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Highly award-winning creative ideas double campaign impact new WARC insights reveal

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WARC
  • One in five (21%) of all creatively awarded ideas are also awarded for effectiveness
  • Nearly half (45%) of highly awarded creative ideas are also awarded for effectiveness
  • TV’s role as lead channel is declining among top ideas
  • Most (88%) of highly creative and effective ideas aim for brand building. Two-thirds (61%) drive sales
  • Social justice, partnerships and emotion are creative effectiveness cheat codes.

WARC releases 5th edition of WARC Rankings analysis linking creativity and effectiveness in The health of creativity 2026
17 September 2026 – Each year, WARC tracks the results of the top regional and global award shows for creativity and effectiveness for the WARC Rankings, the ultimate benchmark for marketing.

Using 11 years of WARC Rankings data of show results from 2015 to 2025, a total of 6,360 ideas have been analysed to assess the correlation between creativity and effectiveness, the characteristics of the best-in-class campaigns, and the creative conversion by sector, brand and agency work.

Amy Rodgers, Head of Content, WARC Creative, says: “Mounting evidence demonstrates how creativity plays a crucial role in driving campaign success. Drawing on findings from 11 years’ worth of WARC Rankings data, we examined whether campaigns recognised for creative excellence have sustained or strengthened their performance edge compared to last year’s findings and what are the current shared characteristics that define the most creative and effective ideas.”

As creativity increases, so does effectiveness

Over a fifth (21%) of ideas awarded for creativity in shows tracked by the WARC Rankings were subsequently awarded for effectiveness. This conversion rate remains the same as last year.

However, when ideas are highly awarded for creativity, making it into the WARC Creative 100, the conversion to effectiveness more than doubles, rising from 21% to 45%, up from 44% last year.
“Should the 21% conversion rate be higher?” asks Rodgers. “Perhaps not, when viewed in the context of all the advertising produced. Winning both a creative and an effective award for the same campaign is hard. Factors include the current shift away from brand building to performance, brand size, and resources to measure effectiveness and prepare for strong award entries.”

Takeaways from WARC’s analysis of 167 best-of-the-best ideas, which are highly creative and highly effective having ranked in both the WARC Creative 100 and Effective 100 between 2016 and 2026, are:

  • TV’s role as a lead channel is declining among top ideas despite its strength for emotion and storytelling strategies

A quarter of best-in-class ideas (25%) led with television in 2025, down from 44% in 2018. Its strength still lies in its ability to reach engaged audiences in large numbers, and exploit emotion and storytelling, both key strategies for encoding marketing messages in memory.

Data suggests that no single channel is taking its place – instead, the lead role is now spread across a broader mix of channels.
 

  • Top ideas target brand building

 

Most campaigns (85%) aim for brand building, an objective seen only slightly more often in highly creative and effective work (88%). Strong brands drive growth and command premium pricing through long-term equity investment. Success requires consistent delivery of the brand promise across product performance, advertising, and pricing strategy, with a focus on building equity and awareness.

 

  • The best of the best ideas favour social justice, partnerships and emotion

 

Compared to the average, nearly half (49%) of highly creative and highly effective ideas significantly over-index in the use of social justice issues – including CSR, advocacy, and brand activism. Customer experience is used by 42% of the top ideas and strategic partnerships by 40%.

 

The data suggests that the strongest ideas go beyond conventional customer-focused tactics to engage with broader societal issues and wider audiences.

 

  • Best ideas drive sales and gain customers

 

Almost two-thirds (61%) of the best ideas have a measurable impact on sales and almost half on market penetration. ROI and revenue also over-index significantly in award-winning work. Behavioural change emerges as a distinctive metric for top-performing campaigns.

 

This suggests that the best ideas aim to not only build brands, but also to influence behaviour and generate wider impact.

 

  • Top ideas measure PR value

 

PR value is a soft metric measured by 70% of highly creative and highly effective ideas – more than double the 27% for all cases – highlighting the importance of fame. Best-of-the-best ideas also over-index in other soft metrics including social media buzz, brand health and search.

 

  • Best ideas have longer campaign durations

 

Highly creative and effective ideas play the long game. Over a third (37%) of award-winning campaigns run for a year or longer, compared to just 15% of typical cases. This aligns with research showing that highly creative campaigns build emotional resonance that drives lasting impact, while less creative efforts tend to deliver short-term results.

 

  • Creative effectiveness is strongest in the retail sector

 

One in five (20%) of the 167 most creative and effective ideas come from the retail sector, despite making up just 13% of all cases. The food sector follows with 10%, technology & electronics, toiletries & cosmetics and financial services (8%).

 

  • Successful ideas have higher creative commitment scores

Creative commitment is a composite measure of the media budget, duration and number of media channels used for a creative campaign or initiative. Creative commitment correlates strongly with effectiveness – as creative commitment increases, so does effectiveness (sales, brand building, market share and profit).

Comparing case studies in the full WARC Rankings dataset with ideas ranked in the WARC Creative 100 and Effective 100, creative commitment is higher (score of 7.0) in highly successful ideas than the average (6.0). Importantly, these numbers are not a reflection of brand size.
Creative conversion to effectiveness by agency network

For creatively awarded ideas, Ogilvy leads with a total tally of 575, adding 84 this year, while BBDO tops the number of creatively awarded ideas that converted to effective at 137. VML showed the strongest growth, adding 27 converted ideas. By conversion % rate, Saatchi & Saatchi leads agency networks with a 32% conversion rate of its creatively awarded ideas also awarded for effectiveness, rising to 44% for highly creative ideas. (Data reflects agency networks as credited at the time of award, including those since acquired, merged, or rebranded).
Now in its fifth year, The Health of Creativity report also includes information on creative conversion by category, brand, agency network and the full list of the 167 best-of-the-best ideas. WARC subscribers can read the report in full. An infographic is available here.

