The Gunn Report, the global index of creative excellence in advertising, has released its 2016 Report summarising the overall performance of the advertising industry in the year January to December 2016 based on the results of 45 global, regional and national creative award contests. adam&eveDDB claimed the mantle of Most Awarded Agency, whilst Y&R, Leo Burnett and McCann London also scored some major victories. The UK retains its place as the second-most creatively awarded country in the world behind the US and well ahead of Australia, Brazil and Argentina. Besides the victory of adam&eveDDB, UK production house Blink retained its third-place position in the most-awarded production companies table and the UK’s David Shane was named the most-awarded director. So the UK had a pretty great year!
Other highlights from the 2016 Gunn Report include the following rankings:
Most Awarded Campaigns Across All Gunn Report Media 2016
1. Burger King, 'McWhopper', Y&R New Zealand (Auckland)
2. Microsoft Xbox, 'Tomb Raider Survival Board', McCann (London)
3. DB Export, 'Brewtroleum', Colenso BBDO (Auckland)
Most Awarded Film Commercials in the World 2016
1. Loterias y Apuestas del Estado, 'Justino - Night Shift', Leo Burnett (Madrid)
2. Currys PC World, 'Spare The Act - Laptop', AMV BBDO (London)
3. = Harvey Nichols Loyalty App, 'Shoplifters', adam&eveDDB (London)
3. = John Lewis Home Insurance, 'Tiny Dancer', adam&eveDDB (London)
3. = Volvo Trucks, 'Looks Who's Driving Feat. 4-yr-old Sophie', Forsman & Bodenfors (Gothenburg)
Most Awarded Print / Out of Home Ads and Campaigns in the World 2016
1. Microsoft Xbox, 'Tomb Raider Survival Board', McCann (London)
2. Burger King, 'McWhopper', Y&R New Zealand (Auckland)
3. DB Export, 'Brewtroleum', Colenso BBDO (Auckland)
Most Awarded Digital Ads in the World 2016
1. Burger King, 'McWhopper', Y&R New Zealand (Auckland)
2. ING, 'The Next Rembrandt', J. Walter Thompson (Amsterdam)
3. Lockheed Martin, 'Field Trip To Mars', McCann (New York)
Most Awarded All Gunns Blazing in the World 2016
1. Burger King, 'McWhopper', Y&R New Zealand (Auckland)
2. = DB Export, 'Brewtroleum', Colenso BBDO (Auckland)
2. = REI, '#OptOutside', Venables Bell & Partners (San Francisco)
Most Awarded Agencies in the World 2015
1. adam&eveDDB (London)
2. Colenso BBDO (Auckland)
3. = AlmapBBDO (São Paulo)
3. = Y&R New Zealand (Auckland)
Most Awarded Networks in the World 2016
1. BBDO
2. McCann
3. Leo Burnett
Most Awarded Countries in the World 2016
1. USA
2. UK
3. Australia
Most Awarded Advertisers in the World 2016
1. Samsung
2. Burger King
3. Volkswagen
Most Awarded Production Companies in the World 2016
1. O Positive Films (New York, Santa Monica)
2. Landia (Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Madrid)
3. Blink Productions (London)
Most Awarded Directors in the World 2016
1. David Shane (UK)
2. = againstallodds (UK)
2. = Steve Rogers (USA, France, Australia)
Emma Wilkie, Managing Director of The Gunn Report, said: “The purpose of The Gunn Report is to give an objective overview of the best creative ideas, and who is behind them, based on the results of the most important creative awards from around the world. Overall, we've seen some wonderfully creative ideas shining through in 2016 with brand purpose a strong theme. Whilst previous winners still exhibit their greatness, new stars are rising up the ranks.”
Emma Wilkie (left) and Kate Stanners (right)
The Gunn Report 2016 guest editor Kate Stanners, Chairwoman and Global Chief Creative Officer of Saatchi & Saatchi, who has contributed her own personal commentary to the report and awards tables, added: “This is what great work looks like. It never ceases to amaze me how hard it is to make any one of the ideas in this Report. Ideas are fragile; they can collapse at any point. Sometimes an idea is pure and simple, you can feel the power of it from its inception; others have been shaped and crafted into great. It takes passion, tenacity, it takes a team and a great client. None of it is easy, but greatness comes in not giving up.”
Gunn Report Spotlights
Leo Burnett Worldwide’s “Justino - Night Shift” for the Spanish Lottery was named the Most Awarded Film Commercial in the World by the report. The story of Justino, a lonely security guard working the night shift at a mannequin factory, is an emotional three-and-a-half minute film that moved audiences worldwide. Mark Tutssel, Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide and Creative Chairman of Publicis Communications said: “Justino is an animated masterpiece. This Pixar-esque short film captured the hearts of a nation, and won every major award in the industry in 2016, including the Cannes Lions Cyber Grand Prix and the Effie Grand Prix in Spain. This case is conclusive proof of the direct correlation between world-class creativity and transformational business effect.” Leo Burnett Worldwide was the third most awarded network in the world in 2016. The network has ranked in the world's Top 5 Creative Networks for the last nine years. This display of creative consistency and excellence is the hallmark of the network.
McCann London has been recognised as producing some of the most award-winning work of 2016 in this year's report. The Gunn Report revealed McCann London's “Survival Billboard” for Microsoft’s Xbox was the most awarded campaign in the world in the print/out of home category. It was also the second most-awarded campaign overall, making it the most decorated campaign in both the UK and Europe. The McCann network scored its highest marks ever in the report, racking up 138 points from across its brilliant agencies in 19 countries. McCann London contributed to this by making it into the Top 10 agencies in the world, the highest ranking of any McCann agency this year. The campaign from London and McCann New York's “Field Trip to Mars” both made it into the Gunn Report's Ten Most Awarded Campaigns Across All Media, which helped push McCann London to the joint 9th spot for the most awarded agency in the world. The success of Survival Billboard was thanks to an integrated effort across four of McCann Worldgroup UK’s agencies: McCann London, Momentum, MRM/Meteorite and Craft. Alex Lubar, CEO at McCann London, said: “It is fantastic to have the hard work and dedication of all our staff at the agency recognised by the Gunn Report. We are incredibly proud of our achievements in 2016 – and very much intend to keep the momentum going this year and beyond.”
The most awarded campaign of the last 12 months is the “McWhopper” campaign by Y&R New Zealand. This is a campaign that has been getting a lot of attention over the last 12 months so it was certainly not surprising to see it pop up here.
The ranking tables, commentaries and the accompanying ads as well as country comparisons (population and ad market size/ranking) are now available to view online at www.gunnreport.com. The Gunn Report Book and Showreel of the Year 2016 DVD will be available in early March and will include the results of The Gunn Report for Media 2016.
