Uncommon Creative Studio has scooped Campaign’s Creative Agency of the Year prize for the second year running. Judges said the agency's work was "thought-provoking and impactful", and that it had demonstrated "strong new business, integrated creative and wider initiatives, reflecting a clear purpose behind the agency”.
Uncommon’s highlights across the year included more than 20 new-business wins, with one being the high-profile pitch for British Airways’ global creative and CRM business. The independent shop also achieved significant year-on-year growth in revenue and increased headcount, hiring 30 permanent staff. On the diversity front, the agency reached 15% BAME representation, three times more than in 2019 and closer to its target of 20% by the end of 2022, and achieved 60% female representation at management level and 51% overall.
The agency that former Grey executives Nils Leonard, Lucy Jameson and Natalie Graeme founded in 2017 focused on championing "purpose" throughout 2021, investing in new capabilities, such as building a CX practice and growing its design offering two-fold. All of which enabled the agency to win multiple new projects involving these capabilities, while existing clients also expanded their briefs.
Campaigns included a celebration of British summer time for Google, showcasing how the brand can bring people together, and a new brand purpose for H&M Man. Called One/Second/Suit, the programme, which runs in the UK and US, offers men with a job interview the chance to borrow a suit for free, for 24 hours.
Uncommon’s thought leadership continued to drive the industry forward, with its leadership team highlighting a range of issues, including purpose, effectiveness and strategy and the madness of arts education cuts.
Silver: Adam & Eve/DDB
The judges liked how Adam & Eve/DDB, a serial former winner of this category, pushed creative boundaries and maintained high standards in 2021. It used cutting-edge technology to track lost pets for Iams, had an experiment scientifically designed to make people angry about period poverty and created a city-wide game of chess in a global spot for PlayStation. It championed diversity, lighting the world purple to shine a light on disability inclusion with #WeThe15, putting The Midnight Ramadan League in Fifa to give a voice to British South Asian footballers and recolouring archive photos of Pride for Skittles.
The Omnicom-owned agency won brands across several new sectors as well as recording strong organic growth among its existing client base. The agency also welcomed its first head of DE&I Bukola Garry and launched internship scheme First Bite and an internal mentoring scheme.
Bronze: Lucky Generals
In 2021, Lucky Generals doubled down on focusing on doing exceptional work for a handful of long-standing clients, turning down more than 40 new-business requests. It was an approach that paid dividends, resulting in ground-breaking campaigns for Amazon, while work for Co-op helped the business achieve its highest market share for 20 years. The agency also recorded a strong business performance and increased its headcount – in 2021, 21% of its employees came from multi-ethnic backgrounds.
Shortlisted:
Pablo London
The agency says 2021 has been its best ever. It grew 40% in staff numbers and 84% in revenue – topping the new-business charts, and securing clients including Deliveroo, Costa Coffee, DFS, Betfair and Oasis. It continued its work with the NHS and won a place on the government roster, while doing pro-bono work for the Resuscitation Council and Shelter among others.
VCCP
Reinvention helped shape VCCP’s performance in 2021. It reinvented production with Girl&Bear, which brings together 250 makers in one creative space and puts production at the beginning of the process. When one of the world’s most famous venues – the O2, was forced to close during lockdown, VCCP rebuilt it in the world’s most popular game, Fortnite and hosted virtual gigs.
McCann UK
McCann UK enjoyed one of its best business years in 2021. It grew its margin across the UK, welcomed new talent into its new London headquarters and created some world-defining work. This included championing inclusion by mapping Bristol and Google maps with Goability, creating a new focus of sustainability with eBay and a campaign bringing together Just Eat and Snoop Dogg.
Havas London
Havas became the first major agency to re-certify as a B Corporation, and the first to join the Better Business Act Coalition. It committed to net zero by 2025, played active roles in organisations including Ad Net Zero and AdGreen, and was named in Campaign's Best Places to Work. It also created 100 entry-level roles for people from atypical backgrounds through the Government’s Kickstart Scheme.
The Brooklyn Brothers
As well as driving clients' growth with a wealth of culturally relevant work, The Brooklyn Brothers led the way in championing diversity and social inclusion with the return of Night School and the second year of News School as it expands globally. These programmes have now supported more than 98 diverse graduates.
Take me back to the Campaign Agency of the Year Awards winners list