TBWA\Worldwide’s John Hunt to join The One Club Creative Hall of Fame

The One Club for Creativity — an international non-profit organisation seeking to inspire, encourage and develop creative excellence in advertising and design — has announced the list of global luminaries who will be inducted into its Creative Hall of Fame this year.

Among those whose lifetime achievements will be celebrated is John Hunt, global creative chair at TBWA\Worldwide, co-founder of the internationally recognised SA agency TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, and award-winning author and playwright. 

“I'm deeply honoured to receive this recognition from The One Club,” says Hunt. “In truth, though, it’s a team award. It belongs just as much to all the co-workers, clients and organisations 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.”

‘The very definition of a creative giant’

“John is most deserving of this honour,” says Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club for Creativity. “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 honoured to celebrate him alongside our other [2022] inductees [Nancy Vonk, Janet Kestin, Carol H Williams, Joe Duffy and Cheryl D Miller].”

Troy Ruhanen, CEO of TBWA\Worldwide, says: “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.”

‘Life’s too short to be mediocre’

In 1983, Hunt and his partner Reg Lascaris founded Hunt\Lascaris in Johannesburg, 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.

Case in point is the “Trillion Dollar Campaign” the agency created for The Zimbabwean, which raised awareness of the newspaper and the corruption within the Mugabe regime around the world. It 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.  

Other notable clients included BMW, Nando's and SAA.

Shortly after its founding, Hunt\Lascaris sought an international partner to accelerate its growth. With its high creative standards, entrepreneurial spirit and founder culture, TBWA was the ideal match 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 SA’s first-ever Data Lion at Cannes; and “Blame No More”, which won five Cannes Lions in 2020, including a Gold and SA's first-ever Glass Lion. 

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.

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, and helping to inspire it to think less about ads and more about ideas.

On arriving in New York, Hunt founded the TBWA Young Bloods creative residency programme, and a year later began the “SWAT” initiative, a programme that ensures a global answer to the creative questions often asked by worldwide clients.

In 2021, TBWA reintroduced the Young Bloods programme, with a focus on promising talent from historically underrepresented groups.

Hunt returned to SA in 2006 to continue his worldwide role from Johannesburg.  

'Advertising can make the world a better place'

Proof that advertising can make the world a better place, Hunt was intimately involved in Nelson Mandela's first ANC election campaign in 1993. Though harrowing at the time, this unique moment in history ushered SA into the light of democracy. He was also involved in creating iconic work for the first HIV/Aids campaign in SA.

In 1996, he was inducted into the SA Advertising Hall of Fame and, a year later, received the Financial Mail AdFocus’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 SA 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. 

Hunt will officially be inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame during a black-tie fundraising gala in support of The One Club for Creativity's global diversity, equity and inclusion programmes on October 27 in New York.

This article was paid for by TBWA\SA.