WARC, the international marketing information company, has announced that it will release its 2020 WARC Rankings in the beginning of March. The rankings are based on the results from awards shows tracked throughout 2019.

The company has aimed to ensure that the three rankings — Creative 100, Media 100 and Effective 100 — remain relevant to the industry by introducing the WARC Rankings advisory board in 2020.

Additionally, following industry advice, the methodology to compile the WARC Rankings has been honed and to highlight transparency and provide more clarity.

The WARC Rankings advisory board is made up of industry leaders from advertising agencies, media agencies, consultancies and brands. It intends to provide expert opinion and independent guidance, ensuring that the WARC Rankings remain current, relevant and service the needs of the marketing industry.

"The WARC Rankings are produced with the industry, for the industry," says David Tiltman, VP Content at WARC. "Over the past few months, we've talked at length with each of the advisory board members who have provided great insight — helping us evolve the rankings to better serve the industry as a whole."

The WARC Rankings advisory board members 2020 include:
  • Adrian Mills — partner: creative, brand and advertising, Deloitte Digital Australia
  • Alexander Schill — global chief creative officer and partner, Serviceplan Group
  • Andrew Robertson — president and CEO, BBDO Worldwide
  • Ari Weiss — chief creative officer, DDB Worldwide
  • Avril Canavan — worldwide chief marketing and communications officer, PHD
  • Berta de Pablos-Barbier — chief growth officer, Mars Wrigley
  • Bruno Bertelli — global chief creative officer, Publicis Worldwide
  • Chrissie Hanson — chief strategy officer, OMD Worldwide
  • Dick Van Motman — former global CEO creative and content, Dentsu Aegis Network / founder of Plain Vanilla Ventures
  • Greg Brooks — global chief marketing and culture officer, Mindshare
  • Joanne Brenner — global head of marketing, Mediacom
  • John Patroulis — worldwide chief creative officer, Grey Group
  • Jose Miguel Sokoloff — global president, MullenLowe Group creative council and chief creative officer, MullenLowe Group United Kingdom
  • Kestrel Lee — executive creative director, China, Freeman
  • Lauren Lafranz — managing director, global creative operations, VMLY&R
  • Liz Taylor — global chief creative officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide and chief creative officer, Publicis Communications, North America
  • Malcolm Poynton — global chief creative officer, Cheil Worldwide
  • Piyush Pandey — chief creative officer worldwide and executive chairperson India, Ogilvy
  • Richard Yu — regional chief creative officer, Greater China, ADK
  • Rob Reilly — global creative chairperson, McCann Worldgroup
  • Sir Martin Sorrell — executive chairperson, S4 Capital
  • Tom DiSapia — chief strategy officer, UM EMEA
  • Vicki Holgate — effective creative excellence director, Diageo
The WARC Rankings methodology 

There are three steps that are taken to compile the WARC Rankings:
  1. Shows are selected and weighed to determine the "most prestigious and rigorous" ones. WARC annually surveys industry executives and consults with industry leaders across advertising and media agencies and brands. Shows are weighted between one and five based on a number of factors, including the industry standing of the show and the level of competition.
  2. Points are assigned to the campaigns and companies behind them, determined by the level of the award: Grand Prix (10), Gold (six), Silver (four) and Bronze (two).
  3. The scores are then calculated. Campaigns, agencies and brands that are credited in the published winners' lists accumulate points according to the following calculation: award points x weighting. Caps apply to the accumulation of these points in order to level the playing field across the different sized shows.
"We take the responsibility of ensuring the WARC Rankings are an independent benchmark very seriously. It's essential that we apply a rigorous, unbiased and transparent methodology and that the awards shows tracked are decided based on the expert opinion of the WARC Rankings Advisory Board, coupled with a worldwide industry survey," says Amy Rodgers, managing editor at Research and Rankings, WARC.

For a detailed methodology for each of the three Rankings, individuals can click on these links for Creative 100, Media 100 and Effective 100 respectively.

Awards shows that are tracked for the WARC Rankings 2020 include:

Each year, the awards shows tracked to compile the WARC Rankings are reviewed to ensure that they reflect the needs of the industry and fulfil the purpose of the rankings.

2020's WARC Rankings have been compiled by tracking global and regional awards shows of 2019 according to the industry, and include: 

• WARC Creative 100

Global
  • Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
  • D&AD
  • The One Show
  • Clio Awards, and
  • London International Awards.
Regional
  • APAC — Spikes Asia, Adfest
  • Europe — Eurobest, Golden Drum
  • Middle East and Africa — Dubai Lynx, Loeries
  • Latam — El Ojo de Iberoamérica.
• WARC Media 100

Global
  • Cannes Lions (media categories)
  • Festival of Media
  • Effies (media categories)
  • M&M Awards
  • WARC Media Awards
  • Adweek Media Plan of the Year
  • Internationalist Awards
  • I-COM Data Creativity Awards
  • MMA Smarties
  • World Media Awards, and
  • D&AD (media categories).
Regional
  • APAC — Spikes Asia (media categories), Tangrams, Festival of Media APAC, MMA Smarties APAC, Effie APAC plus local markets (media categories)
  • Europe — Eurobest (media categories), IAB Mixx Awards Europe, MMA Smarties Europe, EACA Euro Effie plus local markets (media categories), Campaign Media Awards
  • Middle East and Africa — Dubai Lynx (media categories), Loeries (media categories), MMA Smarties MENA, Effie MENA plus local markets (media categories)
  • LATAM — El Ojo de Iberoamerica (media categories), MMA Smarties LATAM, Effie LATAM plus local markets (media categories)
  • North America — MMA Smarties North America, Effie North America plus local markets (media categories)
• WARC Effective 100

Global
  • Effies
  • Cannes Lions (creative effectiveness & creative strategy categories)
  • IPA Effectiveness Awards
  • WARC Awards
  • Jay Chiat Awards
  • APG Creative Strategy Awards
  • AME Awards, and
  • ARF David Ogilvy Awards.
Regional
  • APAC — Effie APAC (plus local market Effies), Tangrams (effectiveness categories), WARC Prize for Asian Strategy
  • Europe — EACA Euro Effies (plus local market Effies), Premios Eficacia (Portugal and Spain)
  • Middle East & Africa — Effie MENA (plus local market Effies), WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Loeries (effectiveness categories)
  • LATAM — Effie LATAM (plus local market Effies)
  • North America — Effie North America (plus local market Effies)
To receive updates on the WARC Rankings, register here.

For more information, visit www.warc.com.