The world’s most creative campaign is Australian road-safety work "Meet Graham", according to the Gunn Report 2018.
The ad, which features a depiction of how the human body would have to be reconstructed to survive a crash, was created by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Australia’s Transport Accident Commission.
Following an overhaul of the Gunn Report, the Gunn 100, a global index of creative excellence, now ranks the 100 best creative ideas in the world, regardless of their communication discipline. It includes rankings for the most creative agencies, networks, holding companies, brands, advertisers and countries, based on their awards haul.
Fearless Girl, a statue of a child confronting Wall Street’s Charging Bull sculpture, which was created for investment company State Street Global Advisors, was the second-most creatively awarded idea. The work garnered global coverage and sparked a conversation on women’s equality issues in the US.
Pet-food brand Pedigree’s humorous "Child replacement programme" campaign, which ran in New Zealand and encourages parents to adopt a dog once their children have left home, took third spot in the Gunn 100.
The UK retained its place as the second-most creatively awarded country globally, behind the US, with a total of nine campaigns making the cut.
Three UK campaigns made the global top 15. Topping the UK chart, and coming in at number seven globally, was Channel 4’s "We’re the superhumans", the broadcaster’s inspirational work, which promoted its coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
John Lewis’ "Buster the boxer" Christmas ad was placed in 12th spot, while Deutsche Telekom’s "Magenta Unleashed", an augmented-reality app, came in at 15.
The majority (24) of the campaigns ranked were for brands in the not-for-profit sector, followed by those in technology and electronics (11) and retail (nine).
Agency-wise, BBDO dominated in an impressive global performance, with shops in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, the UK and US listed in the top 50. Most notably, AlmapBBDO in São Paulo topped the most-creative agency leaderboard, followed by BBDO New York.
Six UK agencies made the cut. Adam & Eve/DDB was the top-awarded agency in the UK, ranked in fourth place globally, following a stellar year. Also flying the flag for the UK were Saatchi & Saatchi, which came in at 13, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO at 20, J Walter Thompson at 31, Publicis at 39 and 4Creative at 40.
Nike was the highest-ranked brand by a substantial margin, followed by Volkswagen, Ikea, Getty Images and McDonald’s.
Volkswagen Group headed the list of most creatively awarded advertisers, followed by Mars, Nike, Procter & Gamble and Samsung.
In the UK, Amnesty International, Channel 4 and John Lewis were all ranked within the top 50 for advertisers.
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The full Gunn 100 list, featuring rankings, commentaries, the work and credits, is available via www.warc.com/gunnreport