The Cannes report 2013 ranks TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris\Johannesburg the 15th best agency worldwide, the only South African agency in the world top 20 and the highest ranked member of the global TBWA\ group. This is three places higher than its 2012 rating, when the agency again won a place in the world top 20.

Two agency clients, Tiger Brands and Nampak also feature highly in the Cannes league tables of the world’s best.

Tiger Brands is ranked the sixth most awarded FMCG brand in the world while Nampak is close behind in 10th spot.

World rankings come on the back of outstanding results in the Cannes Awards in June when TBWA\ Hunt\Lascaris\Jhb claimed eight Cannes Lions, the biggest haul of any South African agency.

Agency MD Danni Dixon noted, “Consistent performance, year after year, is important to us. Regional positioning is also significant as we are an agency hub for TBWA\ Africa and the Middle East. So it’s a source of satisfaction that the Cannes analysis puts our agency eighth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa geographical standings, the highest ranking of any South African agency. What’s more, the Cannes appraisal confirms Johannesburg’s status as a centre of creative excellence, with Johannesburg ranked the 17th most awarded city in the advertising world. We’re proud to contribute to the high creative profile of our home base.”

Joint executive creative director Adam Livesey pointed out, “The FMCG category is one of the most keenly contested in the world. It is a wonderful achievement for Tiger Brands to come sixth and Nampak 10th in an environment such as this. This puts Tiger on a par with a global player like Pepsi. Both Nampak and Tiger are now positioned in the same league as the world’s top brands. We congratulate them both. It’s a great achievement.”

The agency’s high standing was a function of strong performance across a range of media, a point taken up by Matthew Brink, the agency’s co-executive creative director.

“Our teams delivered award-winning work across a broad range of disciplines,” he said.

“We came 13th equal in the worldwide design rankings, 19th,/sup> globally in outdoor, 17th in the Press category and 12th in radio. Versatility like this indicates broad creative reach – a key requirement as media options continue to proliferate. A positive report card from the world’s premier awards programme sets us up strongly for 2014. The challenge is to keep improving on the success of the last two years.”

The Cannes Report 2013 ranks South Africa ninth equal in the global league table of Cannes award-winners, putting the country back into the world top 10.