• by Larissa Faw , November 30, 2020

Describing 2020 as a “turning point globally” and “the moment when we began to see more clearly all the things we needed to change,” industry veterans Thomas Bierg and Farah Dib are launching the TwentyTwenty Agency, an advocacy-driven shop specializing in strategy and creative services.

The agency’s mission is to align all campaigns with advocacy, starting with loneliness and building community to contribute to a more inclusive future.

“Loneliness is one of the major challenges of our time, with a health impact equating to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and it's a crisis brands can play a meaningful role in solving,” explains Dib.

“Community is a business opportunity. Brands, propelled by globalization and digitalization, sit on a powerful antidote to isolation and can, in the absence of viable global governance and ideology, play a powerful role in connecting people who share the same values, interests and passions.”

The two founders are long-time friends and collaborators. Bierg — serving as co-founder/CEO — brings 20+ years of experience, including launching creative shop Very in 2006. In addition to its founders the shop has a starting team of six employees.

Dib — serving as co-founder/creative director — has spent the last ten years developing work for clients such as Nike, Virgin, Vodafone, Paramount Pictures and Unilever, at top London agencies AKQA and Droga5. The ex-journalist also states she has “experienced first-hand” that advertising is “particularly pale, male and stale,” and seeks to find ways to be more inclusive.

The founders recognize the challenges in introducing a new agency during a pandemic. It means “embedding flexibility into your business model and thinking deeply about how to create belonging, culture and a sense of togetherness in a state of prolonged physical distancing,” says Dib.

“The London-based agency has already won multiple pitches from global brands since its soft launch in June. This includes leading the brand strategy for 5--a global non-profit foundation and Matter, a fintech start up developed in collaboration with Nasdaq.