
AI won’t replace market research. But it will expose weak strategy
Much of the broader conversation around AI in market research assumes conditions that do not consistently exist across many African markets, writes Soyinka Witness.
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By our News Team | 2023
Annual ranking reveals agencies, campaigns, agency groups and brands that were on top of their creativity game in 2022.
The World Advertising Research Centre (Warc) has released its Creative 100 rankings of the world’s most awarded creative campaigns, agencies and brands over the past year. The annual listing tracks the results of creative award shows around the world in 2022, and acts as a benchmark for creative excellence.
Rankings published this week reveal Publicis Milan (Italy) as the World’s Most Awarded Agency for Creativity, Ogilvy (worldwide) as the World’s Most Awarded Network for Creativity, and Leo Burnett Chicago (USA) as the winner of the World’s Most Awarded Campaign for Creativity.
Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels
Burger King, the US-based fast-food chain is the World’s Best Brand for Creativity. This is the fifth year in a row that it tops the brand table, as it has four campaigns ranked in the top 100 by three different agencies.
Dutch-based brewing company Heineken, in second place when it comes to World’s Best Brand for Creativity, while Google climbs up from 31st last year to claim third place this time around.
In the World’s Best Advertiser for Creativity category, Anheuser-Busch InBev (Belgium) remains in first position. The brewing giant has three beer brands in the top 50: Corona, Michelob Ultra and Budweiser, and four campaigns in the top 100.
FMCG company Unilever (United Kingdom) is second in the category, and Restaurant Brands International (Canada) is third. The latter has fast-food brands such as Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs.
US and UK still the most creative countries
The top countries for creativity are the same as the they have been for the past nine years: the US and UK in the top two positions. Bubbling under, though, is India. It climbed from 23rd in last year’s country ranking to seventh this year.
Indeed, Dentsu Creative from Bangalore (a city in southern India) ranked second this year in the listing for the World’s Most Awarded Campaign for Creativity. Its campaign was entitled ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ and was produced for Vice World News, a current affairs channel.
Other emerging market countries that feature in the various Warc Creative 100 rankings include Lebanon, Dubai and Mexico.
The winner of the World’s Most Awarded Campaign for Creativity, produced by Leo Burnett Chicago, was ‘The Lost Class’ for a US-based anti-gun lobby NPO called Change the Ref.
The advert raised awareness about ongoing mass shootings at schools and universities in America. A mock ceremony was held for the 3,044 high school students who didn’t graduate in 2021 due to tragically losing their lives to gun violence. You can watch the ad here.

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