Not that long ago in the annals of advertising history – a decade ago, or so – TBWA\London seemed a bit of a lost cause; certainly a far cry from its glory days at the turn of the millennium.
How far it has bounced back in the past few years under the steady, modernising influence of Larissa Vince, who joined as CEO in 2021, and the restless creative energy of Andy Jex, who has led the work since becoming CCO in 2017, is testament to a team unafraid to take on a challenge and turn around what many had already written off.
Together they re-anchored the agency in its most famous doctrine – Disruption – while making it feel startlingly current again. In fact, you could argue that they personified what ‘Disruption’ should look like.
Under their partnership, TBWA\London rediscovered its shape, its voice and, most importantly, its cultural relevance. What emerged was an agency comfortable operating at the intersection of brand, sport, entertainment, and everyday British life – an agency that could handle a multinational relaunch one week and a homespun biscuit-obsessed projection stunt across London’s landmarks the next.
TBWA\London has become a victim of changing times and will now merge with adam&eveDDB to form the new agency adam&eve\TBWA.
If this retrospective is a moment to pause, it is also a moment to acknowledge the energy and ambition that Vince and Jex poured into the building and the work, not just this year but every year they have worked there.
Nonetheless 2025 stands as a testament to that renewal. It was the year TBWA\London felt fully re-centred – creatively confident, strategically sharper and organisationally whole again. How sad that that disruption has been disrupted itself.