My Creative Career: Nadja Lossgott on breaking new ground with Guinness and Bodyform

The AMV BBDO chief creative officer – one half of creative duo Nick and Nadja – levels on the nature of a partnership that began in South Africa and took her to the top of one of the world’s leading agencies.

Growing up in Johannesburg, Nadja Lossgott was often taken from gallery to gallery by her artist parents. While she found it tedious as a child, she now appreciates the beauty of those experiences as an adult. “I was never going to get the chance to be a mathematician,” she jokes. “I grew up in my parent’s studios and workshop.”

Her mother, a mixed media textile artist, and her German father, a sculptor, created a home rich in creative opportunities like sewing and painting. Surrounded by annuals filled with captivating images and stories, Lossgott was profoundly influenced from a young age. At school, she further nurtured her artistic side by exploring both academic and creative subjects such as art history, photography, graphic design, and drawing.

After school, Lossgott sought further education in Cape Town, led by experienced advertising executives eager to teach their craft to local youth. In her words, she kind of “fell into advertising” through her love of graphic design and photography, eventually landing in art direction, which she describes as her “first love”.

Her first role was at TBWA Hunt Lascaris in Johannesburg in 2003, where she met her creative partner, Nick Hulley. Lossgott recalls that they immediately clicked, each bringing distinct skills to the partnership. Their collaboration is marked by deep respect for each other and their ideas, she says. 

“Creative partnerships are such a fascinating topic for me,” she continues. “Because every pairing that exists, if you were to pair one of them with another person, you'd make entirely different work and have an entirely different vision of the world.”

Lossgott adds that it’s like the joining of two unique strengths. “It's lucky when you find a partnership that works long term because there's an unspoken dialog that happens where you know that person so well, you know how they function, and you mold around each other,” she explains.

“And it becomes a super strength if you find your person, but also it allows you to deep dive into the things that you are interested in, and that feed your brain and your soul.”

For her, that is the visual language of advertising and for Hulley it's writing. The two go through the ups and downs of work life as a team.

In 2010 they both joined London shop AMV BBDO where one of the first accounts they worked on was Guinness. It’s emotional for Lossgott, who says that having a “small crack” at such an iconic British brand as junior creatives meant so much.

One of their first projects was ‘Sapeurs’ and is still one of the creative’s favorite to date. It featured the Society of Elegant Persons of the Congo, a group of gentlemen who brought hope and inspiration to their war-torn city of Brazzaville through expressive sartorial displays.

On the Guinness account, Lossgot stresses: “It’s such a mainstream brand, such an iconic brand, that when you’ve got work out that people are enjoying, referencing and speaking to you about it, not knowing that you had any part in it at all, it is really special.”

Recently, the stout was in the headlines once again for a new campaign that unveiled its sponsorship of the Premier League with two new spots titled ‘Brothers’ and ‘Eriskay’.

Over the past 13 years, Lossgott and Hulley have worked their way up the ranks to eventually becoming joint chief creative officers in 2022. It’s been a stint marked with some of the industry's most celebrated work, including groundbreaking ads for Bodyform.

“Being able to change an entire category of work has been wonderful to be a part of and wonderful to witness,” she says. “Advertising in its minutiae within culture can have a big effect and can make people reevaluate their thinking.”

Lossgott highlights the impact of the 2017 ‘Blood Normal’ campaign for the period care brand, which famously replaced the usual blue liquid with red. This seemingly small change in the representation of menstrual blood had a profound effect, shifting public perception and emphasizing the importance of confronting and discussing women's health openly.

She reflects on the team’s decade-long journey with Bodyform, noting the fascinating progression from the bold, confrontational approach of ‘Blood Normal’ to the celebration of vulvas in ‘Viva la Vulva,’ and then to the introspective tone of ‘Womb Stories.’ Each campaign offers a unique exploration of women’s experiences and societal perceptions.

“In ‘Womb Stories’ you're listening to what people are not saying. And that became such an interesting area of mine; the articulation of using creativity when someone isn't saying something,” she adds.

“When you’re not able to talk about something, you can find a visual way of expressing that feeling. Then to be able to talk about it, is a creative catharsis and an alchemy that happens that feels very interesting.”

For its most recent ad, ‘Never Just a Period,’ Bodyform tackled just how confusing women’s health can be by using elements of humor, hyperbole and mixed media. “It’s the hardcore nature of what we’re talking about, the sad nature of what we’re talking about, but doing it in a really humorous way,” Lossgott explained. “And it’s that thing, if you’re not crying about it, you must laugh; that’s the way of coping.”

It's a body of work that any creative would be immensely proud of, and it's clear that Lossgott deeply values the opportunity to tap into profound emotions to drive business success. She aptly notes: “You’ve got to have magic to unlock logic.”

Reflecting on her career she says that she never feels like she’s “made it” but rather there are pinch-me moments. “We're all pretty lucky to think of crazy ideas and make things that are nuts in the name of creativity,” she concludes. “I always feel quite privileged to be able to have this kind of career, where you get to hang out, think of crazy shit with wonderful people that you love doing it with. It's not every job that gives you that.”