TBWA ranks #1 Network in Asia for the first time in the Campaign Brief Asia 2020 Creative Rankings: Dentsu at #2, Ogilvy #3, Cheil #4 and Grey at #5

October 13 2020, 12:02 pm | BY Kim Shaw | No Comments

The 2020 Asia Creative Rankings sees a new #1 for Campaign Brief Asia’s prestigious Creative Network of the Year title. TBWA has shot up from #3 ranking in 2018 to knock Dentsu out of the top spot they have held since 2017.

In a major coup, TBWA has taken out the Creative Network of the Year award following the release of the 2020 Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings. With 9005 Creative Ranking points from the 27 different regional and international award shows over the past two and a half years TBWA ranks just in front of the Dentsu network at #2.

The Network ranking is an important part of the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings each year. In the late 90s and early 2000s it was always a close battle between the Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy networks – the latter winning Creative Network of the Year seven years in a row.

Over recent years it is a battle between Dentsu, Ogilvy and BBDO. Ogilvy took the crown in 2016, however Dentsu took over at #1 in 2017 and again in 2018.

TBWA’s win is due to an improved creative performance in most markets. The network has four offices in the Top 25 in Asia with three in the Top 12.

TBWA\Hakuhodo Tokyo, ranked #2 overall in Asia, experienced a wonderful two years at award shows with 3980 Creative Ranking points.

The network also saw big increases in The Philippines, Thailand and India. TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno Philippines moved up from #11 in 2018 to #7 overall in Asia this year with 1780 Creative Ranking points. TBWA\Thailand’s haul of 1450 points saw them rise from #13 to #11 overall. TBWA\Mumbai was the network’s biggest improver moving up from the #90 ranking in 2018 to sit at #25 this year on 795 points.

TBWA lost ground in China but saw good contributions from Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.

The #2 ranked Dentsu again saw creative powerhouse Dentsu Inc Tokyo score half of their network’s awards. With 4350 points Dentsu Inc Tokyo is the #1 ranked agency in Asia.

Dentsu Jayme Syfu Manila also continued to rise up the Creative Rankings – up from #24 in 2018 to #18 this year. They contributed 1110 points to Dentsu’s total. At #33 overall this year is Dentsu Webchutney Bangalore with 640 points. It’s a great result for the agency as they were unplaced in the 2018 Creative Rankings. Dentsu Taiwan, mcgarrybowen China, Dentsu One Bangkok and Dentsu One Taiwan also made healthy contributions.

Ogilvy is the #3 ranked network with 8355 Creative Ranking points. Their performance is lead by Ogilvy Thailand who consistently rank in Asia’s overall Top 5 agencies. After a great two and a half years at the global and regional shows Thailand sits at #4 overall with 3110 Creative Ranking points.

Ogilvy has 4 offices in Asia’s Top 20, with Geometry Ogilvy Japan is their next best performer ranked overall #13 in Asia with 1365 points. Ogilvy Hong Kong is ranked #15 with 1295 points and Singapore is at #20 with 1020 points. Ogilvy Taiwan made a healthy 610 point contribution and ranks #34 in Asia.

The two big improvers in the Creative Rankings are Cheil Worldwide and GREY Group. Cheil moves up to #4 this year from #6 in 2018. And, GREY rises an incredible 6 places to rank $5 overall this year.

BBDO comes in at #6 overall with the remaining Top 10 Network’s made up of Hakuhodo (#7), McCann (#8), Leo Burnett (#9) and Wunderman Thompson (#10).

See the list of the Top 25 most awarded Agencies in Asia and the 20 highest ranking creative directors.

The shows that are included in the 2020 Creative Rankings are: Ad Stars; Spikes Asia; AWARD Awards; AdFest; Campaign Brief’s THE WORK; Clio Awards; London International Awards; New York Festivals; One Show; D&AD; and Cannes Lions.

2020, as we all know, is rather “unique”. Due to Covid-19 we have had Cannes Lions, AdFest, Spikes Asia, London International Awards, Clio and AdStars either postponed or cancelled. Only 5 shows were held from January 2020 to July 2020 – D&AD, One Show, AWARD, Campaign Brief’s The Work and New York Festivals. These 5 shows plus all 11 award shows from from both 2018 and 2019 are included in these Creative Rankings. This means the 2020 Creative Rankings represent the results of 27 different award shows. Full breakdowns and methodology is included in the 80 page downloadable magazine released tomorrow.