“The Effie Index sets the global standard for marketing effectiveness. It’s about recognizing work that works and delivering real impact across geographies, industries and audiences,” said Traci Alford, Global CEO, Effie Worldwide. “This year’s rankings reflect the true breadth of global marketing excellence, and we congratulate all those who earned top honors. We’re proud to celebrate their success and are inspired by their leadership.”

This year’s rankings are representative of Effie Awards finalists and winners determined between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024.

Most Effective Marketers

Top 5: AB InBev, McDonald’s, Unilever, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International

Once again, FMCG/CPG, QSR, and personal care brands dominated the rankings, with AB InBev maintaining its leadership position as the most effective marketer for the fourth consecutive year. AB InBev was followed closely by McDonald’s, which climbed to second place, and Unilever, which moved to the third position. PepsiCo remained amongst the top at number four, while Mondelēz International made a strong showing to round out the top five marketers.

Most Effective Brands

Top 5: McDonald’s, Dove, KFC, Samsung, O Boticário

In the brand category, McDonald’s once again earned the top spot as the most effective brand globally, reflecting its sustained investment in effectiveness-driven marketing. Dove made a significant leap into second place, signaling strong consumer engagement and the impact of purpose-led brand communications. KFC held steady among top brands in third, while Samsung came in fourth place with innovative, high-impact campaigns. Brazil’s O Boticário secured the fifth spot, reinforcing the strength of Latin American brands on a global stage.

Most Effective Agency Holding Groups

Top 5: Omnicom, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic Group (IPG), Dentsu

Omnicom retained its position as the most effective agency holding group, ahead of WPP and Publicis Groupe, which held the second and third spots respectively. Interpublic Group (IPG) and Dentsu completed the top five, each demonstrating robust global performance across markets.

Most Effective Agency Networks

Top 5: Ogilvy, McCann Worldgroup, BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, VML

For agency networks, Ogilvy rose to the top in 2024, driven by standout campaigns and consistently effective work across multiple regions. It was followed by McCann Worldgroup, BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, and VML, which made its debut in the top five following a period of transformation and global expansion.

Most Effective Agency Offices

Top 5: AlmapBBDO (São Paulo, Brazil), Ogilvy (Mumbai, India), Leo Burnett (Mumbai, India), McCann (Gurugram, India), Leo Burnett (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

At the agency office level, AlmapBBDO in São Paulo, Brazil, held onto the top spot as the most effective individual agency office. They were followed by Ogilvy Mumbai and Leo Burnett Mumbai, underscoring India’s growing influence in the global effectiveness conversation. McCann Gurugram remained among the top as this year’s number four spot, followed by Leo Burnett Dubai, as number five.

Most Effective Independent Agencies

Top 5: Mischief @ No Fixed Address (Brooklyn, NY, United States), ISLA (Mexico City, Mexico), ISLA (Buenos Aires, Argentina), The Womb (Mumbai, India), Soko (São Paulo, Brazil)

Among independent agencies, Mischief @ No Fixed Address, based in Brooklyn, New York, earned the distinction of being the most effective in the world. The agency’s creative innovation and performance-driven approach propelled it to the top just five years after its founding. Latin American agencies also made a strong impact, with ISLA achieving dual recognition for its offices in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. The Womb in Mumbai and Soko in São Paulo completed the global top five, showcasing the global reach and innovation of independent agencies.

2024 Regional Rankings

Asia Pacific
McDonald’s (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), WPP (holding group), Ogilvy (agency network), Ogilvy Mumbai (agency office), The Womb (independent agency).

Europe
McDonald’s (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), WPP (holding group), Publicis (agency network), Ogilvy Athens (agency office), Banda (independent agency).

Latin America
AB InBev (marketer), O Boticário (brand), Omnicom (holding group), BBDO Worldwide (agency network), AlmapBBDO (agency office), ISLA Mexico (independent agency).

Middle East & Africa
AB InBev (marketer), Yas Island (brand), Publicis Groupe (holding group), Leo Burnett Worldwide (agency network), Leo Burnett Dubai (agency office), People of the Internet (independent agency).

North America
McDonald’s (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), IPG (holding group), McCann Worldgroup (agency network), Mischief @ No Fixed Address (agency office & independent agency).

To view the complete rankings and learn more about how rankings are compiled, visit effieindex.com.

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.
 

No stranger to the global rankings, FP7McCann has featured within the top 4 agencies for the last eight years, earning the number 1 ranking 4 times (2015, 2016, 2020, 2021), the runner-up position twice (2018, 2019), the number 3 ranking in 2017, and the number 4 ranking in 2014.

This is supplementary to FP7McCann enjoying the title of MENA Effie’s Agency and Network of the Year for the last eight years straight.

Again, this year, FP7McCann was in good company by other McCann network agencies across the globe. In fact, McCann Worldgroup was named the Most Creatively Effective Agency Network in this year’s index for the fourth consecutive year. Four of the top 10 agencies ranked globally by the Effie Index were McCann Worldgroup agencies: FP7 McCann Dubai was #1; McCann Tel Aviv #3, McCann Worldgroup New Delhi #5 and McCann Worldgroup Lima #8, with all four agencies holding their top 10 positioning from the 2020 Effie Index.

The Effie Index is the single highest ranking for advertising effectiveness in the industry and is the award that speaks most directly to the bottom-line results that creativity delivers to clients’ businesses.

Suzanne Powers, Global McCann WorldGroup President and Chief Strategy Officer, said in a statement, “The Effie Index is proof of how every one of our disciplines, teams, and agencies collaborate to help our clients’ brands play a meaningful role in people’s lives. And remember that we were ranked the #1 most effective agency network in the 2022 WARC rankings for effectiveness in March.”

Tarek Miknas, CEO of FP7McCann MENAT added, “Our success in the Effie Index is due to the trust our clients place in our partnership, and the vision, drive and passion our clients inspire in our teams.”

Paris-based research agency RECMA (Research Company Evaluating the Media Agency Industry) has named Starcom MediaVest Group the number one ranked agency in the MENA region in its 2013 Global Billings Rankings Report. In 2013, SMG MENA increased its billings by 18 percent, with an industry share of 17.5 percent.

RECMA’s report evaluates the overall activity – including buying billings and specialized services – of all global media agencies across 62 countries. The agency has maintained the number one position in RECMA’s report for the last four years.

“We are greatly humbled and honored to maintain our number one position for four consecutive years. RECMA’s ranking is a further testament to our great team and the faith our clients continue to have in our work. Our gratitude will drive us to relentlessly strive to be the best,” adds Alex Saber, Chairman of SMG MENA.

SMG has also been ranked number one global media network. In addition, RECMA also named the network No. 1 in the “Top 14 Countries” ranking, which is a key chart in the overall report that accounts for 81 percent of the media agency industry. Furthermore, SMG retained its position in the overall regional evaluations – including its top rank in North America – and was named the No. 2 agency in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

“We would like to thank all of our clients and suppliers for their continued support, which has helped us maintain our number one position in the market. This was possible because of the ambition of our partners and talents for industry-leading marketing and innovation,” says John Antoniades, CEO of SMG MENA.

Publicis Groupe has also maintained the number one position globally in Group of Networks with an industry share of 29% percent.

SMG MENA won the 2013 Dubai Lynx Media Agency of the Year award and the 2013 MENA Cristal Agency of the Year while globally, it has been awarded Media Network of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, along with being named the Most Effective Agency and Most Effective Agency Network by the Effie Index.