55% of world’s most impactful campaigns are digital-led

The Warc 100 rankings are based on performance in effectiveness and strategy awards around the world, and are built on a methodology developed in consultation with King’s College London. 

This year’s top ranked campaign, Penny the Pirate, was developed by Saatchi & Saatchi and OMD for Australian optical chain OPSM, and combined traditional and digital media. Many of the other winning campaigns also used digital elements to deliver scale: the Volvo Trucks Live Test Series received over 100m views of its You Tube videos, while Newcastle Brown Ale’s If We Made It used online video to parody the advertising hype around the Super Bowl and increased volume sales by over 20%. 

As well as the apparent impact of digital, another theme to emerge among the top 100 campaigns was that more brands are using social activism effectively to drive business. Campaigns to have used this approach include #LikeAGirl, I Will What I Want, Touch the Pickle and This Girl Can. 

"The Warc 100 represents the best work in marketing – breakthrough campaigns that have delivered tangible results for their clients," said David Tiltman, head of content at Warc. "The rankings are a benchmark of excellence in the industry. The clients and agencies that feature in them are some of the best in the business."