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Rapp has built a reputation for delivering results. Now it’s done it again. Scoring a performance hat-trick, the agency has been crowned ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 UK’s Agency of the Year for the third year in succession, this year seeing them win in the Performance Marketing Agency category.

Judged by a panel of senior brand marketers, the Agency of the Year awards recognise agencies that deliver for their clients, people and the wider industry. Rapp’s performance in the 2024 contest, celebrated at the end of March, stood out once more – not just in the work, but in the thinking behind it.

This year’s win was part of a wider haul, including Silver awards for Customer Engagement Agency and Digital Transformation Agency. Gabrielle Ludzker, CEO of Rapp UK, was named Customer Engagement Agency Head of the Year, while Tracey Barber won New Business Development Team/Person.

This is the story behind that performance: the deliberate shift in mindset, model and leadership that’s kept Rapp consistently ahead of the pack.

Rewriting the rules

Over the past year, Rapp has progressed a transformation programme that began with a conscious departure from marketing orthodoxy. The agency moved away from short-term tactics to a longer-term model of performance marketing rooted in four outcomes: revenue, margin, brand and impact.

That shift formed part of a wider strategic reset, internally dubbed “Breaking Good”. It was a move designed to push the agency – and its clients – out of comfort zones and into a space where performance, personalisation and scale could all co-exist.

“We knew that by doing right by our clients, talent and industry, success would take care of itself,” says Gabrielle Ludzker, chief executive of Rapp UK, who was also named Customer Engagement Agency Head of the Year 2024.

Rapp’s transformation efforts were more than structural. The agency placed emphasis on internal alignment too, taking Conway’s Law as a guiding principle – the idea the customer experience is a direct reflection of the structure (and silos) of the organisation. In practice, that meant building new capabilities, creating specialist teams and launching functions such as marketing orchestration to better reflect client needs.

From ambition to delivery

While the strategic intent was clear, it was the execution that caught the judges’ attention. Many of Rapp’s clients were given bespoke transformation roadmaps, designed to unlock efficiencies and fund innovation. For one long-standing retail client, that meant using democratised intelligence to deliver hyper-personalised customer experiences and generate tens of millions in incremental revenue.

Across the board, RAPP delivered an average of 70–90% efficiency gains and 10–15% increases in engagement for their clients. The agency also claims a record NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 8.9 and 100% client retention – a rare feat in a year of shifting budgets and rising expectations.

Rapp and the broader OPMG team have also continued to invest in its tools and proprietary platforms, Maistro, Artbot, Choreo and Content Intelligence, all of which helped automate delivery at scale, freeing up budget for clients to reinvest. Internally, more than 500 staff members were trained in new skills across AI, data, and automation, with the same training also offered to clients.

“Conventional agency habits were long overdue for breaking,” says Ludzker. “We chose long-term impact over short-term comfort.”

Making transformation tangible

The work was as ambitious as the infrastructure that supported it. In 2024, the agency helped Volkswagen overhaul its global content model. Using its Limitless Production™ approach, Rapp delivered 33% savings in asset creation and helped redirect spend from duplication to growth-driving initiatives.

“We’re building client capabilities from the inside out,” says Al Mackie, chief creative officer at Rapp UK. “Our transformation roadmaps help marketing become a growth engine, not a cost centre.”

This was just one example of how the agency is blending performance with operational change – showing how marketing transformation can reach well beyond campaigns and into the workings of a business.

A strong year by numbers

Alongside winning Agency of the Year for a third time Rapp picked up two additional golds: New Business Leader, awarded to Tracey Barber, and Customer Engagement Agency Head for Ludzker. It also received silver awards in Customer Engagement Agency and Digital Transformation Agency. Winning in three categories demonstrates the depth and breadth of capabilities across digital transformation, customer engagement and performance marketing. 

It was a record year for new business, too. Rapp reported a 219% increase in new business wins, with a conversion rate of 82% – up from 42% the year before. Major wins included Barclays, B&Q, Evoke and Volkswagen.

The judges praised Rapp’s “ambitious reset of company purpose” and described the agency as “a true challenger of mindsets in action, with very impressive client impact.”

An agency built for what’s next

While many agencies spent the past year responding to economic pressures, Rapp leaned into its transformation agenda. Its focus on internal culture, client delivery and future-fit infrastructure may not be the industry’s loudest story – but it has become one of its most consistent.

“It’s a triple whammy,” says Ludzker. “Better for our clients, better for our people, and better for the industry.”

“The transformational solution you delivered in the pitch, is head and shoulders above the other agency networks.”​  Barclays