Sign up now for TIME's WorldWatch email newsletter. The New Ad Ventures Hot advertising agencies with global ambitions see London as their biggest challenge. They've also garnered an impressive number of awards and accolades, earning the grudging respect of the monoliths on Madison Avenue. British advertising is generally acknowledged to be the best in the world. For the past five years London agencies have picked up the lion's share of the Lions at the Cannes International Advertising Awards, the industry equivalent of the Oscars.
Foreign agencies are eager to soak up some of that creativity.
The U.K. market is also highly competitive, and most admen can't resist a challenge. More importantly, there's an economic imperative. Ad agencies are coming under increasing pressure from their clients to service them on a global basis. Since English is the lingua franca of international business, more and more multinationals are siting their European headquarters in or near London. The agency has since worked for Toshiba on a major pan-European campaign.