AdForum´s Business Creative Report: a ranking of the world’s most awarded ads

The most awarded advertising campaign in the world in 2023 was “McEnroe vs. McEnroe” by FCB New York for Michelob Ultra, the report found. Now in its seventh year, AdForum’s Business Creative Report is a unique ranking of the world’s most awarded campaigns by industry sector.  

The report covers 9 categories: Automotive, Entertainment & Leisure, Finance, Food & Beverages, Health & Beauty, Luxury, Retail, Technology and Transport & Tourism. 

Compiled from the results of the leading awards shows around the world, it allows advertisers and agencies to measure their creative impact against their peers in the same industry. 

This year’s report is based on the results of more than 40 awards shows, both local and global. This year for the first time it integrated the Ciclope Festival, which covers production, directing, visual effects, animation, editing, sound and other vital elements of craft. 

AI played a role in last year’s most awarded campaign overall: “McEnroe vs. McEnroe” from Michelob Ultra and FCB NY. But while the project combined elements of artificial intelligence and robotics, at its heart is the performance of a charismatic athlete.  

There was one clear trend: film and print are slipping lower down the list of awarded work in favor of digital and experiential.  

In the UK, Ogilvy once again led the Health & Beauty category with “Cost of Beauty” for Dove. Production company Riff Raff shone for the second year running with a poetic Burberry film “Night Creatures” in Luxury; and Uncommon for British Airways flew to 4th place in Transport & Tourism. 

France also saw a strong contender in the form of Publicis Conseil for Renault, which stood out in Automotive (with three campaigns at 2nd, 4th and 13th place) along with DDB Paris with campaigns for Volkswagen (“Inside Jobs”) and Honda Moto (“The Beautiful Fail”). Known for its expertise in the Luxury sector, France was once again represented by BETC and Lacoste, which took no less than four slots in the top 15. 

Germany’s Serviceplan led the Tech category with Dot Pad, but Saatchi & Saatchi was number 2 in Food & Beverages thanks to the Oreo “Cheat Cookies”. Scholz & Friends were in 6th place in Retail with “Happy Ramadan” for McDonald’s.  

In Central Europe, the big name was Mastercard and “Where To Settle” from McCann Poland in the Finance category. Reassuringly, Ukraine was also present, thanks to the agencies Bickerstaff and Banda in Transport & Tourism.

Founded in 1999, AdForum allows advertising agencies and production companies to showcase their creative work and talents to brands and prospective new business partners. Over the years it has grown into one of the industry’s biggest sources of intelligence and creative inspiration.