On its 50th birthday in 2012, D&AD worked out its ten most awarded advertising agencies. In fact, it also worked out its most awarded advertising agencies, production companies, art directors, copywriters, brands, design studios, designers and directors- ever. Download the lot here.
Or focus on the ones you want to send your reel to:
10 – Wieden+Kennedy Portland
Wieden+Kennedy was founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy in April 1982.
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, W+K is one of the largest independently-owned advertising agencies in the world, arguably best known for its work for Nike and Old Spice.
9 – Wieden+Kennedy UK
Wieden + Kennedy London is part of one of the largest independent, creatively-led global agency networks. The London office was founded in 1998 and now boast a team of over 150.
8 – DLKW Lowe
DLKW Lowe was created at the end of 2010 from the merger of Delaney Lund Knox Warren, a highly regarded independent agency, with the London office of Interpublic’s Lowe network.
Lowe was founded in 1981 by CDP luminaries Sir Frank Lowe and Geoff Howard-Spink. The agency won a plethora of awards for the likes of Heineken, Vauxhall, Stella Artois, Smirnoff and Tesco.
Persil, For Whatever Life Throws At You.
7 – DDB London (pre 1989 merger)
Bill Bernbach and Ned Doyle worked together at Grey Advertising in New York where Bernbach was Creative Director. In 1949 they teamed up with Mac Dane who was running a tiny agency and together they started Doyle Dane Bernbach.
DDB was the agency largely responsible for the US Creative revolution and on arrival from New York in the mid sixties it harnessed the nascent talents of David Abbott, John Salmon and creative partners Tony Brignull and Neil Godfrey.
6 – TBWA London
TBWA was founded in 1970 in Paris by William G. Tragos Claude Bonnange, Uli Wiesendanger and Paulo Airoldi. The first letter of each founder’s name provided the initials for the new organization.
They were purchased by the Omnicom Group in 1993.
During the 1990s Omnicom merged TBWA with other top creative agencies including Chiat/Day and Hunt Lascaris, building a network of creative agencies around the world.
5 – Bartle Bogle Hegarty London
Founded by John Bartle, Nigel Bogle & Sir John Hegarty in 1982, Bartle Bogle Hegarty is responsible for some of the most notable advertising campaigns of the last 30 years.
The company was behind commercials such as Levi’s ‘Laundrette’, and ‘Flatbeat’, ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ for Audi, ‘The Lynx (Axe) Effect’ for Unilever and ‘Keep Walking’ for Johnnie Walker.
4 – AMV BBDO
AMV was founded over 30 years ago by David Abbott, Peter Mead and Adrian Vickers. It is now part of the BBDO network, the third largest Agency network in the world, with 287 offices across 79 countries.
Initially acclaimed for its print work for Sainsburys and Volvo, AMV has since produced many award-winning campaigns, including Guinness ‘Surfer’.
3 – Saatchi & Saatchi London
Saatchi & Saatchi was founded in London by brothers Maurice and Charles in 1970.
Noted work included their campaign ‘Labour isn’t working’ on behalf of the Conservative Party before the 1979 UK general election and campaigns for British Airways and Silk Cut.
The agency was seen as producing breakthrough creative work with a bold attitude and employed people who went on to be stars of their industry including John Hegarty, Tim Bell and Martin Sorrell.
2 – DDB London (including BMP pre 1989 merger)
Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) was founded in October 1968 by Martin Boase, Gabe Massimi, and Stanley Pollitt.
The three founders had previously worked at Pritchard Wood, but went their own way after failing to buy the company from its parent.
In Creative Director John Webster, BMP boasted probably Britain’s finest creator of advertisements and the inventor of much-loved characters such as Smash Martians, Cresta’s Bear and John Smith’s Arkwright.
The agency also had a strong relationship with the Labour Party, which encouraged the creation of the multi award winning press and poster campaign for the GLC.
1 – Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners (CDP)
Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners (CDP) emerged from the ‘swinging London’ cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain’s most glamorous and influential advertising agency, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s.
Launched in April 1960, it was a nursery for the careers of many who were to become internationally famous, including Sir Frank Lowe, Lord David Puttnam and Sir Alan Parker.
