Ranked #1: Campaign: #wombstories | Agency: Publicis Milan | Network: Ogilvy | Holding Company: Omnicom Group | Brand: Burger King | Advertiser: AB InBev | Country: USA
WARC Rankings – Creative 100, the ultimate independent global benchmark for marketing celebrating creative excellence, is now released featuring the most awarded campaigns and companies in the world. The top ten most highly ranked campaigns and companies in the 2022 WARC Creative 100 are:
Compiled by WARC, the international marketing insights company, the Creative 100 (www.warc.com/rankings/creative-100) Ranking is produced by combining the results of the industry’s most important global and regional creative award shows tracked throughout 2021. The awards tracked are determined by a worldwide industry survey and in consultation with the WARC Rankings Advisory Board (www.warc.com/rankings/about).
#1 Campaign: #wombstories for Bodyform/Libresse/Libra by AMV BBDO London
The most creatively celebrated campaign of 2021, #wombstories for feminine hygiene brand Bodyform/Libresse/Libra, used the power of storytelling to embrace the complexity and reality of womanhood. Whilst heartbreaking, the campaign by AMV BBDO London, is designed to tackle taboos and make women proud of their bodies.
Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott, Chief Creative Officers, AMV BBDO, said: “Wombstories has been our most profound and complex undertaking – both emotionally and technically. Daring to listen and dive into the darker side of people’s experiences with their wombs and wrestling an octopus of a campaign with so many arms that all had to live up to our ambition of creativity and empathy. But complexity is worth it, to leave millions of people feeling understood and, in many cases, reach out to each other to finally share their womb stories.”
In second place is True Name for Mastercard by McCann New York. The campaign demonstrated its support for the LGBTQIA+ community in the USA by launching the first payment product where people could feature their chosen name on their card. Third, is Donation Dollar, a campaign for Royal Australian Mint by Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne, whereby a donation coin was created to support charities.
#1 Creative Agency: Publicis Milan
Up from third place last year, crowning agency Publicis Milan has four campaigns in the top 100: for Diesel (x2), Heineken and Barilla. AMV BBDO London follows closely behind with two campaigns, one for Macmillan Cancer support as well as the highest ranked #wombstories. Africa Sao Paulo is in third place with four campaigns for House of Lapland, SporTV, Folha de SP and Associacao Brasileira de Psiquiatria.
Bruno Bertelli, Global Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Worldwide, said: “Being ranked number 1 Agency of the Year in the WARC Creative 100 Ranking is testament to hard work, a proven model of data and creativity and the bravery of our people and clients. We continue to push each other to go further and be better and it is paying off. Congratulations to everyone at Publicis Italy.
#1 Creative Network: Ogilvy
Retaining its top spot for a second consecutive year is Ogilvy, with four agencies in the top 50 contributing points to its total, including DAVID Miami and DAVID Madrid both ranked in the top five. Publicis Worldwide and DDB Worldwide follow in second and third place respectively.
Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, said: “It’s thrilling to be named the most creative network in the world by WARC. Earning this designation for the second consecutive year speaks to the hard work and dedication of our teams across the globe who continuously deliver unforgettable ideas that have an impact for our clients. This accomplishment is also a testament to the borderless creativity that unites our network across geographies, capabilities, and cultures. I want to thank everyone at Ogilvy for their contributions, and our brave and valued clients for their partnership, collaboration, and trust.”
#1 Holding Company: Omnicom Group
Omnicom Group moves up one place to take pole position. WPP drops to second place and Interpublic Group remains in third.
#1 Brand: Burger King
Fast-food chain Burger King is top creative brand for the fourth consecutive year, with six campaigns ranked in the top Creative 100 for four markets – Mexico, Spain, UK and USA. Bodyform/Libresse/Libra follows in second place, and Mastercard is in third, up from #25 last year.
#1 Advertiser: AB InBev
Brewing giant AB InBev, which has steadily climbed the Creative 100 Rankings over the past few years, takes top spot this year. Restaurant Brands International drops to second, and Unilever climbs to third place up from seventh last year.
Pedro Earp, Chief Marketing Officer, AB InBev, said: “We are humbled to be ranked number one in creativity. Our journey over the last five years has embedded creativity into our core resulting in significant business growth. This transformation has defined AB InBev by its creative excellence, strategic boldness and accelerated innovation. While our work is not over, today, we raise a glass to our people and our partners who have made it their mission to create a future of more cheers.”
#1 Country: USA
USA retains its place as the most creatively awarded market in the world by far. The UK remains second, and France moves up to claim third place.
Summing up, David Tiltman, SVP, Content, WARC, said: “The top campaigns from the Creative 100 Ranking show how marketers are increasingly trying to highlight untold stories. Many give a voice to sections of society that may not have been properly represented in the past – for example, #wombstories and The Bread Exam focus on women’s health and the conversations around it. We’ve also seen campaigns addressing the LGBTQIA+ community’s need for individual recognition, amplifying the voices of Black youth, and showing the danger that Mexican journalists face daily. All explored important issues that have historically been ignored.”
The WARC Creative 100 has been compiled by applying a rigorous, unbiased and transparent methodology (www.warc.com/rankings/creative-100/methodology).
The WARC Creative 100 Ranking can be viewed in full here (www.warc.com/rankings/creative-100). It includes the world’s top 100 awarded campaigns for creativity, top 50 creative agencies, agency networks, brands, advertisers, countries and top holding companies. The campaigns, case studies, credits and subsequent insights reports are available to WARC Rankings subscribers.
About WARC – The global authority on marketing effectiveness
WARC is an Ascential company. Ascential delivers specialist information, analytics and ecommerce optimisation platforms to the world’s leading consumer brands and their ecosystems. Our world-class businesses improve performance and solve problems for our customers by delivering immediately actionable information combined with visionary longer-term thinking across Digital Commerce, Product Design and Marketing. We also serve customers across Retail & Financial Services. With more than 2,000 employees across five continents, we combine local expertise with a global footprint for clients in over 120 countries. Ascential is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
For over 30 years WARC has been powering the marketing segment by providing rigorous and unbiased evidence, expertise and guidance to make marketers more effective. WARC services include 96,000+ case studies, best practice guides, research papers, special reports, advertising trend data, news & opinion articles, as well as webinars, awards, events and advisory services. WARC operates out of London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai, servicing a community of over 75,000 marketers in more than 1,200 companies in 100+ markets and collaborates with 50+ industry partners.
About WARC Rankings – Creative 100
The WARC Creative 100 is a ranking of the world’s most awarded campaigns and companies for creativity. It compiles the results of award shows that ran the year prior to its publication (e.g. the 2022 rankings reflect the results of award shows that ran in 2021). The Creative 100 (formerly the Gunn Report) has run since 1999 and sits alongside the WARC Media 100 and the WARC Effective 100.
To compile the WARC Creative 100, WARC tracks different creative advertising competitions around the world. Campaigns and the brands and agencies behind them are awarded points based on the prizes they win in those competitions.
The WARC Creative 100 methodology follows the approach of the WARC Effective 100 methodology, which was developed in consultation with an independent third party: Douglas West, professor of marketing and programme director at King’s College, London.
In order of overall show weighting, the following shows are included in this year’s rankings:
Global:
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
D&AD
The One Show
Clio Awards
London International Awards (LIA)
Regional:
APAC: Spikes Asia, Adfest
Europe: Eurobest, Golden Drum
Middle East & Africa: Dubai Lynx, Loeries
LATAM: El Ojo de Iberoamerica
Contact:
Amanda Benfell Head of PR & Press amanda.benfell@warc.com
