What is that shaking you hear? It is TBWA\ practicing 'disruption', their unique method of forging brilliant ideas that lead to a new edge on creative work. At the 2005 AdForum Summit in New York, TBWA\ Vice-Chairman Tom Carroll spoke to consultants about his agency's outstanding achievements in the past year.

TBWA\ is literally disrupting the industry, and producing results that speak for themselves. In fact, CEO Jean-Marie Dru is so confident in the process that he insists on potential clients attending a 'Disruption Day' before doing a pitch. A disruption day is a type of workshop.

According to Carroll, TBWA\ has been receiving high praise lately. "We've won 12 Grand Effy Awards. No one has a better batting average," he said. "Disruption is the difference. It has made us smarter with our client's business."

TBWA\ has even moved from 9th to 7th place in AdAge Magazine's top core agencies worldwide. Some of their new business includes: Pepsi, Danone, Leica, and the hip and trendy Panera Bread. At the same time, they have consistently retained such huge clients as Nissan. "We've been expanding our relationship with Nissan. They sold a million cars last year," Carroll pointed out.

Another example is the Pedigree account, where TBWA\ practically went beyond the edge. According to Carroll, they had to disrupt the whole industry with a new way of thinking. Instead of the old, rational way of thinking about pet food, they decided that Pedigree should own the emotional high ground with a new series of ads themed 'for the love of dogs' and 'dogs rule', which focused on the special attachment we have to our pets. The result: dramatic increase in sales at Pedigree worldwide! In fact, it worked out so well that Pedigree's R&D people are now making everything 'dog-centric'. Pet food is no longer just plain feed, but something bigger.

Sprint has also become one of TBWA\'s biggest accounts, especially since they acquired Nextel not long ago. A massive campaign called 'yes you can' was unleashed to promote cellphones. It was very successful, as Nextel phones now feature NFL football stats and other 'cool' features that are storming the market.

All in all, according to Carroll, "we've had a very good year!"