Insight: WARC Rankings 2021 are released – the most awarded campaigns and companies for creativity, effectiveness and media excellence in the world

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LONDON, UK — The WARC Creative 100, Effective 100, and Media 100, a suite of global rankings and the ultimate independent gold standard for marketing communications, are now released featuring the most awarded campaigns, agencies, and brands in the world for 2020.

Compiled by WARC, the international marketing intelligence company, these annual league tables are produced by combining the winners’ lists from the industry’s most important global and regional awards shows – as determined by the WARC Rankings Advisory Board and a worldwide industry survey – and by applying a rigorous proprietary three-step methodology. 

Following the disruption to the awards industry caused by COVID-19 with many shows paused in 2020 and resuming in 2021 to judge two years of work, the release of the full WARC Rankings 2021 was postponed from Q1 until now. The WARC Rankings 2022 (work tracked during 2021) will be released in Q1 next year.

Amy Rodgers, Managing Editor, Research & Rankings, 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-pandemic as well as exceptional work notable for its response to the volatility caused by Covid-19. Not only do these Rankings provide inspiration, but they bring recognition to outstanding campaigns and the talent of our industry.”

Commenting on their results:

Mark Read, CEO, 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. It’s a wonderful tribute to our fantastic people, agencies, and clients, and my thanks goes to them all.”

Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, 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. What makes us most proud of this achievement is that it recognizes work delivered during a year where creativity helped us deliver through unimaginable circumstances. Our sincerest thanks to every person who works at Ogilvy for their passion and ingenuity, and to our brave clients for their partnership, trust, and collaboration.”

Adam Gerhart, Global CEO, Mindshare, said: “We are thrilled Mindshare has been named the number one media network in the world and Mindshare Shanghai the number one media agency office in the WARC Media 100. Our belief in driving Good Growth for our clients is brought to life through the creativity of our teams across the world, finding new and innovative ways to connect with consumers to create enduring and sustainable growth for our clients whilst also ensuring that growth benefits society and the planet. My congratulations and thanks go out to every person at Mindshare who does this every day across our network, to our clients who are true partners and believers in our people and our mission, and especially to those Mindshare teams in Shanghai (#1 Agency Office), Ho Chi Minh City (#3), Mumbai (#5), New York. (#14), Jakarta (#18), Taguig (#42) and Chicago (#50).”

Suzanne Powers, Global President & CSO, McCann Worldgroup, said: “The WARC honor as the #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. We’re so proud of everyone and humbled to partner with such incredible clients to drive their business forward.”

The most highly ranked campaigns and companies of the WARC Rankings 2021 are as follows.

Creative 100 

Campaigns:

1. Moldy Whopper · Burger King · INGO Stockholm / DAVID Miami / Publicis Bucharest · 800.9 points
2. Stevenage Challenge · Burger King · DAVID Madrid / DAVID Miami · 483.5 points
3. The E.V.A. Initiative · Volvo · Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg · 272.1 points

Brands:

1. Burger King · 680.3 points · no change from #1 
2. IKEA · 564 points · up from #4
3. Diesel · 359.7 points · up from #9

Advertisers:

1. Restaurant Brands International · Canada · 816.9 points · no change from #1
2. Anheuser-Busch InBev · Belgium · 811.3 points · up from #3
3. IKEA · Sweden · 564 points · up from #8

Agencies:

1. DAVID Miami · Ogilvy · 483.6 points · up from #23 
2. Impact BBDO Dubai · BBDO Worldwide · 477.9 points · up from #5
3. Publicis Milan · Publicis Worldwide · 386.6 points · up from #7 

Networks:

1. Ogilvy · 2186.1 points · up from #5 
2. BBDO Worldwide · 1409 points · down from #1
3. DDB Worldwide · 1128.9 points · down from #2

Holding Companies:

1. WPP · 3724.3 points · up from #3
2. Omnicom Group · 3680.2 points · down from #1
3. Interpublic Group · 2480.9 points · down from #2

Countries:

1. USA · 3603.2 points · no change #1
2. UK · 1111 points · no change #2
3. Brazil · 1083.6 points · no change #3

Media 100

Campaigns:

