Gunn Media100 has revealed the world’s best campaigns, agencies and brandsfor media excellence in advertising
Gunn Report, the global index of excellence in advertising, has released the results of the 2018Gunn Media 100, a global ranking of the world’s most awarded and applauded campaigns and companies based on their performance in media competitions around the world.
Gunn Report, now part of WARC, tracks the winners’ lists of close to 30 of the most important global, regional and national media awards shows to compile Gunn Media 100.
The highest-ranked campaign in the Gunn Media 100 is McDonald’s ‘Capacity Based McDelivery’ by OMD Singapore. To maintain competitive advantages, McDonald’s promoted its delivery service McDelivery in Singapore in partnership with Google. By integrating McDonald’s first-party data with Google’s hyper-local targeting, they maximised media cost efficiency and managed consumer expectations of delivery time through tailored messages, mapping real-time restaurant data against paid search spends via a live API.
In second place is ‘Hungerithm’ by MediaCom Melbourne/Clemenger BBDO, which saw confectionary brand Snickers partner with 7-Eleven stores in Australia to drive sales and increase category share.Snickers says the internet gets angry when it’s hungry. The brand launched ‘Hungerithm’, an algorithm that analysed 14,000 social posts a day and adjusted the price of the chocolate bar accordingly.The angrier the Internet got, the cheaper Snickers became.
Ranked third is ‘Reword’ for Headspace by Leo Burnett Melbourne/Starcom Melbourne. The Australian youth mental health foundation, successfully tackled cyber bullying by putting in place a social media rewording tool that analyses what users type and uses a red line to strike through abusive phrases.
Three themes have emerged from the world’s top campaigns for media excellence:
- Data is driving fresh media thinking. The top campaign is built around smart use of data. This is a recurring theme in the rankings, as brands look to harness multiple data sources to deliver competitive advantage.
- An event-led strategy helps brands stand out. As brands struggle to be heard in a fragmented media landscape, there is a growing focus on ‘events’ such as Super Bowl, US Presidential debates, and Olympics, that can draw a crowd and interest from the press.
- Partnerships are central to youth-focused media strategy. Partnerships with organisations or individuals that bring their own reach are now a key element of media strategy, particularly for brands targeting younger demographics.
MediaCom Londonclaims first place in the Gunn Media 100 agency rankings with four campaigns ranked in the top 100. PHD New York is in second place also with four campaigns in the top 100. Their highest ranked campaign (#13) is ‘The Debate Headache’ for GlaxoSmithKline’s Excedrin.Mindshare Mumbai is ranked third with three campaigns making the cut.
MediaCom is the top-ranked network with eight agencies from around the world – Auckland, Bogota, Dusseldorf, London, Mumbai, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York–contributing to the network’s poll position. PHD Worldwide is in second place and OMD Worldwide, third.
For the first time Gunn Media 100 has included a ranking of holding companies. WPPtops the leaderboard, with three of its networks – MediaCom, Mindshare Worldwide and Wavemaker – ranked in the top 10. Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group follow.
Stephen Allan, Worldwide CEO and Chairman of MediaCom, said: “This is an outstanding achievement, of which I am extremely proud. Every single person throughout the MediaCom network has contributed to our success and has truly embraced our philosophy of Systems Thinking to great effect. I am, of course, delighted that MediaCom UK has also been recognised within the Gunn Media 100 as the top individual agency”
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, said: “WPP’s core purpose is to deliver growth for our clients so we are delighted to receive this recognition of our effectiveness in doing so. And congratulations to MediaCom who, as network and agency of the year, have helped us achieve a hat-trick of awards.”
Nike takes first position as the top brand with four campaigns featured in the top 100, all from the US. McDonald’s is in second place, followed by Snickers and Dove.
Unilever tops the Advertiser’s ranking by a significant margin. Procter & Gamble is in second place. Both advertisers have six brands featured in the top 100 campaigns. Mars takes third place with five campaigns in the top 100.
The US dominates the rankings with 30 campaigns in the top 100, 12 of which feature in the top 20. UK is second with 11 campaigns. Australia and India follow. In total, 24 countries are represented.
The most highly ranked inGunn Media 100 are:
The world’stop 10 best media agencies 2018
| Rank | Agency | Location | Points |
| 1 | MediaCom | London, UK | 317.2 |
| 2 | PHD | New York, USA | 249 |
| 3 | Mindshare | Mumbai, India | 235 |
| 4 | PHD | Shanghai, China | 211.4 |
| 5 | Mindshare | Shanghai, China | 197.4 |
| 6 | Clemenger BBDO | Melbourne, Australia | 184 |
| 7 | MediaCom | Mumbai, India | 174.9 |
| 8 | Mediaplus | Munich, Germany | 171.4 |
| 9 | Touché PHD! | Montreal, Canada | 171.3 |
| 10 | Starcom | Chicago, USA | 169.4 |
The world’s top 10 brands for media excellence
| Rank | Brand | Sector | Points |
| 1 | Nike | Clothing & Accessories | 297.5 |
| 2 | McDonald’s | Retail | 263.7 |
| 3 | Snickers | Food | 227.9 |
| 4 | Dove | Toiletries & Cosmetics | 204.5 |
| 5 | Netflix | Media & Publishing | 194.5 |
| 6 | Shell | Business & Industrial | 180.8 |
| 7 | Samsung | Technology & Electronics | 136.1 |
| 8 | Headspace | Non-profit, public sector & education | 129.1 |
| 9 | Gillette | Toiletries & Cosmetics | 122.5 |
| 10 | US Army | Non-profit, public sector & education | 107.3 |
The world’s top 10 advertisers for media excellence
| Rank | Advertiser | Points |
| 1 | Unilever | 942.7 |
| 2 | Procter & Gamble | 517.6 |
| 3 | Mars | 392.8 |
| 4 | Nike | 283.3 |
| 5 | McDonald’s | 263.7 |
| 6 | PepsiCo | 251.4 |
| 7 | Anheuser-Busch InBev | 217.1 |
| 8 | Nestlé | 195.7 |
| 9 | Netflix | 194.5 |
| 10 | Royal Dutch Shell | 186.5 |
The world’s top 10 countries for media excellence
| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | USA | 2841.9 |
| 2 | UK | 1427.5 |
| 3 | Australia | 871.6 |
| 4 | India | 854.8 |
| 5 | United Arab Emirates | 748 |
| 6 | Canada | 684.1 |
| 7 | China | 656.8 |
| 8 | Singapore | 363.2 |
| 9 | Brazil | 345.3 |
| 10 | Germany | 337 |
Commenting on the results of Gunn Media 100, Emma Wilkie, managing director of Gunn Report, says: “Hot on the heels of the recently published Gunn 100 ranking for creative excellence and the WARC 100 index for effectiveness, the newly launched Gunn Media 100 benchmarks media creativity and innovation as well as highlighting media trends based on an independent global analysis.
“We’re seeing that the smart use of data, event-led strategies and partnerships that provide new consumer reach are the main themes currently driving the media industry forward offering new and exciting opportunities in the market place.”
