Africa in Motion: Damon Stapleton
Damon Stapleton shares insights on African creativity, storytelling and the importance of staying relentlessly curious.
Article by Lesibane Mohale
Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer at Droga5 ANZ, is one of the leaders who saw my potential as a young copywriter and gave me a chance to join the legendary TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris agency. Hunts was voted South African Agency of the Decade in 2010 and was home to many talented individuals who went on to do amazing things across the world.
It was a defining era in advertising. The big idea mattered. The craft mattered. And the work we produced felt authentically South African and rooted in local culture. As ECD of TBWA, Damon led the 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign for Adidas and the Trillion Dollar campaign for The Zimbabwean newspaper. The Zimbabwean campaign won South Africa’s first Black Pencil at D&AD in 2009 and the first-ever ADC Black Cube in history. The work also forms part of the permanent collection of the British Museum. Damon has won over 55 D&AD Pencils, 70 Cannes Lions, and has been consistently ranked one of the best Chief Creative Officers globally.
After a successful career in South Africa, Damon crossed the pond and co-founded The Monkeys Aotearoa in New Zealand before becoming Chief Creative Officer of Droga5 ANZ, where he continues to create award-winning work that makes an impact both culturally and commercially.
Alongside his work in advertising, he runs Damonsbrain.com, where he shares insights and reflections on creativity. The blog’s popularity later inspired his book 'Keep Shooting Until You See the Fckers Smoke' which contains a collection of ideas and stories gathered over 25 years.
As we count down to the 2026 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Damon reflects on what it takes to win awards, the power of African creativity and the importance of staying relentlessly curious.
LM: What is African creativity and what makes it so special?
DS: African creativity is resourcefulness turned into an art form. It’s creativity born from necessity rather than abundance. When you grow up in environments where you don’t have the biggest budgets, the latest technology or the easiest path forward, you learn to rely on imagination. Africa has always been a continent of storytellers. Long before we had advertising agencies, we had stories. Storytelling isn’t a technique here. It’s part of the culture.
What makes African creativity special is that it often starts with humanity before it starts with marketing. It tends to be emotionally rich, culturally layered and deeply connected to real life. That’s why work from Africa often feels fresh compared to the rest of the world. It’s not trying to imitate what’s already been done. It’s coming from somewhere different. There is no reference. Africa’s ideas come from itself.
LM: African creatives often get told they need to “think globally” to succeed. Should African creatives actually think more locally to win globally?
DS: I think the phrase should be reversed. The more local you become, the more global you can be. The work that travels furthest is rarely work designed to travel. It’s work that’s rooted in a truth so specific and authentic that people everywhere recognise themselves in it. When we did the Zimbabwean Trillion Dollar campaign, we weren’t trying to create a global piece of work. We were telling a story about a very specific economic reality affecting Zimbabweans. The more truthful we were to that reality, the more the world connected with it.
Global audiences don’t need African creatives to sound like New York or London. They need African creatives to sound like Africa.
LM: What did growing up in South Africa teach you about creativity that still shapes your work today?
DS: South Africa taught me that creativity matters most when things matter most. I grew up during one of the most significant social and political transformations in modern history. Every day there were stories unfolding around us that were bigger than any individual.
It taught me that ideas can change behaviour, change conversations and sometimes even change history. It also taught me to look for contrasts.
South Africa is full of contradictions, complexity, humour, struggle and hope often existing side by side. Great creativity often lives in that tension. I think growing up there gave me a deep appreciation for human resilience. Most of the work I’m proudest of ultimately celebrates that.
LM: In your book ‘Keep Shooting Until You See the F*ckers Smoke’, you reflect on photographing Nelson Mandela after his release from prison as a young photojournalist. What did that moment teach you about storytelling in a country that was literally rewriting itself?
DS: That moment taught me that history isn’t something that happens in textbooks. It happens in front of people. As a young photographer I thought my job was to capture images. What I realised was that my real job was to pay attention.
When Mandela walked free, everyone understood they were witnessing something historic, but nobody knew exactly what came next. That’s the interesting part of storytelling. You’re often documenting uncertainty rather than certainty.
