World Creative Rankings: the top 20 agency leaderboard at the mid-year stage
Which agencies and holding companies are at the front of the grid so far in 2024? For the first time ever, we’re taking a look at how the definitive annual creative rankings are shaping up at the midway mark.
Michelob's Lap of Legends has helped FCB New York race into the top spot / Michelob
The Drum can today reveal that FCB New York is in pole position in the World Creative Rankings at the halfway point of the year.
Our first-ever mid-year leaderboard, below, shows where agencies are currently standing in terms of creative awards success now that four of the six ‘majors’ are decided. As such, it provides a snapshot of what the final rankings may look like when all of this year’s eligible awards are complete. However, there’s still all to play for in the second half of 2024, with shows including The Drum Awards Festival still to come.
FCB New York, which placed fourth in the most recent annual rankings, has raced to the provisional top spot thanks to three campaigns scoring strongly among award juries so far this year.
They are Lap of Legends (pictured) and Dreamcaster, both for AB InBev beer brand Michelob, and the Spreadbeats B2B campaign for Spotify.
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Last year’s number one, Rethink, remains in contention for a second successive year at the top of the podium. The Vancouver-based agency is currently sitting in second thanks to awards success with Kraft Heinz, Molson Coors and RGD.
Fresh from being named Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions, where it won two Grands Prix and 16 Lions, Publicis Conseil is up three places to complete the current top three. The biggest mover, however, is FCB Chicago, which has climbed a staggering 159 places and is now in 13th place after a strong start to 2024.
Top 20 Agency Leaderboard
| Rank (previous) | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| ↑ | 1 (4) | FCB New York |
| ↓ | 2 (1) | Rethink |
| ↑ | 3 (6) | Publicis Conseil Paris |
| ↑ | 4 (18) | Marcel Paris |
| ↑ | 5 (38) | TBWA\Media Arts Lab LA |
| ↑ | 6 (20) | McCann New York |
| ↓ | 7 (5) | Ogilvy UK |
| ↑ | 8 (17) | VML New York |
| ↑ | 9 (10) | Dentsu Inc |
| ↑ | 10 (13) | David Madrid |
| ↓ | 11= (7) | LePub Italy |
| ↓ | 11= (3) | Serviceplan Munich |
| ↑ | 13 (172) | FCB Chicago |
| ↑ | 14 (42) | Ogilvy New York |
| ↑ | 15 (36) | FCB Toronto |
| ↑ | 16 (34) | VML Commerce New York |
| ↑ | 17 (94) | DM9/DDB Sao Paulo |
| → | 18 (new) | Apple Marcom |
| → | 19 (new) | Superette |
| ↓ | 20 (8) | Adam&EveDDB |
The growing prominence of the FCB agencies and the continued strong showing from McCann New York has helped parent company IPG leapfrog Omnicom into second place in the provisional holding company standings.
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Last year’s winner WPP remains at the top, however, thanks to the cumulative success enjoyed by the likes of Ogilvy UK and Ogilvy New York and VML New York and VML Commerce.
| Rank (previous) | Network | |
|---|---|---|
| = | 1 (1) | WPP |
| ↑ | 2 (3) | IPG (Interpublic Group) |
| ↓ | 3 (2) | Omnicom Group |
| = | 4 (4) | Publicis Groupe |
| ↑ | 5 (6) | Dentsu |
The Drum’s research team compiled the mid-year leaderboards after analyzing the awards performance of 1,106 campaigns from 732 advertisers working with 629 agencies. Still to come this week, we’ll be publishing the advertiser leaderboard and taking an in-depth look at the campaigns moving the standings.
For 2024, The Drum has reformulated the points system that drives the rankings, with awards competitions now grouped as global majors and regional and local shows. You can see the full methodology here.
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This week’s rankings are a snapshot of the current picture and there’s still all to play for to determine the final standings in the next annual World Creative Rankings.
As one of the Majors, The Drum Awards Festival in November and specifically its creative categories will have a big bearing on the eventual outcome. Entries are open until July 31 at thedrumawards.com.
The full annual World Creative Rankings, including the people categories, will follow in the new year after the 2024 calendar of creative awards is complete.