Effie Worldwide has announced the 2022 Effie Index, the annual ranking of the companies behind the world’s most effective marketing – with AB InBev, McDonald’s, WPP, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett Middle East, and Slap Global named Most Effective Marketer, Brand, Agency Holding Group, Agency Network, Agency Office, and Independent Agency, respectively. AB InBev and McDonald’s topped the rankings in their category for the second year running.

The 2022 Effie Index rankings reflect the performance of more than 4300 finalists and winning entries from eligible global, regional, and national Effie Awards competitions held around the world from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.

Most Effective Marketers
Top 5: AB InBev, McDonald’s, Mondelēz International, Unilever, Procter & Gamble
AB InBev is crowned Most Effective Marketer for the second year in a row, with Grand and Gold Effie winning work for 15 brands across eight markets, including three Grand winners Carling Black Label, Cerveza Nativa and Pilsen. Moving up from the fourth spot last year, McDonald’s is No. 2 in the rankings, its highest ever Index result in the Marketer ranking. CPGs and QSRs retained their grip on the top 10.
 

Most Effective Brands
Top 5: McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, UAE Govt Media Office, Chevrolet
Once again McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC took the top three positions for Most Effective Brands, as QSR brands continued to dominate the rankings. McDonald’s is No. 1 for the second year running, while KFC moved up to No. 2 from third position last year, and Burger King took the third spot. In fourth place was UAE Government Media Office, a new entrant to the top ten, while Chevrolet retained its spot at No.5 for the second year.

Most Effective Agency Holding Groups
Top 5: WPP, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic (IPG), Dentsu
WPP jumped back into the top spot as the Most Effective Agency Holding Group after getting unseated by Omnicom last year for the first time since 2012. WPP’s dominance came from some of its major networks: Ogilvy (5 Grands), Grey (5 Grands), and EssenceMediacom (2 Grands) which led the way for the holding company.

Omnicom took second place and Publicis regained third position for the first time since 2013, moving IPG into the fourth spot. Dentsu continued to hold its position in fifth place.

Most Effective Agency Network
Top 5: Ogilvy, McCann Worldgroup, Leo Burnett Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, BBDO Worldwide
Ogilvy has placed number one in the rankings as the Most Effective Agency Network for the first time since the 2016 Index. The WPP agency network earned 5 Grand Effies in 2022, including Ogilvy South Africa and Carling Black Label (AB InBev) for “Bride Armour” and Ogilvy China and KFC (YUM!) for “GET CRAZY FOR CRAZY THURSDAYS.”

Most Effective Agency Offices

Top 5: Leo Burnett Middle East, Ogilvy India, McCann Tel Aviv, Ogilvy Pakistan, Leo Burnett India

Leo Burnett Middle East (Dubai, UAE) came out on top as the Most Effective Agency Office, leading with impressive wins for brands including ABAAD, Emirates NBD, Home Box, IKEA, Lebanese Transparency Association, McDonald’s, Project Chaiwala, Samsung, and UN Women.  Ogilvy India ranked in second place, up from the sixth spot last year, with McCann Tel Aviv in third position for the second year running.

Most Effective Independent Agencies
Top 5: Slap Global, Dattis Comunicaciones, SUNO United Creators, Interaction, Jam Session Agency

Slap Global (Buenos Aires) topped the rankings of Most Effective Independent Agencies, leading with Gold Effies for Dove and Doritos. The agency moved to the No. 1 slot from its debut in the 2021 rankings at 13th place.

Latin American independent agencies took 5 of the top ten slots, up from 4 last year. Dattis Comunicaciones (Bogota, Colombia) moved to No. 2 from the sixth spot last year.  Brazilian agency SUNO United Creators (Brazil) was third, with Interaction (Costa Rica) retaining fourth position and Jam Session Agency (Romania) entering the rankings for the first time in fifth place.

“No company appears on the Effie Index by chance. To be ranked in the Index demonstrates a relentless commitment to delivering ideas that work, all underpinned by a culture of effectiveness,” said Traci Alford, Global CEO, of Effie Worldwide. “On behalf of the entire Effie organization, congratulations to the top-ranked teams on this well-earned recognition.”

Regional Rankings
Asia Pacific

Mondelēz International (marketer), KFC (brand), WPP (holding group), Ogilvy (agency network), Ogilvy India (agency office), Special NZ (independent agency).

Europe

Vodafone (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), WPP (holding group), McCann Worldgroup (agency network), McCann Tel Aviv (agency office), Jam Session Agency (independent agency).

Latin America

AB InBev (marketer), Burger King (brand), WPP (holding group), BBDO Worldwide (agency network), AlmapBBDO (agency office), Slap Global (independent agency).

Middle East & Africa

UAE Government Media Office (marketer & brand), Publicis Groupe (holding group), Leo Burnett Worldwide (agency network), Leo Burnett Middle East (agency office), Dejavu Dubai (independent agency).

North America

Molson Coors (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), IPG (holding group), DDB Worldwide (agency network), Alma DDB (agency office), Rethink (independent agency).

View the full rankings at effieindex.com
Information about how the rankings are compiled can be found here.