Weber Shandwick got back in the limelight on Sunday by placing itself back on the top post on PRovoke Media’s 2021 Global Creative Index, the annual ranking of creative excellence in PR, after spending last year in the slightly shadowy 4th place.
The return trip to the top was largely fueled by the exquisite ‘The Climate Store’ campaign for Swedish food brand Felix, which was also named the top campaign on the 2021 Campaigns table. The campaign for the pop-up store that priced products according to their carbon dioxide equivalent, was also the most-awarded PR program of the past year.
However, Weber Shandwick was also helped greatly by its range of work across the firm’s global network. On top of winning the prestigious Cannes Grand Prix for AB InBev and Spinneys, Weber Shandwick had winning campaigns for Airbnb, Iceland, Nike, Novartis, and Unilever at several other major shows.
PRovoke Media’s annual benchmark of creativity in the public relations world is a result of the analyses of over 25 PR, digital, and marketing awards programmes’ entries and winners from around the world over a 12-month period, up to and including the 2021 Global SABRE Awards.
‘The Climate Store’ tops Campaign Ranking
Weber Shandwick’s reclaiming the top spot in the 10th edition of the Global Creative Index, after ‘residing’ there four years in a roll in 2015-2019, also marks the fourth time in five years that the IPG Dxtra firm has ranked first.
Global PR networks are once again dominating Global Creative Index 2021 Top 10 Overall table thanks to their volume of awards.
The Top 13 PR Campaigns on the Global Creative Index 2021 ranking reflects the brands’ adapting of its communication to the unique challenges that the COVID pandemic has raised, with a focus on economic and social disruption.
It addressed, at the same time, topics like loss of earnings, loneliness and child protection, environmental sustainability, race, and gender.
Among the factors taken into account in the formula that produces the winner is the company’s PR work expansion across multiple categories at advertising-oriented shows, such as Cannes Lions.
When it comes to identifying the most creative PR agencies in the world for its 2021 Top 15 Weighted, PRovoke Media uses ‘points per head’ calculation, an alternative measure of agency creativity according to their staff size.
Thanks to its campaigns for Hertz, the title in 2021 went to the Portuguese firm Corpcom, followed by Singapore’s Pinpoint PR and Nigeria’s Modion Communications.
WPP ranks first in holding group table
Thanks to the efforts of BCW, Ogilvy, and H+K Strategies, WPP managed to retain the top position – fourth consecutive year- among holding groups ranked by the Global Creative Index based on their agencies’ creative performance.
The top spot on the Global Creative Index’s ranking of companies based on the performance of their campaigns in the various award shows around the world this year went to the brewing giant AB InBev, propelled to the top by its award-winning efforts for brands as Budweiser and Goose Island as well as the corporate initiatives ‘Contract for Change’ and ‘We are in this Together’.
