A creative outside the traditions of the industry, Nathan Reddy is the founder of Grid Worldwide – an agency built on the fundamentals of craft, with meaning at its very core.
Reddy has always had a survival instinct. Growing up in Durban with a single mother, his thrive-or-die attitude saw him selling bottles, washing cars and carving his own path from as young as 11 years old.
Constantly required to adapt and make the most out of very little, Reddy’s attitude in his young life set the foundation for a creative prodigy who would not only become the most awarded creative in the country but someone who has successfully contributed to building some of the continent’s most valued brands.
“Grid Worldwide is built on a culture of making,” explains Reddy. “We have a deep appreciation for the process of bringing something into existence while intentionally interrogating why that something should exist. The more people know about something, the more they appreciate it, and this naturally applies to brands.”
Make It Mean Something
In an exclusive book Reddy released last year, he unpacks the philosophies behind his agency’s approach to meaning. The alchemy of these thoughts provides insight into the atypical way he sees the world and encourages the reader to harness curiosity and purpose for an improved self and collective. He also touches on how we need to “unlearn to relearn”, the fact that “selling an idea is often easier than keeping it sold”, and “no one can lead you better than you” – wisdom applicable for everyone, creative or otherwise.
Grid has also trademarked the term Investment Creative™, which refers to how the agency utilises creative thinking and application to build the value of a brand. It involves an understanding of human-centred design, brand strategy, communication and experience that allows Grid to explore new ways for brands to interact with their customers, going beyond brand engagement, embracing culture and society and ultimately resulting in increased business equity.
Meaning + Value = Impact
Meaning is not just for meaning’s sake. For meaning to resonate in a business sense, it has to have commercial equity tied to it. Recent case studies of the impact of Investment Creative™ can be seen in Grid’s work with some of the country’s most valued brands, including FNB and MTN.
FNB has been named South Africa’s most valuable brand for the fourth time, now worth over $3.1 billion; and the agency’s work on MTN has resulted in a huge shift in seeing the Telco move to a Techco and receive the accolade of Brand Finance’s Most Valuable Brand, with a brand value of R68.2 billion.
“Working with big blue-chip businesses to bring meaning and equity to their brands comes with an additional responsibility. Brand value is diluted if it is not having a positive effect on the country. The more South African businesses thrive, the more our country does, and this is vitally important to us as an agency. South Africa is home to an incredible breed of innovators, creators and people who want to see the country succeed. We’re privileged to be part of a process that enables meaning and value to have a real, lasting impact,” comments Reddy.
Culture is not a Trend
As much as Grid works closely with some of the country’s biggest brands, there is another layer to the business that is tailored to creative entrepreneurs and finding the white space where brands can Play in Culture.
In 2020, Joint CEO and Partner of Grid Worldwide, Adam Byars, stretched the business into a new direction with the launch of 608. Adam, who considers himself more of a creative entrepreneur than a typical agency CEO, seeks to evolve and broaden the scope of three worlds: creativity, entrepreneurship and culture.
“Brands can’t buy their way into culture anymore,” states Byars. “They need to show up authentically, with the right talent partners, to truly resonate with audiences and have an impact.”
608’s first talent partnership was with Zakes Bantwini. Grid curated his brand, and 608 identified moments in culture where Zakes and brands could collaborate purposefully. Byars and the team journeyed with Zakes on the road to his first Grammy win in 2023, with Adam being invited back to speak on the Grammy Global Music Panel earlier this year.
“Culture is not a trend or a fleeting moment on TikTok. Culture enables talent and brands to deliver hope and drive effective change. The Springboks are the perfect example of this. They’re so much more than a rugby team. They are a symbol of hope in the country, an articulation of what it means to always strive for greatness and do so in a way that empowers the individual and the collective. Music, fashion, people and art all have the power to do this too and that is the space we play in,” explains Byars.
Deliberate Unconventionality
Seeking to do more with less, unlearning to relearn, and operating outside of what people understand in industry and culture comes with its risks.
“Industry or tradition will always try to box you in. Being understood means stepping outside the ordinary, even if at first you need to be misunderstood,” comments Byars on Grid’s transformation over the years.
In the last decade, Grid has 5Xd its annual turnover, growing from a R15-million business to over a R100-million business, and they have no intention of stopping there. The agency has also just launched new offerings to broaden the Investment Creative™ approach, drawing on non-advertising disciplines to offer digital innovation, reputation management and spatial storytelling. These new disciplines will help the business redefine creativity within these areas, ultimately reshaping how Grid’s brands interact with the world.
“Innovation is about the ability to change meaningfully and in a way that impacts and adds value. Over the years, Grid has innovated, stretched, morphed and refined itself to curate a set of offerings that work in symphony with each other, ultimately resulting in the building of brands at every level,” says Reddy.
“Campaigns don’t build brands. Intuitive creativity, spaces, storytelling, design-led thinking and a deep sense of the purpose behind those brands does. We build brands, and we will continue to deliver meaningful brands with our deliberate approach to unconventionality.”
