TBWA\SA’s dominant performance at Creative Circle awards

Carl Willoughby, CCO TBWA\Hunt Lascaris and chairperson of the Creative Circle Awards at the Creative Circle's Best of 2023 Awards

A few members of the Grid Worldwide team on stage to accept the Best Design award for the Pantry by Marble Group brand identity: Jarryd Buchalter, Jineil Kandasamy, Izabel Barkhuizen and Tefo Sebulele

The TBWA\SA collective was a top performer at Creative Circle Best of 2023 Awards, with a best-yet showing by Hunt Lascaris, Grid Worldwide winning Best Design, and plaudits for Magna Carta.

The collective was placed in the top three in all but one category, winning Best of 2023 PR & Media and Best Digital - for its powerful ‘Stronger’ campaign to raise awareness about mental health and suicide in aid of the Riky Rick Foundation - and Best Design for Grid Worldwide’s Pantry by Marble Group brand identity.

The group is also thrilled with the appointment of Carl Willoughby as the new chairman of the Creative Circle.

Willoughby was appointed TBWA\SA’s chief creative officer in April last year, taking over the role of long-time CCO from Pete Khoury. Willougby has been with TBWA for almost a decade and has rapidly grown through the ranks, leading some of the group’s most relevant and innovative campaigns.

He is an immaculate professional and advertising generalist with experience in the finance, alcohol, broadcast, motor and FMCG industries at some of SA's leading creative agencies. In 2021, Willoughby was ranked as the #1 ECD in South Africa. He also led Nissan to global creative recognition with 'Nissan Shwii'.

TBWA\Hunt Lascaris placed third in the Best of 2023 Mza’taal for Nissan South Africa and came second in the Best OOH (Out of Home) category for its McDonald’s SA and Nissan SA campaigns.

The company also secured first and third rankings in the Best PR & Media category for the Riky Rick Foundation and MTN, respectively.

Having won first place at the same awards for the design of Zioux Break Free in 2022, Grid Worldwide conceptualised and designed Pantry as a re-imagination of the shopping experience. Winning twice for two Marble Group concepts is a testament to the importance of brand and agency collaboration to push the boundaries of creative work, stretching and enriching the overall dining experience for customers and redefining the hospitality industry.

TBWA\SA group chief executive Luca Gallarelli is elated about the group’s performance at the Creative Circle. Team TBWA\ South Africa has once again delivered an outstanding performance.

“The group has an incredible spread across clients and categories, which is a testament to the spirit of all of our people and our clients. Delivering excellence in creativity is more challenging today than ever before, and I am so proud to be a part of this never-say-die team.

“Well done to everyone who has worked so hard on these campaigns. We are especially proud of the work of the incoming chair of the Creative Circle, Carl Willoughby. A better person for the job you will not find.”

Willoughby acknowledges that his predecessors, Roanna Williams and Fran Luckin, have set the bar very high. “I want to build on the foundation of what’s been set by Roanna and Fran, the previous chairwomen. I think what they’ve done has grown the Creative Circle’s influence and numbers.

“I believe the more people understand the value of creativity, the better, and that’s what I want to try to establish.”

Commenting about TBWA’s performance at the Creative Circle, Willoughby said: “I’m thrilled – it’s extremely validating. We’ve had a year of many new things, so the wins across the different categories and the spread of clients are reaffirming that we are doing things the right way and moving in the right direction. We can only get better.”

About TBWA\

TBWA is The Disruption® Company. We are a Collective of creative minds with an unlimited creative canvas. We create brand platforms that defy convention and compete with culture. Thanks to our trademarked Disruption® methodology, we build the world’s strongest brands. Brands that own an unfair share of the future.

Named one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019, TBWA is also Adweek's 2022, 2021 and 2018 Global Agency of the Year and AdAge’s A-List 2022 Network of the Year.

Our Collective has 11,000+ creative minds in over 40 countries, and also includes brands such as Auditoire, Digital Arts Network (DAN), eg+ worldwide, GMR, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, TBWA\Health Collective and TRO. Global clients include adidas, Apple, Gatorade, Henkel, Hilton Hotels, McDonald's, Nissan and Singapore Airlines. Follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. TBWA is part of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC).