From top: Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East; TBWA.Saatchi & Saatchi’s Middle East network took the top spot for Network of the Year (Middle East and Africa) 2024 as a Silver winner at this year’s Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards.
The network posted a notable 32 per cent year-on-year growth in 2024, underpinned by a disciplined return to fundamentals and a focus on integration.
The Publicis Groupe’s network’s “Power of One” model – connecting strategy, creative, and execution under a single point of contact – has become a core part of its pitch and delivery. Its Dubai, Riyadh and Doha offices showed steady progress and consistent creative performance – account wins in 2024 included Pfizer, Subway and Amazon.
Internally, the agency reports 89 per cent employee retention – a rate that suggests its culture efforts are resonating, including learning and development initiatives focused on upskilling across creative, strategic, and technical disciplines such as AI tools aligning staff development with evolving client needs.
It launched new AI-powered service offerings for clients, as well as PubCubs – offering aspiring talent the opportunity to experience the ad industry by supporting teams and contributing to client work.
Bronze:
TBWA (South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates)
Spanning the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, TBWA’s 1,000-plus employees, referred to as “Pirates” grew revenue at double-digit rates, and welcomed almost 50 new clients aboard.
Its work included honouring the late South African hip-hop icon Riky Rick, with TBWA\South Africa by turning his final social media posts into “Stronger”, a song created with AI to amplify his words; a high-fashion collaboration with 50 global luxury brands that elevated Istanbul’s Beymen luxury department store brand; and a 120-metre CGI Nissan billboard lighting up Dubai’s busiest highway, which hit five million views in 24 hours.
This content was first published on Campaign UK.
