The secret to building a creative partnership that lasts
Joint ECDs Lisa Nichols and Gary Fawcett, currently of TBWA\MCR, reflect on 30 years of working together, and how they’ve navigated industry change
In an industry where it’s common for creative teams to be reshuffled, agencies are routinely restructured and leadership models are constantly being rewritten, sustaining a close creative partnership for almost 30 years feels like not just an anomaly but, quite frankly, a minor miracle.
Lisa Nichols and Gary Fawcett, joint executive creative directors at TBWA\MCR, have been working together since the late 90s. In that time, they’ve survived the shift from print to digital, watched social media reshape the advertising landscape, navigated acquisitions, and now find themselves figuring out where AI fits into the creative process.
Yet for all the change they’ve seen, the core of their relationship has remained more or less the same. If you ask them what their secret is, they don’t reach for buzzwords or well-worn platitudes. Instead, they talk about chemistry, trust and, perhaps most importantly, simply giving a damn.
