Month: August 2022

Co-Founder of legendary South African agency TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris to be recognized for a career of world-class creative excellence and contributions to society

NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — John Hunt, Global Creative Chair at TBWA\Worldwide, co-founder of the internationally recognized South African agency TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, and award-winning author and playwright, will be inducted into The One Club for Creativity’s Creative Hall of Fame on October 27th in New York.

The Creative Hall of Fame has a rich heritage of honoring the lifetime achievements of creative luminaries in all forms of advertising and design, beginning with the induction of Leo Burnett in 1961 and TBWA\Media Arts Lab’s Lee Clow in 1997. Hunt’s fellow inductees in the class of 2022 are Nancy Vonk, Janet Kestin, Carol H. Williams, Joe Duffy and Cheryl D. Miller. The black-tie Creative Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which is a fundraising gala to support The One Club’s many global DE&I programs, will take place at Tisch Skylights at The Shed, Hudson Yards in New York.

“John Hunt is most deserving of this honor,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “He has been a champion of creativity for Africa and has used creativity to build iconic brands while advancing democracy, human rights, and human welfare. He is the very definition of a creative giant. John joins a group of inductees who have influenced culture, uplifted underrepresented groups, and inspired the next generation of creative thinkers and doers. We are honored to celebrate him alongside our other inductees in October.”

In 1983, Hunt and his partner Reg Lascaris founded Hunt\Lascaris, with the ambition to be the first world-class agency out of Africa. With the mantra “Life’s too short to be mediocre,” they created bold and breakthrough work that could only be from Africa, but routinely gained worldwide attention and recognition. Clients included BMW, Nando’s, South African Airways, and The Zimbabwean’s “Trillion Dollar Campaign,” which raised awareness of the newspaper and the corruption within the Mugabe regime around the world, and became the most awarded campaign of all time, after sweeping the awards at The One Show, Cannes Lions, The Clio Awards, ADC and D&AD.

Shortly after its founding, Hunt\Lascaris sought an international partner to accelerate its growth. TBWA was the ideal match, with its high creative standards, entrepreneurial spirit and founder culture, and a decades long partnership was born.

The agency has continued to create bold, award-winning work, including “Breaking Ballet” for the Joburg Ballet, which brought the art form to an entirely new generation of fans, and earned a Gold Lion and South Africa’s first-ever Data Lion at Cannes; and “Blame No More” which won five Cannes Lions in 2020, including a Gold and South Africa’s first-ever Glass Lion.

Proof that advertising can make the world a better place, Hunt was intimately involved in Nelson Mandela’s first ANC election campaign in 1993. Although harrowing at the time, this unique moment in history ushered South Africa into the light of democracy. He was also involved in creating iconic work for the First HIV AIDS campaign in South Africa. TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris was named Agency of the Century in 2000, and Agency of the Decade in 2010, the same year that work for The Zimbabwean Newspaper gained worldwide recognition.

“I’m deeply honored to receive this recognition from The One Show,” said Hunt. “In truth, though, it’s a team award. It belongs just as much to all the co-workers, clients and organizations I’ve worked with over the years. Ultimately, it’s their trust that turned seemingly impossible ideas into reality.  No doubt, creativity can make the world a better place. But it’s so much more powerful when played as a team sport.”

Troy Ruhanen, CEO, TBWA\Worldwide, added, “I have such tremendous respect for John, not just for what he has achieved, but more importantly, how he has gone about it. He inspires us, continues to be our creative north star, and has given so much to our company, industry and society. John’s integrity, generosity and talent are matched only by his enormous heart. We are immensely proud to see him join the Creative Hall of Fame.”

In 2003, Hunt moved to TBWA’s New York headquarters to assume the role of Worldwide Creative Director, becoming a creative compass for the agency collective, helping to reshape the TBWA collective to think less about ads and more about ideas. Upon arriving in New York, Hunt founded the TBWA Young Bloods creative residency program, and a year later began the “SWAT” initiative, a program that ensures a global answer to the creative questions often asked by worldwide clients. In 2021, TBWA re-introduced the Young Bloods program with a focus on promising talent from historically underrepresented groups. Hunt returned to South Africa in 2006 to continue his Worldwide role from Johannesburg.

In 1996 he was inducted into the South African Advertising Hall of Fame and, a year later, received the Financial Mail’s Long Term Achievement Award. Hunt has served as juror across every major industry awards show, including as President of the Cannes Film, Press & Outdoor Advertising Festival in 2005. He has also found time to write a number of television and theatre plays and books. He was named South African Playwright of the Year for Vid Alex, a play that condemned censorship during the apartheid years, and has also published a book, The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life.

