DUBAI: International marketing intelligence company WARC has released its creative, effective, and media 100 suite of global rankings for marketing communications featuring the most awarded campaigns, agencies, and brands in the world for 2020.
The annual league tables compiled by the firm are produced by combining the winners’ lists from the industry’s most important global and regional awards shows.
The events chosen are determined by WARC’s rankings advisory board and a worldwide industry survey as well as by applying a proprietary three-step methodology.
Amy Rodgers, managing editor for research and rankings at WARC, said: “The results of the WARC Rankings 2021 bring together the most awarded campaigns and companies of 2020 and are a fantastic showcase of a combination of the best work the industry produced pre-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as well as exceptional work notable for its response to the volatility caused by COVID-19.”
Due to the global health crisis many award shows were paused last year, resuming in 2021 to judge work from both years, resulting in the WARC Rankings 2021 being postponed from the first quarter (Q1) of the year until now. The WARC Rankings 2022 (work tracked during 2021) will be released in Q1 next year.
The most highly ranked campaigns and companies of the WARC Rankings 2021 are as follows.
In the Creative 100 rankings, the top brands were Burger King, holding its No. 1 position, IKEA, and Diesel, and the leading agencies were DAVID Miami (part of Ogilvy), which climbed up from No. 23, Impact BBDO Dubai, and Publicis Milan.
Liz Taylor, Ogilvy’s global chief creative officer, said: “Topping the WARC Creative 100 speaks to the borderless creativity that unites Ogilvy’s global creative network, and what’s possible when creative thinking stretches across departments, geographies, and cultures to become a shared mission.”
In the Media 100 Rankings, the top brands were McDonald’s, Nike, and new entrant Always, with Mindshare Shanghai, MediaCom Connections Tel Aviv, and Mindshare Ho Chi Minh City heading up the agencies.
Mark Read, chief executive officer of WPP, said: “If our role is to make the best work, connect brands seamlessly with audiences, and produce outstanding results for our clients, then there’s no better endorsement than to top the WARC 100 rankings for creative, media, and effectiveness.”
In the Effective 100 rankings, the headline brands were McDonald’s, KFC, and Coca-Cola. The top agencies were categorized into creative, media, and digital/specialist.
Among the top creative agencies were FP7 McCann Dubai, and new entrants Colenso BBDO Auckland, and BMF Sydney; the leading media agencies were new entrant Carat London, Mindshare Istanbul, and Carat Auckland; and the top digital/specialist agencies were Ingage Istanbul and newcomers AFFINITY Sydney, and Tribal Worldwide Bogota.
Suzanne Powers, global president and chief strategy officer at McCann Worldgroup, said: “The WARC honor as the No. 1 most effective network for 2021, is a testament to our teams’ unwavering dedication to using the power of creativity to drive impact for our clients’ brands across all of our regions.”
The full rankings can be found here.
