Grid Worldwide — Creating meaning for brands through original, conceptual, and inspiring ideas

Branding is not just an advertising thing. It’s the ad you see on TV, the billboard you see on the highway, and the conversation people have about you. It’s the perception of a brand that people value. Branding is crucial for a brand as it not only leaves a memorable impression on consumers but also distinguishes the company from its competitors.

Grid Worldwide is a creative media company that creates meaning for brands to align all outcomes to a single brand purpose. This consistency of meaning across all mediums creates value over time. That’s what it calls “investment creative.” We interviewed Nathan Reddy, the Founder & Chairman of Grid Worldwide, to know more about its services. Here are a few excerpts of the interview:

Q. How does the company prepare itself for uncertainty?

A few years ago, preparing yourself for uncertainly was a scenario that was very seldom planned for or had to be acted upon. Fast forward to 2020, a new world order has emerged. COVID-19 has shown us when we put ourselves on a war footing, we can make big things happen fast.

Our intention was to build character, a culture, and a business that is ready to withstand any adversity. The next decade of companies that will survive will be the ones that have taken the idea (or philosophy) of “purpose” and turned it into a reality.

Q. If you had the chance, what’s that one thing you would do to improve your product or service?

I don’t think there is one specific thing we would change thinking back. We are a high-performance business, so making incremental improvements is a daily focus. We focus on refining and fine-tuning to be smarter, faster, more agile, and responsive. Our leadership team is relentless in our pursuit of excellence. We are never complacent as we continue to push ourselves and our business forward on a daily basis.

Q. What were the initial roadblocks the company faced?

I think my first roadblock was me getting out of TBWA Gavin Reddy in 2005. That proved a little challenging because I started Grid while I was still at TBWA GR. We settled with an amicable buyout. The adjustment of running a company of 250 people to then just having 5 was an initial shock to the system, but we quickly adjusted by doing everything ourselves. Like any start-up, we had our teething problems, but it made us more determined to succeed. The rest is history.

Q. How do you gauge the dynamics of your customers and meet their requirements?

The building of anything first needs a solid foundation to start with; in our world, its relationships. It’s that simple. We spend a considerable part of our time nurturing our relationships with our clients. Solid relationships become partnerships. What keeps our clients up at night keeps us up as well. The true essence of a partnership is having a vested interest in something together.

Q. How often does your organization assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to understand the current business climate?

Our business is like a living organism. It’s always on. It’s always changing and shifting. Our leadership team engages daily to keep up with these shifts, assessing the risk and threats, analyzing opportunities, and identifying weaknesses. Rebuilding in a new world is our intent. We have built an always-on culture that means we have our finger on the pulse of what’s happening around us both locally & globally. It’s with this “always-on approach” that we can continually assess how we react to the climate and make informed business decisions.

Q. How efficient is your organization from an operational standpoint?

“Investment Creative” is our Operating System. It’s our index for which we determine real value, meaning, growth, and delivery to clients. In becoming operationally efficient in a new world, responsiveness is the key. The quality of being able to respond, adapt quickly and positively. The world, our clients, and our agency as we know it has changed forever—A New Model for a New Normal.

Q. Why is Grid Worldwide referred to as being “investment creative”?

“Investment Creative” is the ability to create a set of distinctive assets and make sure it is fit for purpose across various mediums and platforms. Adding technology and the ability to scale and automate this makes us unique. We then have the ability to pour new content into these templates across various mediums and platforms.

Q. What does it mean for Grid to be nominated as one of the “50 Most Influential Companies of the Year 2021”?

Creating meaning has always been at the center of everything we do. The Year 20/21 has been especially meaningful in so many ways. We questioned everything close to our hearts. We acted with speed to implement changes that not only had a lasting impact on our business but changed the way we worked with our clients. Clients wanted speed, value, and meaning without loosing the integrity of the creative product.

It also made us look internally at our culture and define the true essence of what we stand for as the ‘Make It Mean Something Company.’ Being nominated as one of the most influential companies of 2021 in this period is extra special for us because it tells us all those changes and adaptions made a considerable influence nand difference.

Meet the Founder

Nathan Reddy is the Founder & Chairman of Grid Worldwide. His personal mantra is ‘Make It Mean Something.’ Over a period of 25 years, he has risen to be one of South Africa’s most prominent creative forces. He studied Design at M.L.Sultan college of design. His first job was at FCB, where he stayed for three years, followed by the head of design at TBWA Hunt Lascaris for a further two years before starting the first DDB in South Africa with Louis Gavin.

After a few years at DDB, Nathan and Louis Gavin started their own agency called TBWA Gavin Reddy. TBWA Gavin Reddy went on to be one of the most creative agencies in South Africa. In 2006, Nathan started his own shop called GRID WORLDWIDE, where he remains today as Chief Creative Officer and Chairman. In 2016 the South African industry honored Nathan with a lifetime achievement award, the youngest person ever to receive such an award. In his acceptance speech, he said he was just starting.