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Weber Shandwick has returned to the top of the agency rankings in our Global Creative Index, PRovoke Media's annual benchmark of creativity in the public relations world. Having been displaced last year by Edelman, Weber Shandwick reclaimed the top spot, marking it to number one in three of the last four years.
The 12th edition of the Global Creative Index analyses entries and winners from more than 25 PR, digital and marketing awards programs from around the world over a 12-month period, up to and including the 2023 Global SABRE Awards. The formula takes into account the expansion of public relations work across multiple categories at advertising-oriented shows such as the Cannes Lions.
Weber Shandwick’s success came despite the fact that no single campaign from the agency cracked the top five. Rather, the number one spot was the result of several campaigns, including work for PVR INOX and Green Food Bank in Asia; Husqvarna in Europe; and US Bank in North America.
Those campaigns propelled the firm ahead of Ogilvy, which rose from third last year to second this year; Edelman; MSL; and Golin. Another Interpublic Group agency, Current Global broke into the top 10 at number six; and UK-based Hope & Glory was the top independent, at number eight on the list (up from 19).
However, an alternative measure of agency creativity comes from weighting agency scores according to their staff size. Accordingly, PRovoke Media has again used a points per head calculation—one requiring a certain number of points in our total—to identify those firms that are, “pound for pound,” the most creative in the world this year.
Welsh agency Lynn, a boutique firm specializing in the application of behavioral science to communications objectives, topped our weighted ranking, having tied for sixth in the ranking last year. That success was largely due to the firm’s “#ReadyFor20mph” campaign for the Welsh government.
That placed it ahead of Australian firm Provocate, a newcomer to the top 10; Finnish agency Kurio; Norwegian firm Trigger Oslo; and India-based First Partners. Hope & Glory and Current Global were the only two firms to feature on both lists.
The number one campaign of the year came from Citizen Relations in Canada, whose “Asshole Activists” on behalf of Tushy used shock value to cut through the clutter and earn recognition in a wide range of awards competitions, including a Best in Show trophy at our In2 SABREs.
Second place went to “Kaise Ka Cancer,” a campaign for Tata Trust created by Current Global in India. “Frying Pan Challenge,” for Ajinomoto Frozen Foods by Japanese boutique Honda Office and “Winnie the Pooh: Deforested Version” by Eleven and TBWA for Who Gives a Crap. Lynn’s “Ready for 20mph” and “Heinz Ketch-up and Down” by Current Global and FP7 for Kraft Heinz MEA were tied for fifth.
On the client side, Unilever once again took the top spot, with several award-winning campaigns for the Dove brand leading the way, although there was also recognition for brands such as Comfort, Elidor, and Vaseline in a variety of competitions. Unilever has occupied the number one spot as the world’s most creative PR client for each of the last three years.
Number two on the client list was McDonald’s, thanks to “McDonald's Birthday Meals: Grimace's Birthday” in the US, campaigns spanning food quality and employer branding in the UK and APAC. P&G came in third, ahead of Pepsico, with Ajinomoto rounding out the top five.
This year, we also broke out the most creative agencies by specialty practice.
In the consumer realm, Edelman won the most awards (including some for its subsidiary Zeno Group), ahead of Weber Shandwick and Ogilvy, with Golin and MSL rounding out a top five domminated by the big global agencies.
In digital, four of the same firms appeared, albeit in different order, with Weber Shandwick beating out MSL, and Edelman and Golin tied for third. But Finnish agency Kurio rounded out the top five, an impressive performance for a midsize firm in a smaller market.
On the corporate side of things, Weber Shandwick finished ahead of BCW (now Burson), but then the top five included three independent firms: international agency Ruder Finn; Singapore-based Sandpiper; and India’s First Partners.
