Warc unveils world’s 100 smartest marketing campaigns – 3 Asian agencies in the top ten
The “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign for the Philippines Dept of Tourism via BBDO Guerrero has been named in third place in the Warc 100, a global ranking of marketing campaigns based on performance in effectiveness and strategy competitions. Others in the top ten campaigns from Asia are “Smoking Kid” for Thai Health Promotion Foundation by Ogilvy & Mather Thailand at #7 and “Old Parts for New” for ORBIS International by Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong at #8. A total of 22 Asian marketing campaigns feature in the top Warc 100 list.
Other agencies from Asia to make the top Warc 100 list are Lowe Lintas India/SapientNitro, DDB Hong Kong, BBDO China x 2, Grey Singapore, DDB Philippines, Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai/Maxus China, Proximity Beijing, McCann Philippines, DDB Hong Kong/OMD, PHD Shanghai, Publicis Hong Kong, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, OMD Hong Kong, TBWA/Santago Mangada Puno Philippines, Neo@Ogilvy Beijing, Socialab Beijing, Publicis Shanghai and Ogilvy & Mather Beijing,
The Warc 100, launched by marketing intelligence service Warc, is an annual list of the world’s best campaigns, based on performance in effectiveness and strategy competitions. It is a benchmark for commercial creativity, ranking strategies that drive business performance or change consumer behaviour.
‘Fakka‘, a Vodafone initiative through agency JWT Cairo, has emerged as the leading campaign in the Warc 100’s first year. Vodafone introduced Micro Credit Recharge Cards for low-income Egyptians, and developed a new distribution channel by turning the cards into a form of low- denomination currency that could be used by shopkeepers in place of small change.
The US was the most-represented market in the top 100, with 22 of the entries developed there. Australia came next, with 11 entries.
To compile the rankings, Warc tracked more than 1700 winners in 75 different competitions. It assigned points based on the awards won (for example, Gold, Silver or Bronze), then weighted those points based on the competition’s rigour and prestige in the global industry. Warc has developed a proprietary methodology to weight competitions in consultation with Douglas West, professor of marketing at King’s College London.
The Warc 100 has been developed to reflect the growing importance of strategic thinking and measurement rigour in marketing. It will showcase the best work, and will help raise awareness of the leading cases.
Says Louise Ainsworth, CEO of Warc: “The growing number of effectiveness and strategy awards around the world shows how important it is to prove marketing can make a difference. The Warc 100 will rank the best of the best. It will help brands and agencies keep up to date with strategies that have a commercial impact, and to benchmark their own performance against their peers.”
Warc will reveal further data from the Warc 100, including the world’s top agencies and brands, later in the summer.
The top 10 campaigns (Title / Brand / Agency / Market) in full are:
• ‘Fakka’/Vodafone/JWT Egypt
• ‘Small Business Saturday’/American Express/Digitas, Crispin Porter & Bogusky US
• ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’/Philippines Dept of Tourism/BBDO Guerrero Philippines
• ‘Thank You, Mom’/Procter & Gamble/Wieden + Kennedy US
• ‘Overstay Checkout’/Art Series Hotels/Naked Communications Australia
• ‘Daily Twist’/Oreo/FCB, 360i US
• ‘Smoking Kid’/Thai Health Promotion Foundation/Ogilvy & Mather Thailand
• ‘Old Parts for New’/ORBIS International/Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong
• ‘Real Beauty Sketches’/Dove/Ogilvy & Mather Brazil
• ‘Car Creation’/NRMA Insurance/Whybin\TBWA Australia
Says Amal el Masri, chief strategy officer, JWT MENA about the the top-ranked ‘Fakka’ campaign: “Egyptians are resourceful by nature and this can been seen in many aspects of everyday life, including the habit of replacing change with low value items. Vodafone Fakka combines innovation with this inherent cultural trait to provide a really relevant and useful solution to its customers.”
Says Tony Harris, CEO, BBDO Guerrero, about ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ (the top-ranked campaign from Asia-Pacific): “Tourism has been called ‘the people’s business’ and the success of ‘It’s More Fun In The Philippines’ has come about because it used the connectivity of Filipinos to spotlight the country on a global stage. We are hugely proud that this has been recognised as the ‘smartest’ campaign in Asia – for us, our client and of course, the nation.”