1. Rabbi Bot · Always · MediaCom Connections Tel Aviv / ACW Grey Tel Aviv / GO Digital Marketing Netanya · 95.4 points
2. The Shape of History · Hulu · UM Los Angeles · 81.1 points
3. Naming The Invisible By Digital Birth Registration · Telenor · Ogilvy Islamabad · 70 points

Brands:

1. McDonald’s · 135.3 points · up from #8
2. Nike · 118.6 points · up from #4
3. Always · 92.7 points · new entry

Advertisers:

1. Unilever · Netherlands / UK · 346.4 points · no change #1
2. Procter & Gamble · US · 278.8 points · up from #3
3. The Walt Disney Company · US · 183.7 points · up from #10

Agencies:

1. Mindshare Shanghai · Mindshare Worldwide · 215.4 points · up from #2
2. MediaCom Connections Tel Aviv · MediaCom · 184.1 · up from #6
3. Mindshare Ho Chi Minh City · Mindshare Worldwide · 122.2 points · up from #15

Networks: 

1. Mindshare Worldwide · 774.6 points · no change #1
2. MediaCom · 695.7 points · no change #2
3. IPG Mediabrands · 585.5 points · no change #3

Holding Companies:

1. WPP · 2038.9 points · no change #1
2. Omnicom Group · 1206.9 points · no change #2
3. Interpublic Group · 958.9 points · no change #3

Countries:

1. USA · 1274.4 points · no change #1
2. UK · 711.5 points· no change #2
3. China · 431.1 points · no change #3

Effective 100:

Campaigns:

1. I’m Drinking It For You · DB Export · Colenso BBDO Auckland / Carat Auckland / Red Star Auckland · 51.7 points 
2. Can’t Touch This · Cheetos · Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco · 50 points
3. Michelin Impossible · KFC · Ogilvy Sydney · 47.2 points

Brands:

1. McDonald’s · 209.8 points · no change #1
2. KFC · 163.3 points · up from #4
3. Coca-Cola · 135.9 points · down from #2

Advertisers:

1. Unilever · Netherlands / UK · 240 points · no change #1
2. McDonald’s · US · 209.8 points · up from #6
3. The Coca Cola Company · 166.3 points · down from #2

Creative Agencies:

1. FP7 McCann Dubai · McCann Worldgroup · 95.8 points · no change #1
2. Colenso BBDO Auckland · BBDO Worldwide · 92.9 points · new entry
3. BMF Sydney · Enero Group · 92.1 points · new entry

Digital / Specialist Agencies:

1. Ingage Istanbul · Group M · 46.6 points · up from #46
2. AFFINITY Sydney · 39.5 points · new entry
3. Tribal Worldwide Bogotá · DDB Worldwide · 35.7 points · new entry

Media Agencies:

1. Carat London · Dentsu International · 61.3 points · new entry
2. Mindshare Istanbul · Mindshare Worldwide · 56.8 points · up from #4
3. Carat Auckland · Dentsu International · 51.6 points · up from #35

Networks:

1. McCann Worldgroup · Interpublic Group · 694.1 points · no change #1
2. BBDO Worldgroup · Omnicom Group · 683.3 points · no change #2
3. Dentsu International · Dentsu · 569.7 points · up from #5

Holding Companies:

1. WPP · 1897 points · no change #1
2. Omnicom Group · 1749.7 points · no change #2
3. Interpublic Group · 1358.7 points · no change #3

Countries:

1. USA · 1171.1 points · no change #1
2. China · 699.4 points · up from #4
3. India · 629.6 points · down from #2

Full rankings are listed here. WARC Rankings subscribers can also view all the ranked creative, credits and case study summaries, in addition to further data by category and region

Earlier this year WARC released a series of reports uncovering insights behind some of the world’s most awarded campaigns of 2020 for creativity, media and effectiveness, as well as the strategies of brands that stood out for their response to the pandemic. Download a complimentary sample of ‘Marketing Through Volatility” to discover the truth behind the extraordinary.

WARC Rankings subscribers can read the full series of reports: “Creativity Through Volatility”, “Media Strategy Through Volatility” and “Effectiveness Through Volatility”, as well as “The Health of Creativity”, a report that shows how highly awarded creative ideas are significantly more effective.

Following an upcoming review with the Advisory Board, the next WARC Rankings – a compilation of results of the award shows of 2021 – will be released in March 2022.