The Big Won Report: Whybin\TBWA Sydney and GPY&R Melbourne make top 20; Colenso BBDO NZ ranked world’s most awarded ad agency
Two Australian agencies have made the Top 20 of the world’s most awarded agencies in 2012, according to The Big Won Report released in London today.
Whybin\TBWA\Tequila Sydney was ranked number 9 (up from 105 last year) and George Patterson Y&R Melbourne was ranked number 20 (up from 377 last year).
And for the first time a New Zealand advertising agency, Colenso BBDO, has fought off strong international competition more than ten times its size, to be named the world’s most awarded advertising agency (plus most awarded DM agency in the world).
It’s the first time a New Zealand or Australian agency has won the title, and betters the previous top performance, which was Colenso BBDO’s fifth placing last year.
Of the top five agencies, three were from the BBDO Worldwide network with BBDO New York ranked second and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO London ranked fourth.
Australia was ranked #4 country in the world behind the USA, Germany and UK, while New Zealand was ranked #10.
Leo Burnett, Melbourne’s 7-Eleven ‘BYO Cup Day’ campaign was ranked #7 campaign across all channels in the world, with GPY&R Melbourne’s Australian Defence Force ‘Mobile Medic’ at #10, Ogilvy Sydney’s Coca-Cola ‘Share a Coke’ at #11 and Colenso BBDO Auckland’s DB Breweries ‘Sorry about the twigs’ at =#17.
DDB Sydney’s print campaign for Volkswagen ‘Park Assist Technology’ was ranked #6 press/print campaign in the world while BMF Sydney’s ‘Nocturnal Migration’ spot for Tooheys Extra Dry was ranked #9 TV/Film campaign.
The Aussies and Kiwis performed admirably in the direct marketing league tables, with Colenso BBBDO Auckland ranked #1 and Whybin\TBWA\Tequila Sydney at #3 and BMF Sydney at #8. Four of the Top 10 DM Campaigns in the world are from Australia (GPY&R Melbourne, Whybin\TBWA\Tequila Sydney, Ogilvy Sydney and Leo Burnett Melbourne) while three are from New Zealand (all from Colenso BBDO).
The Big Won is an annual global report tracking award performance of marketing communications agencies across all media categories and disciplines throughout the year. The rankings analyse the results of 39 industry awards shows, approximately 4,500 campaigns or pieces of creative by more than 1,500 agencies from around the globe to give a conclusive ranking.
Several Aussie and Kiwi creatives are ranked in the league tables of the world top 10 ECDs, Copywriters and Art Directors.
Nick Worthington, creative chairman of Colenso BBDO, Auckland is ranked #2 ECD in the world, while Matty Burton, joint ECD at Whybin\TBWA Sydney is ranked #6.
Aussie expat Levi Slavin (left), creative director at Colenso BBDO Auckland is ranked #1 copywriter in the world, while Colenso’s Simon Vicars is ranked #6.
Colenso’s James Tucker is ranked equal #5 art director in the world along with former Colenso creative Jae Morrison, now a commercials director represented by Thick As Thieves in NZ and Finch in Australia.
Colenso BBDO’s performance comes off the back of an award-winning year, winning Gold at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, the New Zealand Effies, The Caples, Spikes Asia and New Zealand’s own Axis Awards, as well as winning the Diamond Echo Award and being named Campaign Asia Australia/New Zealand Agency of the Year and YoungGuns International Agency of the Year.
To achieve the status of the world’s best creative agency in 2012, Colenso BBDO Auckland won a total of 110 awards (30% of which were Golds or Grands Prix) with 20 separate pieces of work on behalf of 11 different clients including Levi Strauss, Mars Petfoods, DB Breweries, Frucor Beverages, and State Insurance.
“When you look at the most awarded marketing campaigns over the past few years, many of them have gone further than just advertising. We no longer view ourselves as just supplying advertising, but as creative service providers using a range of channels to solve core business problems,” says Nick Worthington (top left), Colenso BBDO creative chair.
“We are still pinching ourselves after hearing the news. The whole agency is absolutely thrilled that a few people in a relatively small Auckland office have beaten the rest of the world,” says Colenso BBDO managing director, Nick Garrett (top right).
