their capacity to take on new responsibilities and drive their teams forward and wish them both the best of luck in their new exciting journeys,” said ECD Manuel Bordé in the press statement.

Walid Kanaan, Chief Creative Officer at TBWARAAD said in the statement, “I am proud of the solid structure we have established, and I believe that, under Manuel’s leadership, the entire team has the opportunity to contribute to great achievements, working together as one family towards a shared vision.”