MullenLowe US New York and Squarespace New York led the way among top winners in the ADC 102nd Annual Awards Global Creative Rankings. Topping the production house tally was SMUGGLER, with JSM Music finishing first among music and sound houses.

Based on cumulative points for all Cubes and Merits won, MullenLowe US New York was crowned this year’s ADC top-ranking global agency.  The agency won two Best of Disciplines--in Brand/Communication Design and Illustration--for “Something To Offend Everyone” on behalf of the Brooklyn Film Festival.

Squarespace New York also had a strong year, winning a total of eight Gold Cubes, as well as Best of Discipline in Brand-Side  for “The Singularity,” working with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles.

Highlights of the ADC 102nd Annual Awards Global Creative Rankings are as follows:

ADC 102nd Global Agency Rankings

• 1. MullenLowe US New York
• 2. VMLY&R New York
• 3. FCB New York
• 4. Dentsu Tokyo
• 5. Serviceplan Germany Munich
• 6. Performance Art Toronto
• 7. Rethink Toronto/Montréal/Vancouver
• 8. VMLY&R Mexico City
• 9. McCann New York
• 10. adam&eve DDB London (tie)
• 10. DDB Chicago (tie)

ADC 102nd Global Agency Network Rankings

• 1. VMLY&R
• 2. DDB Worldwide
• 3. FCB

ADC 102nd Global Brand-Side Agency Rankings

• 1. Squarespace New York
• 2. Spotify In-House New York
• 3. Google Brand Studio APAC

ADC 102nd Global Brand Rankings

• 1. Squarespace
• 2. Coors Light
• 3. The New York Times Magazine

ADC 102nd Global Non-Profit Client Rankings

• 1. Brooklyn Film Festival
• 2. PAWS NY
• 3. Flutwein

ADC 102nd Global Production Company Rankings

• 1. SMUGGLER New York/Los Angeles
• 2. Helo Los Angeles
• 3. Paulus Co. Ltd Seoul

ADC 102nd Global Music & Sound Company Rankings

• 1. JSM Music New York
• 2. Yessian New York
• 3. Human New York

ADC 102nd Global Highest Ranked Work

• 1. “Chillboards” by DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors for Coors Light
• 2. “Something to Offend Everyone” by MullenLowe US New York for Brooklyn Film Festival
• 3. “I Will Always Be Me” by VMLY&R New York for Dell Technologies and Intel

ADC 102nd Country Rankings

• 1. United States
• 2. Canada
• 3. Germany
• 4. China
• 5. Japan

ADC 102nd Annual Awards Regional Agencies of the Year are as follows:

• ADC 102nd APAC Agency of the Year: Dentsu Tokyo
• ADC 102nd Europe Agency of the Year: Serviceplan Germany Munich
• ADC 102nd Latin America Agency of the Year: VMLY&R Mexico Mexico City
• ADC 102nd Middle East & Africa Agency of the Year: Grid Worldwide Johannesburg
• ADC 102nd North America Agency of the Year: MullenLowe US New York

The ADC 102nd Annual Awards Global Creatives of the Year, listed at the agencies and brands where they worked when the winning entries were produced, are as follows:

ADC 102nd Global Creative Rankings (individuals):

• Creative (overall): Richard Brim, adam&eveDDB London; Rodrigo Jatene, DDB Chicago; Colin Selikow, DDB Chicago;  Ari Weiss, DDB Worldwide (tie)
• Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim, adam&eveDDB London; Rodrigo Jatene, DDB Chicago; Ari Weiss, DDB Worldwide (tie)
• Chief Design Officer: Deb Bishop, The New York Times for Kids New York
• Executive Creative Director: Colin Selikow, DDB Chicago
• Group Creative Director: Zack Menna, Rich Singer, both MullenLowe US New York (tie)
• Chief Marketing Officer: Michelle St. Jacques, Molson Coors
• Art Director: Annie Jen, The New York Times Magazine New York; Ben Grandgenett, The New York Times Magazine New York; Borja Iciz, adam&eveDDB London
• Copywriter: Jess West, Ken Bates, both DDB Chicago (tie)
• Designer: Andrea Da Silva, Arlinda Shabani, both Serviceplan Germany Munich (tie)
• Illustrator: Sofia Kyrimi, G Design Studio Athens
• Photographer: William Etchebehere
• Photo Editor: Noelle Flores-Theard, The New Yorker New York
• Creative Technologist: Shan Jin, Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco
• Director: Randy Krallman, SMUGGLER
• Freelancer: Rang Li, Stockholm

Rankings methodology
Rankings in each category are calculated by the company that garners the most points overall for winning entries based on ADC Cubes, Merits and Special Awards, allocated as follows: Gold Cube 45 points, Silver 21, Bronze 9, Merit 3, Fusion Cube 90, Designism Cube 90, Best of Discipline 90, and Black Cube for Best of Show 135.  

If the same entry wins multiple awards within a discipline, the points for the highest award in that discipline are counted towards “of the Year” awards.

Points are only awarded to agencies listed as Primary and Secondary on entries.  If several agencies are listed under Primary and Secondary, the points are divided among them.  

A total of 11,198 pieces were entered from 59 countries and regions in the ADC 102nd Annual Awards.  Agencies, studios, freelancers, brands and production companies in 32 countries were awarded a total of 106 ADC Gold Cubes, 120 Silvers, 162 Bronze and 390 Merits this year.  

The top five countries for winners are the US with 367, Canada and Germany with 75 each, China with 74, and Japan with 38.