“It’s particularly pleasing to receive this accolade as it highlights the variety of award-winning work across so many of our different clients, not just one or two campaigns. It’s a testament to the hard work the team have put in over the last couple of years to be more commercially creative, and we are very lucky to work with so many great clients and wonderful brands.”
Some of Colenso BBDO’s award-winning work includes building a pinball-esque skatepark to promote new flavours of Mountain Dew, a website that used facial recognition technology to help people find a look-a-like dog – their “Doggelganger” – from the SPCA for the Pedigree adoption drive, as well as putting twigs inside Monteith’s cider boxes to remind people that it was the only cider on the market made from real apples and not concentrate.
“Colenso BBDO is one of the most consistently performing agencies in the world. Part of its success comes down to its ability to evolve and adapt to new channels, and deliver award-winning work across a vast number of clients and categories,” says Clemenger Group New Zealand chief executive, Jim Moser.
Colenso BBDO was also named the world’s best direct marketing agency for the second year in a row, and BBDO held onto its number one ranking for global advertising networks.
Top agencies in the world for creativity across all media 2012
(points in brackets)
1. Colenso BBDO Auckland New Zealand (573)
2. BBDO New York (530)
3. Serviceplan Munich Gerrmany (431)
4. Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO London (358)
5. Jung von Matt Hamburg Germany (352)
6. Leo Burnett Beirut Lebanon (330)
7. DDB Singapore (316)
8. Dentsu Tokyo (310)
9. Whybin TBWA Tequila Sydney Australia (282)
10. Forsman & Bodenfors Sweden (277)
11. AlmapBBDO Sao Paulo Brazil (270)
12. Ogilvy Frankfurt Germany (262)
13. BETC Euro RSCG Paris France (256)
14. Ogilvy Sao Paulo Brazil (255)
15. BBH London (228)
16. Y&R Dubai United Arab Emirates (219)
17. Memac Ogilvy Label Tunis Tunisia (212)
18. JWT Shanghai (211)
19. Y&R Malaysia (210)
19. George Patterson Y&R Melbourne (207)
Top agencies – Asia/Pacific
1. Colenso BBDO Auckland (573)
2. DDB Singapore (316)
3. Dentsu Tokyo (310)
4. Whybin\TBWA\Tequila Sydney (282)
5. JWT Shanghai (211)
6. George Patterson Y&R Melbourne (207)
7. Hakuhodo Tokyo (152)
8. Leo Burnett Melbourne (147)
9. BMF Sydney (139)
10. DDB Rapp New Zealand (118)
Top agencies – Australia
1. Whybin\TBWA\Tequila Sydney (282)
2. George Patterson Y&R Melbourne (207)
3. Leo Burnett Melbourne (147)
4. BMF Sydney (139)
5. Leo Burnett Sydney (113)
6. Ogilvy Sydney (111)
7. Clemenger BBDO Melbourne (103)
8. M&C Saatchi Sydney (96)
9. DDB Sydney (71)
10. Naked Communications Sydney (68)
11. The Monkeys Sydney (63)
12. Wunderman Sydney (61)
13. 303Lowe Sydney (54)
14. Clemenger BBDO Sydney (38)
15. Mercer Bell Sydney (37)
16. OgilvyOne Melbourne (31)
16. Havas Sydney (31)
18. Host Sydney (28)
19. DDB Melbourne (27)
20. Wonder Sydney (26)
8 Comments
Was very surprised not to see D5 in the top 3
Ja, but are the Suid Afikan agencies? SIS HEY!
Congrats Nick G, Nick W and team. Amazing effort, well deserved.
Congrats Nick, Nick and team. Sterling effort.
Don’t worry Mikey, they’ll be in the top 3 next year for sure.
Going on their business record over the past couple of years they should do quite well in The Big Lost report, too.
What an achievement! Huge congrats to Nick + Nick.
VERY surprised that Wieden and Kennedy have been missed off the list completely…Agency of the Year Cannes 2012 and doesn’t even make the top 20?? Bizarre.