Few years have shaken up the advertising business like this one. In November 2025, Omnicom closed its acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG) and restructured its networks: DDB and MullenLowe were folded into TBWA, FCB was merged into BBDO, and a number of agencies across the region went independent. TopFICE’s annual report, which brings advertising award show results together into a single ranking, shows how that reshuffle played out in the awards won by agencies in the Americas between October 16, 2025, and October 15, 2026.
TopFICE is neither an award show nor a jury. It compiles the results that award shows publish, weights them with a single methodology and puts them side by side. This edition tracks 5,811 awards from 58 global, regional, local and specialist award shows where agencies from the region took home metal.
Omnicom takes the lead among holding companies
A year ago, the top three holding companies were neck and neck: WPP had 38,346 points in the TopFICE Score, Omnicom 35,873 and IPG 35,534. This year, with most of IPG’s agencies now under its roof, Omnicom moved into first place with 45,241 points, or 26.9% of the total (up from 19.4%), and 34 Grand Prix and Titanium awards (up from 24).
WPP ranks second with 32,205 points (−16%), and Publicis Groupe third with 12,593 (+46%).
Independents gain ground
While the holding companies were busy restructuring, independent agencies grabbed a bigger slice of the winners’ lists. Their share of total points rose from 25.1% to 35.5%, while the holding companies’ share fell from 69.2% to 57.1%. The shift reaches the top of the podium, too: independents won 46 of the period’s 134 Grand Prix and Titanium awards (34%), compared with 37 of 165 (22%) the year before.
The rise holds in both regions. Independents now account for 40.6% of points in North America (up from 25.5%) and 30.6% in Latin America (up from 24.8%).
Part of that growth comes from agencies that left the networks. R/GA has operated independently since IPG sold it in March 2025. In Central and South America, Garnier in Costa Rica, el taier in Guatemala and Garabato in Paraguay parted ways with BBDO, DDB and MullenLowe and competed under their own names this season.
A new pecking order among markets
The United States remains the clear leader with 60,652 points. Behind it, the order changed: Canada (22,007 points; +20.7%) and Mexico (17,905; +19.0%) overtook Brazil (17,345; −31.1%), which slipped from second to fourth. Further down the table, Puerto Rico climbed from 11th to 8th on a 90.1% jump in points.
Because the award show calendar shifts from year to year, whether through date changes, hiatuses or cancellations, the report also ran a like-for-like comparison using only the 43 award shows held in both periods. The trends hold.
Methodology and nominations
The TopFICE Score weights each award by the metal won and by the award show’s relevance, reach and focus. Shortlists at select shows earn points but are not counted as awards. The report covers North America and Latin America and excludes production companies, schools and universities.
Based on these results, TopFICE names Agency of the Year and Independent Agency of the Year nominees in each market. Nominees are published whether or not they have entered.
All other categories (Digital, In-house, Production Company, Creative Boutique, Creative School, Breakthrough, Lighthouse, OOH, Advertising & Marketing Faculty, Innovation, Experiential / Promo & Activation, Relationship Marketing, Health, Design & Branding, Social Media & Creator, and PR/Communications) go straight to winners, with no shortlist of nominees. Winners in every category, including Agency of the Year and Independent Agency of the Year, will be revealed on November 23 at “The Best of the Americas.”
“Each award show recognizes agencies’ work on its own; what we do at TopFICE is bring all of those results together so you can see the full picture. This year, that picture changed dramatically. We know advertisers are eagerly awaiting TopFICE’s results, because they want to know which agencies deliver creative excellence consistently across every stage, not just at a single award show. Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees, and stay tuned for the announcements in the coming weeks,” said Edgar Rodríguez, Director of TopFICE.
More from the report
- In-house agencies scored 4,912 points, up 31.6% year over year. Apple’s in-house team alone jumped from 108 to 1,128 points.
- The most awarded category families were Effectiveness & Strategy (1,107 awards), Craft & Production (760), Digital & Social (445) and Experiential, Promo & Retail (423).
- The five most common words in campaign titles this season were “new” (25 campaigns), “day” (25), “years” (24), “launch” (23) and “world” (22), counting their Spanish and Portuguese equivalents.
