VW reclaims ad crown

Warc, 1 February 2013

LONDON: Volkswagen, the German automaker, has reclaimed its title as the brand owner receiving the most major advertising awards at the international level, according to The Gunn Report.

Each year, The Gunn Report aggregates which clients, agencies and campaigns won important honours, weighting the scores to reflect the significance of various competition across the globe.

Volkswagen posted 64 points in all during 2012. While this total had declined by one point from 2011, it still enabled the company to lead the pack for the 11th time in 14 years.

Google, the online and mobile group, was second on 45 points, having been in third on 55 points the previous year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some 25 of its points for 2012 were received for digital efforts.

Third place went to Nike, the sportswear giant, on 39 points, halving the 78 points it registered for 2011, when its "Write the Future" campaign, developed by Wieden+Kennedy, proved a particular success.

Coca-Cola, the soft drinks specialist, reached its highest-ever ranking, in fourth on 39 points, easily bettering the 17 points, and ninth position, it took in the previous Gunn Report.

Donald Gunn, founder of the Gunn Report, argued last year was "one of the strongest ever" in terms of "sheer magic in execution but also thanks to brilliant, daring and differentiating strategies."

Looking at TV ads, a spot from media group Canal+ and agency BTEC called "Bear", featuring a bear with a passion for film, logged 47 points, the best score on records running from 1999 onwards.

Samsonite's "Heaven and Hell" ad, created by JWT in Shanghai, headed the print category for the second year in a row, increasing its returns from 15 to 23 points. It depicted the "heavenly" condition of first-class travel, and the "hell" for bags in the hold.

Intel's "Museum of Me", allowing Facebook users to gather their information from the social network and display it as if in a gallery, led the digital field on 17 points. Projector Inc, from Japan, was the agency.

BBDO claimed pole position in the the agency network rankings on 194 points, ahead of DDB on 166 points and Ogilvy & Mather on 141 points.

At the country level, the US easily led the table on 347 points, with the UK on 197 points, Australia on 132 points and Japan on 117 points. Argentina and Brazil followed next on 115 points each.

To find out more about The Gunn Report, click here.

Data sourced from The Gunn Report; additional content by Warc staff