The Gunn Report, which tallies major creative awards worldwide, released its 2008 rankings on Nov. 10. As expected, top winners were Fallon London’s Cadbury "Gorilla" for TV, and Saatchi & Saatchi NY’s Tide Ultra "Stains Don’t Stand a Chance" for print, and Projector Tokyo’s "Uniqlock" for online.
A new category, "All Gunns Blazing", named Leo Burnett Sydney’s "Earth Hour" the most awarded integrated campaign.
BBDO Worldwide was named Network of the Year, meaning the most awarded network in the world. This a remarkable run considering that they were #41 only four years ago. BBDO New York was the world’s No. 1 agency; but the network’s press release notes that "[their] performance was so strong we would have won Network of the Year even without New York." A diverse group of 23 agencies worldwide contributed to the winning total.
Strong showing for Asia
Asian agencies surged in the Gunn rankings this year, dominating print, placing at #5 for TV and #1 for interactive. In print, the most awarded campaigns were from Ogilvy Bangkok and Singapore, Lowe Bangkok and TBWA China. Leo Burnett Malaysiaís "Tan Hong Ming" TVC for Petronas was #5 among the most awarded commercials. In interactive, Asia got only one entry, but it was #1: Projector Tokyo’s "Uniqlock".
Asia is also home to the world’s most awarded director, Thanonchai Sornsrivichai of Phenomena, Bangkok.
10 years of Gunn
This year also marks the first decade of the Report, an initiative conceptualised and realised by former Burnett creative director Donald Gunn.
The 2008 report is guest-edited by Rémi Babinet, founder and chairman of BETC Euro RSCG. Babinet’s introduction is a memorable reminder of changes:
"Not much more than ten years ago, in agencies, art directors stuck their typography onto transparencies and cut their layouts on a guillotine. We could hear the distant hiss of glue spray, we smoked in meetings and we listened to CD Walkmans while waiting for the year 2000. In barely ten years, the world has dematerialised, technology has transformed our activities, media has exploded, categories have moved. The world in which an ad agency exists today had not anticipated that the telephone of the future would be a computer and that the camera of the future would be a telephone. What an incredible time, what an incredible journey."
