Pushing the Envelope to the Extreme When it comes to thinking outside the box, AKQA leads the pack. This is an agency that isn't afraid to walk the walk or stretch the boundaries of digital media. This group seems to have fun while they're doing it, too. With blue-chip clients like Nike, Microsoft, Visa, Coca-Cola, and ESPN, the agency must be doing something right. Its knack for tackling tough Web problems and creating brilliant and engaging interactive sites earns AKQA the honor of receiving OMMA's nod for Best in Web Design and Development for 2005. "The intricacies …

Beneath and Beyond the Numbers Sure, search engine marketing is largely metrics-driven, but OMMA's pick for the best search agency must do more than post great numbers: It must help blaze a trail in a fledgling field that needs guidance, not just profit-taking. The largest independent search engine marketing firm, iCrossing outclasses big agency rivals on performance and thought leadership, and at the same time demonstrates just how important search has become to interactive campaigns. Jason Ferrara, natural search director, and Krista Brady, media director, really delivered the numbers in 2005. Optimization plans for Advantage Rent-A-Car spiked …

Power Planning From a Major Merger Few marketing disciplines have changed so profoundly and often confusingly over the last few decades as media planning and buying. Consider that in 1960, a marketer could easily reach 80 percent of all women through just one media buy on three TV networks, as Tim Armstrong, Google's vice president of North American advertising sales, recently pointed out. Yet most agencies, however much they pay lip service to embracing change, remain conceptually more comfortable with the three-channel universe than the one we now inhabit, filled with literally thousands, even millions of placement possibilities.

AKQA Steps Up Its Game The stars were aligned in the online stratosphere for AKQA in 2005. The San Francisco-based shop boasts heavy-hitting clients including Nike, Gap, Visa, ESPN, and Microsoft's Xbox, and late last year added global interactive responsibilities for Coca-Cola to its portfolio. The 2004 hiring of Kate Everett-Thorp has begun to pay dividends; as the agency's president of interactive advertising, Everett-Thorp hit the ground running, finessing new business and presiding over a variety of strategic initiatives. As if that weren't enough, AKQA opened a New York office, hired several talented creative powerhouses, and earned a slew …

This Texas shop takes top honors for combining cutting-edge media work, a savvy use of online ad units, video, and animation, and finely honed online/offline integration capabilities.

Welcome to 2006 and OMMA's Agency of the Year coverage. Choosing our Agency of the Year was challenging, to say the least. Many agencies submit briefs, and many don't. Often those that submit don't offer data to support their achievements. In a time when marketers are demanding more accountability for their media dollars, their agency partners must show the return on investment for each dollar spent. We wanted that intelligence, too. It wasn't enough merely to trumpet various programs; we wanted evidence of how the programs performed. We analyzed agency achievements during 2005, sifted through briefs, consulted …

Yes, we've hit yearend, mid-decade, early 21st century. How's that for perspective? It's the time for making holiday plans and mulling New Year's resolutions, kind deeds, and charity. And if you engage in the last two on a regular basis, you are excused. (Of course, you can always do more!) Here at OMMA, we've been thinking about the stubborn issues facing online metrics. If the online industry is to achieve its potential -- and, by all accounts, the growth forecasts are robust -- improved measurement standards and more precise tools are necessary. This month, Jonathan Blum offers a guide …