TBWA\RAAD, the Disruption Company, has today officially confirmed that it has entered into a strategic partnership with technology giant, Google, so as to further develop and enhance its talent and capabilities, in support of the agency’s on-going mission to deliver innovative and disruptive digital ideas.

Commenting on the partnership, Reda Raad, CEO for TBWA\RAAD Middle East said:

“Brands today need to be communicating at the speed of culture;a culture that is driven by creativity and powered by Disruption®.”

“We have partnered with Google this year to further strengthen our integrated vision and Disruptive thinking. We have been working to bring data led thinking front and centre in our creative process, the Google All Star Academy is a great way to empower our people to do this. We are going to continue our collaboration with Google on several fronts throughout the year and are very excited about the journey ahead”, Raad added.

Alex Brunori, Creative Lead of Google MENA added: 

“In the Middle East region, Google collaborates with forward-thinking creative partners through digital acceleration programs to encourage knowledge-sharing and meet the growing demands of digital communications and engagement. To this end, we are delighted to have established another such partnership, with TBWA\RAAD, and look forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial working relationship with one of the region’s most dynamic creative agencies.”

The strategic partnership is a customized solution that started in April 2017 with a four-day training program called:“Google All-Stars Academy”.Here, 40 creative talents from TBWA\RAAD’s UAE, Qatar, Algeria, Saudi, Lebanon and Kuwait offices joined people from Google (and its partner companies) in pursuit of accelerating regional digital advancement. Through the program, the participants had access to the knowledge-base of several digital leaders, including training sessions conducted by companies such as The Zoo, Contagious, MENA CATS and MediaMonks.

Noah Khan, Regional Head of Digital & Innovation - Africa and Middle East,said: “We are a radically open creative collective and our belief is that we are better working together with our partners than on our own. Through this exciting partnership with Google, we aim to produce incredibly disruptive work that speaks directly to a focused audience – at the right time, in the right space.”

In addition to the academy, Google and TBWA\RAAD will collaborate on multiple levels during the partnership, including extensive training, data-driven insight sharing and communications campaigns.