NEW YORK, May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TBWA\Worldwide today announces the launch of Disruption Works, a consultancy that applies TBWA's Disruption methodology to a wider array of business issues.
"This makes perfect sense as a business right now," says Tom Carroll, Worldwide CEO of TBWA. "For over 10 years, we have successfully been applying Disruption to our clients' brand issues, but more and more we're being asked to work on issues related to, but many times outside of advertising. We realized we were helping clients determine their CSR strategy, reorient their innovation initiatives and develop corporate cultures that would drive their business. Clients are looking for help in all areas of their business, and we are responding with Disruption Works as a formalized offer."
Disruption Works will be a separate business unit of TBWA\Worldwide and will be led by Laurie Coots, TBWA's Global CMO, who adds the function of President of this unit to her duties. "Clients are asking us to help them deal with the increasing complexity of their worlds — to develop business and engagement strategies that are not dependent on an individual partner or a discipline, but involve them. After 10 years and over 1,200 workshops, we have an amazing wealth of experience from around the world to draw upon and a proven process. By formalizing this application of Disruption, we can now make Disruption available to more clients in more places."
"The truth is that many clients may just need a strategic recalibration, or help in formalizing a specific initiative — but not an agency change," says Coots. "This is what we are here to do. The beauty is that Disruption can be used to interrogate any question, or decomplexify any situation — so decisions can be made and strategies can be executed."
The turning point for TBWA was when Coots was asked to develop Disruption Workshops for companies with competitive agencies in the room. "It was something we thought long and hard about, and it was obviously awkward at first, until everyone realized that the only reason we were all there was to build a better strategy and a better brief — not to steal their advertising client — then they relaxed and we all got down to work."
Jonas Tahlin, Global CMO of ABSOLUT for Pernod-Ricard, noted after a recent workshop, "TBWA's Disruption Workshop forces any brand to stop in its tracks by having a deep look at what's actually going on in its relevant context. The outcome? The disruptive replaces the stale."
Disruption Works also plans to engage the wisdom of geniuses and crowds, by delivering some of the most coveted talents in the world of business and marketing, including Jim Stengel, author of Grow — How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies; William Taylor, author of Mavericks at Work and Practically Radical; and analysts, journalists and game developers. "Imagine the possibilities of fielding an "All Star" team of experts to interrogate your business problem within a proven and disciplined process," says Coots. "It's business nirvana."
"Not only do I love being an Agent of Disruption in other companies' workshops, but working with Disruption Works I have developed a special workshop to help brands and businesses explore the power of their ideals, as outlined in my book," commented Jim Stengel.
Agents of Disruption will focus on developing and delivering workshops that provide engagement, collaboration and alignment in the workshop itself, and an actionable debrief of strategies and briefs that can be executed by a wide variety of vendors or partners.
A web-based tool set will provide clients with a day-to-day strategic filter, and help them to stay on track during organizational change. "You can usually unify a team around strategy," says Coots. "Life and execution is where things get sticky and can break down. We want to make it easier for clients to know if they are on track with simple tools that govern their behavior every day. It can't be complicated — it must be simple, and it must be binary. Either my idea, initiative or activity is on strategy or it's not — yes or no, and adjust accordingly."
Business is brisk, with Brand Behavior and Corporate Culture workshops already booked for January. "We will begin by operating globally out of New York," says Tom Carroll, "and will expand from there. The beauty of this business is that it is not about a geographical service model — this is about developing and delivering actionable key talent and strategies that work hard for clients, in any language, in every culture, on any problem, anywhere in the world."
Disruption Works is a TBWA company. TBWA is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Disruption is both a mind-set and a strategic approach that TBWA has used for over 10 years to manage the marketing and communications of some of the world's most admired brands. A proven methodology that has been globally deployed in thousands of workshops around the world, Disruption now redefines collaboration, by bringing together in a workshop setting the smartest, most diverse perspectives, unrivaled tools and exercises, data visualization and stimulus — all to interrogate the bigger, more complex questions that are challenging executives today. Disruption is not about mere diagnosis or brainstorming, but delivers actionable strategies that will drive growth and value to businesses and brands — through workshops dedicated to M&A strategy, corporate values application, training and corporate culture, NPD, brand architecture and CSR.
SOURCE TBWA
Share this article