What TBWA\Helsinki does

TBWA\Helsinki is a Helsinki-based, full-service advertising and marketing agency operating as the Finnish office of TBWA Worldwide (which is owned by Omnicom Group). The firm employs 135 staff in Finland as part of a 330-strong Nordic team and 11,000-person global TBWA network, and is led by President of TBWA\Nordics and CEO Sami Tikkanen alongside a CFO, SVP of Strategy & New Business, Executive Creative Director and department heads across planning, project management and production. It serves primarily Finnish enterprise clients across CPG, retail, automotive, energy, pet food, beverage retail, government and NGO verticals, including Valio, Atria, K-Citymarket/Kesko, Vuokkoset, Nissan, Fortum, Alko, BSAG, CMI and the City of Lahti, delivering work on a project-based, quote-driven professional services model.

The agency's offering is anchored by its proprietary Disruption® methodology, a copyrighted TBWA framework for building iconic brands through business transformation rather than execution-only distinction. Service delivery is organized across four wholly-owned specialty units: Eleven (earned media and PR), NEXT (innovation and brand experience design, where Helsinki serves as TBWA's global lead hub), Ceedr (martech and growth), and SCREEN (Finland's largest production company, producing over 120 productions yearly from TikTok to TV). Campaigns in 2024-2025 demonstrate the use of computer vision, anomaly detection and recommendation AI as embedded creative tools, including a canine face-recognition dog food vending machine, a fish-migration detection system for Fortum, and the Lethal Trends Warning System for the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare.

Go-to-market is direct sales-led to enterprise clients, with the agency's own marketing conducted primarily through award-winning case studies on its website, industry award submissions (Cannes Lions, D&AD, Effie, The One Show, Clio, LIA, Eurobest and Nordic awards) and a newsletter signup funnel. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and follows standard agency project-based engagements. The firm has positioned itself as the only truly international and most award-winning agency in Finland, recognized by Adweek as one of the most fascinating offices in the world.

Name

TBWA\Helsinki

Legal name

TBWA\Helsinki

Website

https://tbwa.fi

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

TBWA\Helsinki is a full-service Finnish advertising and marketing agency, part of the TBWA Worldwide network, serving Finnish enterprise and public-sector clients across CPG, retail, automotive, energy and NGOs with creative strategy, PR, production and innovation services under its proprietary Disruption® methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Marketing Services: Full-service agency providing comprehensive brand and marketing services including strategy, design, PR, innovation, social media, film and still production. Revenue generated through client service engagements and project-based work for brands.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

TBWA\Helsinki is a full-service advertising and marketing agency that provides comprehensive brand and marketing services to enterprise clients. Its offerings span marketing, strategy, design, PR, innovation, social media, film and still production, organized around its proprietary Disruption® methodology for building iconic brands.

Product overview

TBWA\Helsinki is a full-service advertising and marketing agency organized around its proprietary Disruption® methodology. The agency offers a comprehensive portfolio of services including marketing, strategy, design, PR, innovation, social media, film and still production. The portfolio is structured around four specialized sub-brands: Eleven (earned media and PR), NEXT (innovation and experience design), Ceedr (martech and growth), and SCREEN (production with 120+ yearly productions). The agency serves major Finnish and international brands including Valio, Atria, Nissan, K-Citymarket, and others, with 135 experts in Finland and 330 across the Nordics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Eleven
• NEXT

Quantifiable outcome

• +58% brand preference growth (Valio)
• +10 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ElevencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEleven is an earned creative unit within TBWA\Helsinki offering a full range of services focused on earned media, PR and communications.
• NEXTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEXT is TBWA's innovation practice designed to disrupt the future of brand experiences, operating in Helsinki as the lead hub of the network's global experience innovation capabilities.
• CeedrminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCeedr is a martech & growth agency by TBWA\Nordic focusing on maximizing Business, Marketing and Sales performance through optimization, automation and deep digital expertise.
• SCREENcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCREEN is Finland's largest production company delivering over 120 productions yearly, from TikTok to TV content.
• ViaplayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerViaplay, one of the biggest sports broadcasters in Europe, partnered with Finland's National Institute for Health (THL) on the Life at the Ringside domestic violence prevention campaign.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Publicis Groupe: Global advertising holding company operating Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, and other network agencies in the Nordics. Comparable as a competing multi-agency network serving the same enterprise and government client base.
• TBWA Worldwide: Global parent advertising network of which TBWA\Helsinki is a member office. Comparable as the network's overall offering, but operates at much larger scale (300+ agencies, 11,000+ employees worldwide) and provides the methodology, IP, and international reach that TBWA\Helsinki accesses.
• McCann Worldgroup: Global advertising network (IPG-owned) with Nordic operations. Comparable as a competing network agency offering integrated brand strategy, creative, and production services to similar enterprise clients.
• BBDO Worldwide: Global advertising network (Omnicom-owned, sibling to TBWA) operating in Finland and the Nordics. Closely comparable as a sibling network agency with shared parent infrastructure and similar full-service offering targeting enterprise clients.
• Ogilvy: Global advertising network (WPP-owned) offering full-service creative, PR, and consulting with a presence in Finland and across the Nordics. Directly comparable as a competing full-service network agency serving the same enterprise client base.
• DDB Worldwide: Global creative network (Omnicom-owned) with Nordic operations. Comparable as a sibling network agency offering creative, strategy, and production to similar enterprise and consumer brand clients in the region.

Direct peers

• Hasan & Partners: Finnish independent full-service advertising agency. Directly comparable as a Helsinki-based creative agency competing for the same enterprise Finnish client base (e.g., consumer goods, retail) with a similar full-service offering.
• Folk Finland (TBWA sibling office): Finnish creative and PR agency operating in the broader TBWA ecosystem. Directly comparable as a Finnish-market creative agency with a similar client mix and Disruption-aligned methodology.

Emerging players

• Wieden+Kennedy: Independent global creative agency known for award-winning campaign work. Comparable as a creative-led competitor chasing similar brand-transformation mandates, though it operates without the holding-company network structure.
• Anomaly: Independent creative-led agency with a non-traditional model. Comparable as a competitor for brand-transformation and integrated marketing engagements, particularly for clients seeking alternatives to network agencies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tbwa-helsinki

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TBWA\Helsinki