It’s the final round of the rankings for 2014, and what a final round it is. Over the course of the year, agencies have been grappling with change constantly. The very definition of what counts as a direct agency, a media agency, an advertising or digital agency is more and more difficult to define.
That evolution can be seen in the rankings – which, despite being broken into categories, have seen more and more media agencies appear in the advertising list, and vice versa, throughout the year.
Follow the links for the Rankings tables:
Advertising Agency
Digital Agency
Media Agency
Direct Agency
Media Companies
This final round is a big one. It takes into account the AdNews Agency of the Year Awards, the Festival of Media Asia and the AWARD Awards, to name a few.
Agencies score points for winning and finalists' entries, with points more weighted towards some award shows than others. In rounds one and two points are earned purely for work, while in this round points are claimed both for work and for an agency’s performance as a business – based on gongs in the various agency categories within award programs.
Of course, award points are based on the awards that agencies enter, and there are agencies out there doing great work and thriving without entering awards, but it provides a credible and valid benchmark of how agencies are performing against their peers.
Throughout rounds one and two, it looked like Clemenger BBDO Melbourne had it locked in for the Advertising Agency rankings – but in the final round Leo Burnett took the top spot for Work. The two agencies were tied in the Network rankings.
A year ago Leos sat in 10th place, demonstrating that 2014 was a big year for the agency. The past 12 months have seen the changes implemented in the six months earlier come into play and really pay dividends.
M&C Saatchi’s performance over the year in the Advertising category also has to be noted as spectacular, ending out the year in third place, despite languishing towards the bottom of the top 20 in the earlier rounds.
In the Digital rankings, there’s a dark horse that made it into the top three – despite not even being in the rankings a year ago – showing that there’s never a time for the more established agencies to relax.
In the Media Company rankings – only the second outing for this annual league table that plots media owners' performance over 12 months – it’s all changed from a year ago. There are some significant leaps and falls in the top 10, and the top 20 spots.
Recap the Round Two Rankings here where UM, Clems Melbourne and Leo Burnett Sydney did well, and the Round One Rankings here.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop me a line at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au
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