• by Fern Siegel , June 5, 2024

Effie Worldwide has announced the 2023 Effie Index, illustrating the global reach and strength of agencies, with the top agency offices and independent agencies spanning continents. The rankings are based on more than 4,750 entries from various Effie awards competitions, reflecting performance from January to December 2023:

Most Effective Agency Holding Groups 

Top 5: Omnicom, WPP, Publicis, Interpublic (IPG), Dentsu 

Omnicom claimed the top spot as Most Effective Holding Group. (Last year it was WPP.) Omnicom’s position was aided by strong global performances from DDB, BBDO, PHD, OMD and TBWA offices, among others. 

Publicis held third place for the second consecutive year, with IPG and Dentsu taking fourth and fifth place. 
 
Most Effective Agency Network 

Top 5: McCann Worldgroup, DDB Worldwide, Ogilvy, BBDO Worldwide, Leo Burnett Worldwide 

IPG’s McCann Worldgroup regains the top spot, after a year in second place. McCann Worldgroup previously held the title in the 2018-2021 Index. As part of Omnicom’s strong performance, DDB Worldwide rose from fourth to second, and BBDO Worldwide took fourth place. WPP’s Ogilvy and Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett Worldwide were No. 3 and No. 5, respectively.

Most Effective Agency Offices 

Top 5: AlmapBBDO (São Paulo, Brazil), Leo Burnett Dubai (UAE), McCann Worldgroup Gurugram (India), GUT (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Leo Burnett India (Mumbai) 

AlmapBBDO came out on top as the No. 1 Most Effective Agency Office. Its success was predicated on winning 18 Golds across 10 brands, including Amazon, Meta, VW, Heineken and PepsiCo. Leo Burnett Dubai claimed the No. 2 spot, appearing in the top 5 for the second consecutive year. 

GUT and McCann Worldgroup Gurugram re-entered the top 5 in the third and fourth spots, with Special (Auckland, NZ), Ogilvy Mumbai (India), DDB Bogotá (Colombia), Gres Todorchuk (Kyiv, Ukraine), and Africa Creative (São Paulo, Brazil) rounding out the top 10.  

Most Effective Independent Agencies 

Top 5: GUT (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Special (Auckland, NZ), Gres Todorchuk (Kyiv, Ukraine), Valor Socios de Marcas (Lima, Peru) and GUT (São Paulo, Brazil) 

GUT (Buenos Aires) secured the title of the Most Effective Independent Agency with 2 Grands and 18 Golds across 8 categories. Special took second place, reappearing in the Top 5 after a year’s absence. Gres Todorchuk, driven by UNITED24, nabbed third place. Latin American agencies claimed three out of the top five spots, with Valor Socios de Marcas in fourth and Gut (São Paulo) in fifth. 

Once again, the top 10 was a mix of agencies worldwide. Ranked sixth, Robert / Boisen & Like-Minded, from Copenhagen, and seventh was held by Mountains, from Shanghai.  Mumbai agency, The Womb Communications, and Buenos Aires agency, DON, shared the eight place ranking. Mischief @ No Fixed Address, founded in 2020, took the No. 10 spot for the first time.

Most Effective Marketers 

Top 5: AB InBev, Unilever, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company  

AB InBev retained the top spot for the third time in a row, with Gold- and Grand-winning work for 15 brands across 10 markets.  Unilever is back in the second spot; it was fourth last year. McDonald’s moved to third place. PepsiCo has re-entered the top 5 for the first time since the 2021 Index, with The Coca-Cola Company rejoining the top 5 for the first time since 2020. 

Mondelez International, Procter & Gamble, Yum!, and Nestlé took No. 6 - No. 9 spots, respectively, while Netflix entered the top 10 for the first time. 

Most Effective Brands 

Top 5: McDonald’s, KFC, Oreo, UNITED24, Burger King 

McDonald’s claimed the No. 1 spot as Most Effective Brand for the third year.  Similarly, KFC retains its No. 2 spot for a second year, marking its fifth consecutive appearance in the Top 5.  Burger King confirmed the dominance of QSRs by maintaining its place at No. 5. 

Oreo joined the Top 5 for the first time as the No. 3 Most Effective Brand. As did UNITED24, winning in over 10 categories, locally and regionally. UNITED24, the Initiative of the President of Ukraine, was launched as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. UNITED24 and agency partner, Gres Todorchuk, won Effie Ukraine’s 2023 Grand Effie for “Azovstal. A symbol of perseverance.”