Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO was the only UK agency to make the list’s top ten, after placing at number five. It placed highest among BBDO agencies.
The list was topped by MullenLowe Lintas Group Mumbai, followed by Droga5 New York and Ogilvy & Mather New York.
Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett London came 18th on the list, not as high as sister network agencies Chicago (4th), Toronto (6th) and Melbourne (8th).
Grey London was the highest ranked WPP agency at 31, while Wieden & Kennedy London was the highest ranked UK independent shop at 33.
Bartle Bogle Hegarty London placed at number 37, while Adam & Eve/DBB was 41st on the list and TMW Unlimited was 44th.
Warc compiled the rankings after tracking advertising competitions around the world – all of which require entrants to show the business impact of a campaign, rather than solely recognising the campaign’s creativity.
The organisation said it looked at more than 2,000 winners in 79 different effectiveness and strategy competitions to compile the rankings. Warc assigns points to these campaigns (and the brands and agencies behind them) based on the prizes they win in those competitions. Each competition is weighted based on how rigorous and prestigious it is, which is determined by polling more than 100 senior strategists in markets around the world.