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Global PR giant Weber Shandwick ranked top for creativity in 2022

By our News Team | 2023

But two African PR companies – from South Africa and Nigeria – shine in the weighted ranking for creative excellence by smaller agencies.

For the second consecutive year, international PR company Weber Shandwick has been ranked first in PRovoke Media’s annual benchmark of creativity in the public relations world, the Global Creative Index.

The index is now in its 11th year and analyses entries and winners from more than 25 PR, digital and marketing awards programmes from around the world over a 12-month period, up to and including the 2022 Global Sabre Awards. The formula takes into account the expansion of ‘public relations’ work at advertising-oriented shows such as the Cannes Lions.

Photo by Flo Dahm from Pexels

Ogilvy PR jumped from seventh in 2021 to take second place overall in 2022, while Edelman PR remained in third. BCW is in 4th place and Ketchum is ranked fifth in the world.

Eight out of the top 10 global PR agencies are from the US. The exceptions are Dentsu of Japan (ranked 6th) and Trigger Oslo from Norway (ranked 10th).

Once again, the top of the overall agency table is dominated by global PR networks, thanks to their volume of awards.

Weighting of scores for smaller agencies

But smaller agencies are acknowledged through an alternative measure of creativity that is derived from weighting agency scores according to their staff size. Here two African-based agencies feature in the Agencies Weighted 2022 top 10: Razor from South Africa (5th place) and Image Merchants Promotion from Nigeria (10th place).

The top agency in the Agencies Weighted 2022 listing is UK boutique agency Fanclub. It comes in ahead of two Eastern European firms: Croatia’s CTA and Slovakia’s SKPR Strategies. In fourth place is Trigger Oslo of Norway. For the first time in the Index’s 11-year history, a US firm does not make the weighted table.

Unilever and Mastercard share top spot in the Global Creative Index’s ranking of companies. This is rated according to the performance of their campaigns in the various award shows that are tracked around the world. Unilever jumped from second in 2021, while Mastercard was third in 2021.

AB InBev, ranked top in 2021, dropped to 8th in 2022. Perennial leader, P&G slipped to 6th place.

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