Ray Avery, the founder, driving force and bona fide genius behind independent development agency Medicine Mondiale, has been chosen as the inaugural winner of TBWA’s new Disruption Award.
The award, which was dished out by TBWA\ Group chief executive David Walden, champions the champions of disruptive thinking, a key methodology for the global TBWA\ network, and aims to reward those ‘who have succeeded in their chosen fields, moved New Zealand forward and, in turn, encouraged Kiwis to think disruptively and carve out successful niches for themselves and their fellow citizens’.
Ray Avery, who was also crowned 2010 New Zealander of the year, was selected by the TBWA\ judges for his efforts in creating a global network of experts who donate their knowledge and time to help develop medical solutions. But it’s not just warm fuzzies and a nice statue (incidentally, the statue was created by sculptor Grant Williams and is in the form of the TBWA\ ‘backslash’, a symbol of a “lightning rod for change”). Avery also gets $20,000 worth of creative and business-related consultancy services from the award givers to help support the continued growth and development of Medicine Mondiale.
“Medicine Mondiale is in the business of developing disruptive technology so there’s a lot of synergy between the way we work and the creative, disruptive approach to business that TBWA\ takes,” Avery says.
And Walden: “As an agency we’re in the business of creative thinking, and in many cases disruptive thinking. So the Disruption Award is a way for us to recognise and celebrate New Zealand’s other successful disruptive thinkers, like Ray. He’s clearly zigged when everyone else has zagged and has had a profound and beneficial impact on millions of people’s lives, so for me and the other TBWA\ judges it was an easy decision to make. He’s an inspiring, remarkable and successful man.”
The Disruption Award will be dished out to a worthy recipient every six months and the judging process is in two stages, the first being a preliminary round of nominations from all employees within TBWA\ and the second stage being Walden, Andy Blood, TBWA\ group creative director and a guest judge (John Hunt, worldwide creative director of the TBWA\ network was judge for the inaugural award) making the final choice.
