• by Tanya Gazdik , February 26, 2018

Burger King is ranked the number one brand and Unilever is the number one advertiser in the 2018 WARC 100, an annual global index of the world’s top marketing campaigns and companies based on their business impact. 

Burger King improved its ranking by 30 places to reach the top brand for effectiveness, with the "McWhopper Proposal" campaign in the top 10 and "Backyard Burger King" in the top 100. Unilever was the most effective advertiser for the third time, having previously held this top position in 2015 and 2014. Unilever has four campaigns in the top 100.

The top-ranked campaign globally, "Dads #ShareTheLoad" by BBDO India for Ariel Matic, Procter & Gamble’s premium laundry detergent brand, built on its previous "Share the Load" campaign by persuading dads to do more laundry in order to promote gender equality. Ariel Matic generated a 42% increase in unaided brand awareness, $12.3 million in earned media coverage, and conversations on social media and sales growth in excess of previous campaigns.

BBDO Worldwide remains the most awarded network for the fifth year in a row, having retained this rank since WARC 100 began in 2014. Its agencies contributed to four of the top 10 campaigns and 19 of the top 100.  For the second time, Omnicom Group is the most awarded holding company, having previously held top position in 2014. Omnicom Group owns four of the top 10 agency networks.

Starcom Chicago has returned to the top of the media agencies for effectiveness ranking with almost triple the points of the second-placed agency.

Eight of the top digital/specialist agencies for effectiveness are from the U.S. Thirty-four campaigns in WARC 100 are in North America. The United States ranked top country for effectiveness for a fifth consecutive year.

The top five advertisers for effectiveness in North America are PepsiCo, Mars, Procter & Gamble, Restaurant Brands International and MasterCard.

The top five campaigns for effectiveness in North America are Whirlpool’s “Care Counts” from Ketchum, Chicago; “Van Gogh BnB” for the Art Institute of Chicago by Leo Burnett, Chicago; Barbie’s “Imagine the Possibilities” from BBDO, San Francisco; Airbnb’s “Don’t Go There, Live There,” from TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles and Jolly Rancher’s “A New Media Model to Transform a Brand that Sucks” from Anomaly, New York.

The top five overall agencies for effectiveness in North America are Starcom, New York; Ogilvy & Mather, New York; BBDO, New York; 72andSunny, Los Angeles and Mindshare, New York.

The top five creative agencies for effectiveness in North America are BBDO, New York; Droga5, New York; FCB, Chicago; McCann, New York and Anomaly, New York. The top five digital agencies for effectiveness in North America are DigitasLBi, Chicago; Ketchum, Chicago; Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide, Chicago; Weber Shandwick, New York and Team Unilever Shopper, New York.

WARC 100 tracks the performance of campaigns, brands and agencies in more than 70 of the most important global, regional and national marketing effectiveness and strategy competitions around the world.  Now in its fifth year, the WARC 100 is based on a rigorous methodology developed in consultation with Douglas West, professor of marketing at Kings College London. The WARC 100 is now part of Gunn Report, which recently published Gunn 100, a ranking of campaigns and companies based on creativity.