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Ad world tipped upside down as good works rule awards

Patrick Collister’s The Directory Big Won has produced its computation of 2015’s top creative award winners and it’s much the same story as before, BBDO the network and BBDO New York ruling the roost. You can read The Drum’s coverage here.

Top-scoring campaign was GGH Lowe and Grabarz+Partner’s ‘Nazis against Nazis.’

Hardly Guinness ‘Surfer’ is it?

But on this theme what’s really interesting is the Big Won’s list of the most awarded agencies (based on points awarded) taking into account charity/NGO advertising – ‘here for good’ as we call it these days – and conventional brand advertising. Basically less than a tenth of the points awarded in 2015 have gone to the latter. Not sure in which category campaigns like P&G’s Always land but you get the drift.

With charity/NGO advertising – Without

1. BBDO New York 4711. BBDO New York 406

2. R/GA New York 3992. Adam&eve DDB London 321

3. Grabarz+Partner 3633. Droga5 New York 294

4. Leo Burnett Beirut 3514. R/GA New York 273

5. adam&eveDDB London 3215. Leo Burnett Beirut 256

6. Colenso BBDO Auckland 3196. Leo Burnett Toronto 255

7. Droga5 New York 2947. AMV BBDO London 252

8. Dentsu Tokyo Japan 2728. Colenso BBDO Auckland 235

9. DDB Spain Madrid 2709. The Martin Agency 220

10. Leo Burnett Toronto 26310. Wieden+Kennedy UK 209

Truly the ad world (or the part to do with awards) has been turned on its head. It’s more PR or advocacy than advertising.

As such it’s slightly bonkers too.

Update

Harriet Flory, communications director of BBDO North America and also Proximity, sends me this important clarification of the table I reprinted from the Drum.

The Drum may say it’s been voted ‘media brand of the year’ but it wouldn’t win many subbing awards.

Over to you Harriet:

‘I am writing as an observer on Stephen Foster’s article “Ad World Tipped Upside Down As Good Work Rules.”

I think that the results of the Big Won have been misinterpreted by the author due to the way they were laid out on the site.

If you look at the chart on the below link, it looks like BBDO New York had 4711 points with charity/NGO advertising. Whereas in fact, we had 471. The last “1” is supposed to be the ranking of the agencies “Without”. I have pasted the chart how it should be laid out below.

So, its not that less than a tenth of the work was for conventional brand advertising, but if if you take out the charity/NGO advertising, it changes the rankings:

BBDO still stay at #1, with 471 points with charity/NGO advertising and 406 points without. So only 65 points were for charity/NGO.

R/GA New York drop to 4th place, with 399 points vs. 273 without

Droga5 are the only agency with no non-profit advertising, with 294 points in each column.’

Thanks Harriet.

With charity/NGO advertising –Without
1. BBDO New York 471 1. BBDO New York 406
2. R/GA New York 399 2. Adam&eve DDB London 321
3. Grabarz+Partner 363. 3. Droga5 New York 294
4. Leo Burnett Beirut 351 4. R/GA New York 273
5. adam&eveDDB London 321 5. Leo Burnett Beirut 256
6. Colenso BBDO Auckland 319 6. Leo Burnett Toronto 255
7. Droga5 New York 294 7. AMV BBDO London 252
8. Dentsu Tokyo Japan 272 8. Colenso BBDO Auckland 235
9. DDB Spain Madrid 270 9. The Martin Agency 220
10. Leo Burnett Toronto 263 10. Wieden+Kennedy UK 209

So it’s half and half, not the one tenth ‘good works’ we supposed it was.

Still a lot though.

If the Big Won sent us the results in the first place life would be a bit easier.

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