New York (April 8, 2015) — Effie Worldwide has released their global rankings for the most effective marketers, brands, agency holding groups, agency networks, agency offices and independent agencies according to results of the 2015 Effie Effectiveness Index®.  

Now in its fifth year, the Effie Index recognizes the architects of the most effective marketing communications ideas from around the world, determined by their success in more than forty national & regional Effie Award competitions.

Companies ranked highest in the 2015 Effie Effectiveness Index include The Coca-Cola Company (marketer) and Coca-Cola (brand), WPP (agency holding group), BBDO Worldwide (agency network), Colombian agency Sancho BBDO (individual agency office) and Ukraine’s Banda Agency (independent agency).

“Effie Worldwide’s annual Effie Index recognizes the exceptional ideas that delivered results and made a difference for businesses globally. The Index is distinctively comprehensive in that it shines a light on the incredible ideas that worked around the globe, from local to international campaigns, and from both multi-nationals and independent brands. This year’s honorees have set the bar higher for the industry and proven that great creative combined with thoughtful strategy equates to successful marketing initiatives,” said Carolyn Everson, Chair of the Board of Directors, Effie Worldwide and Vice President, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook.

Highlights from this year’s rankings include The Coca-Cola Company unseating Effie Index incumbent Unilever (now second place) as the top ranked marketer. Procter & Gamble retained its third place position. Coca-Cola remained the most effective global brand for the third year in a row. Vodafone jumped to second place, bumping McDonald’s down to third in the global brand ranking. The top three most effective holding groups remained unchanged from last year, with WPP Group ranked as the most effective agency holding group for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Omnicom and Interpublic.  For the second year in a row, BBDO Worldwide topped the world’s most effective agency network ranking, with McCann Worldgroup moving up one spot to second, pushing Ogilvy & Mather to third. 

Sancho BBDO topped the Global Individual Agency Office rankings for the second year in a row. Banda Agency regained its spot as the most effective independent agency in 2015. It was previously ranked first in the 2013 rankings. 

“The Effie Effectiveness Index is the world’s most prestigious ranking of effective marketing, and five years of data allows for a bigger picture to compare and contrast the trends in marketing,” said Neal Davies, President and CEO of Effie Worldwide.  “What’s more, by having access to the cases that led to success in the Effie Index, marketers can study best in class examples of effective marketing from around the globe."

The 2015 Effie Effectiveness Index is compiled from 3,136 finalists and winning entries from worldwide Effie Award competitions between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.  This is the first time that the Effie Index rankings are calculated using a January-December qualifying period, which will provide marketers with a better understanding of their success over a single calendar year.  Previous rankings were tabulated over a June to June eligibility time period. 

The Index is constructed by converting every Effie award and finalist into points – twelve for a Grand Effie, eight for Gold, six for Silver, four for Bronze and two for a finalist (with contributing agencies receiving half these points).  Every brand and company ranked in the Effie Index has undergone rigorous evaluations of their case studies and work by expert industry judges to prove that their marketing achieved compelling results.

Effie Index Global Rankings

The top five most effective marketers in the world, according to the Effie Index are:  The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Mondelēz and PepsiCo.

The top five most effective brands in the world are: Coca-Cola, Vodafone, McDonald´s, Pepsi and Movistar. 

The top five most effective agency holding groups are: WPP Group, Omnicom, Interpublic (IPG), Publicis Groupe and Havas.

The top five most effective agency networks are: BBDO Worldwide, McCann Worldgroup, Ogilvy & Mather, Lowe & Partners and Young & Rubicam.

The top five most effective individual agency offices are: Sancho BBDO (Bogota, Colombia), FP7/DXB (Dubai, UAE), Lowe Lintas (Mumbai, India), Ogilvy & Mather (Mumbai, India) and FCB New Zealand (Auckland, New Zealand).

The top five most effective independent agencies are: Banda Agency (Kiev, Ukraine) MINT (Dubai, UAE), thjnk (Hamburg, Germany), ACG Advertising Agency (Budapest, Hungary) and Barnes, Catmur & Friends (Auckland, NZ).

The Index can also be analyzed by region and the companies that ranked highest in each region in 2015 are: 

Asia Pacific

Unilever (marketer), Coca-Cola (brand), WPP Group (agency holding group) Ogilvy & Mather (agency network), Lowe Lintas - Mumbai (agency) and Barnes, Catmur & Friends – Auckland (independent agency). 

Europe

Unilever (marketer), Coca-Cola (brand), WPP Group (agency holding group), McCann Worldgroup (agency network), Adler, Chomsky & Warshavsky Grey in Tel Aviv (agency) and Banda Agency in Kiev (independent agency). 

Latin America

The Coca-Cola Company (marketer), Movistar (brand), WPP Group (agency holding group), BBDO Worldwide (agency network), Sancho BBDO - Bogotá (agency) and a tie between Madre Buenos Aires and Beat (Bogota) (independent agency). 

Middle East & Africa

Unilever (marketer), Coca-Cola (brand), Interpublic (IPG) (agency holding group), McCann Worldgroup (agency network), FP7/DXB - Dubai (agency) and MINT - Dubai (independent agency) 

North America

Procter & Gamble (marketer), Dove (brand), Publicis Groupe (agency holding group), Starcom MediaVest Group (agency network), Starcom MediaVest Group, Chicago (agency) and Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago (independent agency).   


About Effie Worldwide
Effie Worldwide is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that stands for effectiveness in marketing communications, spotlighting marketing ideas that work and encouraging thoughtful dialogue about the drivers of marketing effectiveness.  The Effie network works with some of the top research and media organizations worldwide to bring its audience relevant and first-class insights into effective marketing strategy.  The Effie Awards are known by advertisers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent award in the industry, and recognize any and all forms of marketing communication that contribute to a brand's success.  Since 1968, winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with the Global Effie, the North America Effie, the Euro Effie, the Middle East / North Africa Effie, the Asia Pacific Effie and more than 40 national Effie programs. For more details, visit www.effie.org.  Follow @effieawards on Twitter and on Facebook.com/effieawards for updates on Effie information, programs and news.  

Contact:
Rebecca Sullivan
for Effie Worldwide
rebecca@rsullivanpr.com
617-501-4010/781-326-1996

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