NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Warc (www.warc.com) has released a new ranking of the world's smartest creative agencies and networks based on agency and brand performance in effectiveness and strategy competitions over the past year. Called the Warc 100, the new ranking provides a benchmark for commercial creativity and was based on results from 75 different competitions around the world involving more than 1,700 winners.

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BBDO was ranked the "smartest" agency network. In addition, Colenso BBDO in New Zealand and AMV BBDO London were ranked #1 and #2 among individual creative shops, respectively. And Proximity New Zealand, part of the BBDO network, was the #1 ranked digital agency in the world.

Earlier this year, Warc reported that BBDO agencies produced and created 14 of the 100 smartest campaigns of the year, more than any other agency network. And Effie Worldwide ranked BBDO the #1 most effective agency network in the world in its annual Effie Effectiveness Index.

"The best work works best. Smart insights inspiring creative magic, in turn driving strong business results," said Andrew Robertson, President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, adding, "I am very proud of the people in our agencies who work so hard to deliver against this, for every client, every day, and, as a result, have pushed us to the top of this chart."

Added David Tiltman, head of content at Warc, "These rankings showcase the agencies that are really making a difference to their clients' businesses. And by focusing on effectiveness and strategic thinking, the Warc 100 offers a benchmark against which an agency can analyze its performance based on real campaign results."

Further details regarding the new rankings of the world's smartest agencies can be found at:

http://www.warc.com/Images/WARCSiteContent/PressReleases/W100APR120914.pdf.

ABOUT WARC

Warc.com is an online service offering advertising best practice, evidence and insights from the world's leading brands. Warc helps clients grow their businesses by using proven approaches to maximise advertising effectiveness.

Warc's clients include the world's largest advertising and media agencies, research companies, universities and advertisers.

Warc also publishes leading journals including Admap, Market Leader, the Journal of Advertising Research and the International Journal of the Market Research Society.

In addition to its own content, Warc features advertising case studies and best practices from more than 50 respected industry sources, including: ARF, Effies, Cannes Lions, ESOMAR and IPA. Warc hosts three annual case study competitions: Warc Prize for Innovation, Warc Prize for Social Strategy and Warc Prize for Asian Strategy.

Founded in 1985, Warc is privately owned and has offices in the UK, U.S. and Singapore.

ABOUT THE WARC 100

The Warc 100 is a ranking of the world's top marketing campaigns and companies, based on their performance in effectiveness and strategy competitions.

Warc tracked more than 1700 winners in 75 different competitions to compile the rankings. It assigned points to each winner based on the award it won (Grand Prix/Gold/Silver/Bronze, or equivalents). It then weighted the points, based on the rigour and prestige of the competition. Each competition has a weighting between 1 and 5 - Warc has assigned these weightings based on a number of factors, including a survey of senior planners around the world. The methodology was developed in consultation with Professor Douglas West, Professor of Marketing at King's College London.

More details of the methodology are available on the Prize website.

ABOUT BBDO

BBDO's mantra is "The Work. The Work. The Work." Every day, BBDO people in 289 offices in 81 countries work day by day, job by job and client by client to create and deliver the world's most compelling commercial content. For eight years in a row, BBDO has been the most creative agency network in the world in The Gunn Report and for seven years, BBDO was also ranked the most awarded agency network across all marketing communications in The Directory Big Won. In addition, BBDO has been named Network of the Year at Cannes five times and was named the world's most effective agency network by Effie Worldwide in both the inaugural Effie Effectiveness Index as well as this past year. BBDO has been chosen Agency of the Year multiple times by the leading industry trade publications.

BBDO is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE-OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

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