It taught me that stories aren’t just about events. They’re about possibility. Sometimes a photograph, a film or an idea captures not what is happening, but what people hope might happen next.
LM: The Zimbabwean Trillion Dollar campaign broke records and won the first-ever Black Pencil for Africa at the D&AD Awards. Why do you think it became such an iconic piece of work with global impact?
DS: Because it wasn’t really about currency. It was about value. The campaign took something almost absurd, a hundred trillion dollar note that couldn’t buy much at all and transformed it into a powerful symbol of economic collapse. The idea was incredibly simple. We used real Zimbabwean currency as media. No complicated technology. No elaborate production.
The lesson is one I still believe today. When the idea is strong enough, everything else gets easier. People often remember the execution. What they connect with is the truth behind it. The truth was impossible to ignore.
LM: From leading global agencies, winning global awards, publishing a book, starting an agency and all your other accolades, which project has been the most creatively rewarding and why?
DS: The projects I’m most proud of are the ones that changed something. Some changed conversations. Some changed careers. Some helped organisations move forward. Some created opportunities for younger creatives.
Awards are wonderful because they celebrate excellence. But the older I get, the more rewarding it becomes to build things that outlast the award season. Starting an agency and helping create a culture where talented people can do their best work has probably been one of the most rewarding creative projects of all.
LM: You’ve won every advertising award imaginable. Is there a formula for winning awards or does luck play a bigger role than people admit?
DS: There isn’t a formula. If there was, everyone would use it. What there is, however, are patterns. Award-winning work tends to be brave, simple, culturally relevant and emotionally engaging. It usually says something people haven’t heard before or says it in a way they’ve never seen before.
Luck absolutely plays a role. Timing matters. Context matters. Who sees the work matters.
But luck tends to favour people who are relentlessly prepared and relentlessly curious.
Most award-winning ideas don’t arrive fully formed. They’re usually the result of hundreds of bad ideas and dozens of good ones before the great one finally appears.
LM: What advice do you have for global brand teams and agencies that want to create impactful work that resonates authentically with African markets?
DS: Start with listening. Africa isn’t one market. It’s not one culture. It’s not one language. It’s not one consumer. The biggest mistake brands make is treating Africa as a single audience rather than a collection of incredibly diverse communities. Spend less time importing assumptions and more time understanding local realities.
The best work doesn’t arrive and announce itself. It participates. It respects. It contributes.
People can tell the difference between a brand that is genuinely interested in a culture and one that is simply targeting it.
LM: These are exciting and uncertain times for creatives. What advice do you have for those who feel like giving up?
DS: Every generation of creatives believes they’re living through the most disruptive period in history. The tools change. The platforms change. The technology changes. I remember being told a story that when Photoshop first came out, all the art directors lined up at TBWA Hunt Lascaris to complain that it was cheating. And change will always be hard and will keep happening.
What won’t change is the human need for ideas. The world still needs imagination. It still needs storytellers. It still needs people who can connect dots others can’t see. If you’re feeling discouraged, focus less on protecting what creativity used to be and more on exploring what it can become.
The future doesn’t belong to people who resist change. It belongs to people who remain curious inside it. Keep making things. Keep learning. Keep going.
LM: What is one misconception the world has about Africa that you wish you could change?
DS: That Africa is a story waiting to be saved. Africa is a story being written. Too often people look at the continent through a rear-view mirror when they should be looking through the windscreen.
Africa is young. It’s energetic. It has ideas every day that nowhere else on the planet will have. The future isn’t something that’s going to happen to Africa. In many ways, Africa is already helping shape what the future looks like. And I think the world is only beginning to realise that.
Africa in Motion is a TIA interview series spotlighting Africa’s trailblazers in the advertising, marketing and creative industries. Visionaries who are putting African creativity on the world map and shaping culture from Lagos to London, Accra to Atlanta and Jozi to Boston. Featuring agency leaders, strategists, creatives, entrepreneurs and brand marketers, each conversation aims to unpack insights, emerging trends, shifts in culture and ideas that are redefining the African narrative.
TIA - THIS IS AFRICA
If you are a brand or agency looking to connect authentically with African markets, email TIA Creative Studio at les@tiastudio.co.uk to collaborate
Comments