Strategy‘s Creative Report Card tracks and tallies the awards taken home by agencies, advertisers and creatives over the calendar year to help the marketing community know who’s on top of their game.

We select a range of shows that incorporate a variety of media and assign every award a point value, weighted to recognize that international shows are bound to be tougher than regional ones. As the books arrive throughout the awards season, we keep a database of wins for each advertiser, agency, CD, AD and CW and add them up to determine a ranking in each category.

Please bear in mind it accounts for more than 1,500 individual awards (with at least five credits for each award), and relies on the credits as published by the various shows. Therefore, there is room for error and/or omission, although we have done our best to give credit where it is due.

Scoring

Point values are highest for international awards, followed by national and then regional. Best of Show and Grand Prix will receive more points than Gold, which receives more than Silver and so forth. We reserve the right to change the weight of awards based on their level of prestige and difficulty.

Agencies

The points for agency offices in multiple cities have been combined. However, distinct but affiliated agencies (with the same parent company) are listed separately. If two agencies are listed on a single campaign, each receives the same points.

Individuals

Points are awarded to the individuals credited in the award show books as they appear. If a name isn’t listed, the individual doesn’t receive any points. In some cases, agencies have provided corrections, which have been taken into account on a case by case basis. We have done our best to fix any discrepancies in spelling of individual names between various books.

Advertisers

Points are awarded for the brands, as listed in the awards annuals. Sub-brands or brand extensions are grouped together under the main brand.

The awards that count

Regional: ACE, Ad Rodeo, Créa, ICE, Lotus
National: ADCC, Applied Arts, AToMiC, Bessies, CASSIES, CMA, Marketing, Shopper Innovation Awards
International: Cannes, Clios, Communication Arts, D&AD, LIA, One Show.