About TBWA\Worldwide
TBWA is The Disruption® Company. We use creativity to help businesses challenge the status quo and capture an unfair share of the future. Named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2021, 2020 and 2019, and Adweek’s 2021 and 2018 Global Agency of the Year, we are a creative company that uses trademarked Disruption® methodologies to help businesses address their challenges and achieve transformative growth. Our collective has 10,000+ creative minds in 41 countries, and also includes brands such as Auditoire, Digital Arts Network (DAN), eg+ worldwide, GMR, The Integer Group®, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, TBWA\WorldHealth and TRO. Global clients include adidas, Apple, Gatorade, Henkel, Hilton Hotels, McDonald’s, Nissan and Singapore Airlines.  Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, and like us on Facebook. TBWA is part of Omnicom Group.

Contacts: Anaka Kobzev, Global Head of Communications, TBWA, +1-917-362-5845, [email protected]; Mary Gearing, Deputy Managing Director, Magna Carta, +27 (0) 11 784 2598, [email protected]

SOURCE TBWA\Worldwide

Agency introduces compelling commerce as strategic vision and focuses on its people as cofounders of the agency’s future

DALLAS, Aug. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Tracy-Locke, leading commerce and communications agency, is introducing a new brand identity centered around the belief that there is no commerce problem in the world creativity cannot solve. This comes on the heels of two gold and one silver Effie awards in the Omnichannel Shopper Solution and Multi-Retailer Shopper Solution categories, solidifying Tracy-Locke’s track record of creative innovation that uniquely positions the agency to deliver compelling commerce to the marketplace.

As part of its people-first rebrand, the agency is reintroducing the hyphen to its name as a symbol of its people, who are all co-founders of the agency’s future. The small-but-mighty hyphen represents the agency’s integrated yet independent approach that fosters a creative work environment where everyone has a voice and seat at the table.

“Our people are the driving force that bring business and creative ideas together in ways that resonate for our clients and the consumers they’re trying to attract,” said Phil Camarota, Chief Creative Officer at Tracy-Locke. “They are dreamers, planners, artists and data gurus who keep our agency ahead of the commerce curve.”

From the very beginning, Tracy-Locke’s cofounders Shelley Tracy and Raymond Locke believed they were better together, joining forces to create The Original Commerce Agency – one that merged Tracy’s background as a grocery merchant and Locke’s expertise as a creative advertiser. This spirit of diverse and dynamic collaboration holds true today and drives what Tracy-Locke believes is the future of the industry – compelling commerce.  

The idea of compelling commerce carries two meanings for Tracy-Locke: 1) Compelling the industry forward through innovation, and 2) Creating compelling work that drives people to buy into brands and buy products. This is seen through the end-to-end approach Tracy-Locke takes in supporting clients from innovation to implementation.

With a new portfolio of services, the agency is delivering more value to brands through culturally relevant campaigns that hook human interest and connect with diverse and niche audience segments. Inclusive commerce is one of the agency’s latest strategic offerings, seen in the “Full of Detroit Soul” campaign for Pepsi that strengthened the brand’s connection with the city through local artists and support of Black-owned businesses. The campaign received a gold Effie for Omnichannel Shopper Solution, a category in which Tracy-Locke also earned a silver Effie for their work on the Ziploc “Functional Fashion” program.

Creative excellence and forward thinking have been driving the agency’s strategic growth since before the official rebrand, starting with the naming of Tina Manikas as President last June, followed by the agency’s expanded executive leadership board.

“When we expanded our executive leadership board last year, our focus was on four key pillars: driving strategic innovation, compelling creative excellence, expanding client partnerships and unifying talent-building programs,” said Michael Lovegrove, Chief Executive Officer. “As we rebrand, we’re placing an even more intentional focus on these pillars as we take care of our people, our clients and shape the future of commerce marketing.”

About Tracy-Locke:
Tracy-Locke is an award-winning global commerce and communications agency that is compelling the future of commerce by designing experiences that build brands and drive conversion through empathy, technology and an unmatched level of creativity. A pillar of the Omnicom Commerce Group, Tracy-Locke offers full-service capabilities ranging from innovation to implementation. Clients include PepsiCo, SC Johnson, Kellogg’s, Diageo, Godiva, Pizza Hut, LEGO, and Samsung. For more information, visit www.tracylocke.com.

About Omnicom Commerce Group:
Omnicom Commerce Group (OCG) is a global community of four award-winning commerce agencies, working with brands and retailers to offer best in class consultancy, creativity and capability focused on driving increased conversion and transaction. OCG’s priority is to address the need for innovative multi-channel commerce expertise in the rapidly evolving world of retail and shopping. OCG encompasses 1,800 people across 23 markets – for more information please visit www.omnicomcommercegroup.com. OCG is part of the DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) 

SOURCE Tracy-Locke