• by Joe Mandese , February 12, 2007

For the third time in the three years that an international publisher has been compiling a list of creative awards bestowed to media agencies, Omnicom's OMD unit has dominated the field. Starcom MediaVest group ranked second for the second year in a row, while MindShare, Universal MCann, and Mediaedge:cia moved up and the rest of the top-rankers - ZenithOptimedia and Mediacom, each garnered less creative recognition and moved down the rankings.

The rankings, which are based on a point system allocated by the Gunn Report for Media based on awards won across 53 annual award competitions such as MEDIA magazine's Creative Media Awards, show that when it comes to creative recognition, OMD is actually distancing itself from the pack. In 2006, OMD garnered 206 points in Gunn's compilation, up from 161 in 2005. With the exception of MindShare, which moved up to 107 points in 2006 from 64 points in 2005, all other media shops dropped in that metric.

Among the major media agency holding company units, WPP's GroupM - parent of MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, Mediacom and Maxus - accumulated the most number of total points (352). Omnicom Media Group ranked second with 332, followed by Publicis Groupe Media (271), Interpublic (126), Havas (62) and Aegis (55).

Nike was most creative of six media clients recognized by Gunn in 2006. Sony placed second, followed by Lynx, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Adidas.

Source: Gunn Report for Media 2006, "Creativity" Ranking.