Following last week’s Creative Week in New York, where The One Show 2026 awards were presented, the official results of the annual global creative rankings were also announced, highlighting the agencies, networks, brands and companies that achieved the strongest creative impact on the global stage.
The biggest European success this year was achieved by Uncommon Creative Studio London, which was named Europe Agency of the Year, while also ranking third globally among all agencies worldwide.
The agency’s position as Europe’s leading agency was driven by the strong performance of the project “Reflections” for British Airways, which won the Best of Discipline in Design in Advertising award, alongside a total of seven Gold Pencils, five Silver, ten Bronze and 12 Merit awards. In addition to the campaign for British Airways, the agency also received awards for clients including EK Skate, The Ordinary, BritBox, London Museum and Instagram, as well as for work created by its New York office.
According to the official European rankings, second place went to Serviceplan Germany Munich, while the top ten European agencies also included adam&eve\TBWA London, Publicis Conseil Paris, Publicis Consultants Paris, Ogilvy UK London, McCann Paris, NoA Åkestam Hoist Stockholm, HeimatTBWA\ Berlin and INNOCEAN Berlin.
In the category of European independent agencies, first place went to Serviceplan Germany Munich, ahead of NoA Åkestam Hoist Stockholm, Playmakers Tbilisi, Mother London and LLYC Madrid.
The global agency rankings were led by VML New York, followed by Rethink Toronto and Uncommon Creative Studio London in second and third place. The top ten global agencies also included Serviceplan Germany Munich, Ogilvy New York, Grey México México City, adam&eve\TBWA London, FCB Canada (TBWA\Canada) Toronto, Publicis Conseil Paris and LePub México.
In the global independent agency category, Rethink Toronto ranked first, followed by Serviceplan Germany Munich, Courage Inc. Toronto and Motion Sickness Auckland, as well as NoA Åkestam Hoist Stockholm.
This year’s rankings also provided an overview of the leading companies and organisations across disciplines. By-Enjoy Fujian was named the top design company, while Apple Marcom Cupertino received the title of best brand-side agency. Vaseline became the most successful brand of the year, while Unilever ranked first among parent companies.
Among production companies, Whitecoat Singapore achieved the highest number of points, while Supreme Music Berlin led the music & sound company category. Ogilvy Group became the top agency network, while Rethink ranked first among independent networks.
The highest-ranked work of this year’s edition was the project “Vaseline Verified” for Vaseline, created by Ogilvy Singapore, Ogilvy South Africa Cape Town, Ogilvy UK London and Ogilvy New York.
The title of highest-ranked creative professional went to Debbie Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer at VML.
Country rankings showed the dominance of the United States, ahead of the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Mexico, while North America ranked first among regions, followed by Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.
The organisers also announced the regional Agencies of the Year. Alongside the European recognition for Uncommon Creative Studio London, the titles were awarded to Ogilvy Singapore for Asia Pacific, Grey México México City for Latin America, Ogilvy South Africa Cape Town for the Middle East & Africa region, and VML New York for North America.
The methodology of The One Show Global Creative Rankings is based on the total number of points earned through Pencil awards, Merits and special awards. A Gold Pencil is worth 45 points, Silver 21, Bronze nine and Merit three, while awards such as Best of Discipline, Fusion Pencil and Green Pencil are worth 90 points each. Best of Show is worth 135 points, while a Penta Pencil carries 150 points.
The rankings include results achieved by agencies, digital and media companies, PR and marketing agencies, design studios, type foundries, as well as brand-side and in-house teams listed as primary agencies on awarded projects.