The next edition of the WARC Rankings – Creative 100, Media 100, Effective 100 – will be published in March 2027, following analysis of work awarded during 2026.




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Global advertising spend surges 11.9% to $1.34trn this year despite consumer caution

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2 hours ago

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October 8, 2026

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WARC

Social media is expected to record the strongest growth up 21.3% to $394.6bn
VOD (15.1%), retail media (14.3%), search (14.2%) and digital OOH (13.7%) are all set for double-digit increases
Technology and electronics (20.7%), travel and transport (19.3%) and automotive (17.8%) to be fastest growing product categories
Ad spend growth in 2027 expected to moderate (8.4%) to $1.46trn

WARC Media Global Ad Spend Forecast Q3 2026 update

8 October 2026 – Global ad spend is forecast to grow 11.9% to $1.34trn in 2026, according to the latest data from WARC Media. This comes on the back of strong 10.0% growth in 2024 and 2025.

 




 
 

Advertising investment continues to grow despite consumer pressure and geopolitical uncertainty, fueled by significant corporate AI investment and major events including the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and US mid-term elections. While the economy has remained resilient to date, further escalations of global tensions pose potential downside risks.

Suzy Young, Head of WARC Media Data, says: “These are unusual times for advertising. Investment is accelerating even as many consumers face cost-of-living pressures and become more cautious with spending. This apparent contradiction reflects an increasingly uneven economy, where growth – particularly from the AI boom – is benefiting some companies, sectors and consumers more than others.”

Performance priority

Social media, search and retail media are three of the biggest channels for ad investment. Altogether they are expected to account for 66.4% of total global ad spend in 2026, rising to 70.0% in 2028.

Social media is set to register the strongest growth in ad spend this year, up 21.3% to $394.6bn, and is on course to exceed $500bn in 2028. Video on-demand (15.1% to $48.4bn), retail media (14.3% to $202.1bn), search (14.2% to $295.7bn) and digital OOH (13.7% to $21.7bn) will also see double-digit increases this year. Performance channels, which can adapt quickly to changing conditions, continue to benefit as uncertainty becomes the new norm.

Technology and electronics is forecast to be the fastest growing product category this year, rising 20.7% compared with 2025, followed by travel and transport (19.3%) and automotive (17.8%). Social media is expected to account for 40.2% of all tech and electronics spend in 2026.

2027 and 2028 ad spend outlook

Ad spend growth is expected to moderate in 2027, rising 8.4% to $1.46trn, reflecting tougher comparables and a normalisation from the exceptionally strong growth seen in recent years.

In 2028, ad spend will increase by a further 7.9% to $1.57trn – putting the market on course to be 2.3 times larger than it was a decade ago in 2019.

New AI destinations emerge

AI is driving advertising growth from multiple angles. New tech businesses are investing to acquire customers and build brands, while established companies spend heavily to compete in an increasingly crowded market. Simultaneously, AI tools are enhancing targeting, asset creation, and campaign optimisation – boosting ROI and fueling further investment.

AI is also opening new destinations for advertising. As generative search and AI assistants become gateways to product discovery and purchasing, ad dollars will follow – fundamentally reshaping where consumers encounter brands and where advertisers invest.

AI fuels ad triopoly

Alphabet, Amazon and Meta are set to take a combined market share of 59.7% of global ad spend (excluding China) this year – equivalent to $659.6bn. This is predicted to rise to 61.5%, or $804.1bn, in 2028.

Ad spend signals opportunity

Ad spend per capita vries dramatically across global markets. Developed economies like the US ($1395 per capita forecast for 2026), UK ($935), Austria ($850), and Switzerland ($825) show significantly higher advertising intensity, while China ($170), Brazil ($110), and India ($13) combine lower per-capita spending with massive consumer populations – highlighting substantial growth potential as these emerging markets mature.

WARC Media subscribers can read WARC’s global ad spend Q3 2026 update report in full.
 




 

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Investors Back Platinum Credit Uganda: First Tranche Subscribed Nearly 2.5 Times

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October 8, 2026

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The tranche is the first issuance under a UGX 70 billion Medium Term Note programme approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA)

KAMPALA, Uganda, October 7, 2026/APO Group/ –Platinum Credit Uganda this week listed its Medium Term Notes on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), after investors bid for almost two and a half times the amount on offer in the first tranche.

 




  

Download document: https://apo-opa.co/4rUcD15

Ugandan investors have given Platinum Uganda a strong vote of confidence

The first tranche of the private placement, with a base quantum of UGX 20 billion with a greenshoe option of UGX 10 billion, closed at a subscription rate of 246%, with investors applying for more than UGX 49 billion. Given the strong demand, Platinum Credit exercised the greenshoe option, and UGX 30 billion of notes was accepted. The tranche is the first issuance under a UGX 70 billion Medium Term Note programme approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The programme also includes a greenshoe option of UGX 30 billion, which takes the full programme to UGX 100 billion.

Investors could choose between three-, five- and eight-year notes, with interest paid quarterly. The notes were issued on 30 September 2026.

The company plans to use the new funding to grow its lending to the individuals and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) it already serves. At the end of 2025, Platinum Credit Uganda had over 30,000 active clients across Uganda. In the same year, small and medium businesses received more than UGX 71 billion in loans, helping them keep their cash flow steady and their operations running. In 2026, the company aims to put a further UGX 10 billion into Ugandan small businesses, prioritising those led by women and young people, and to expand its lending to smallholder dairy farmers.

Albert Abaasa, Managing Director of Platinum Credit Uganda, said: “We invited bids for UGX 20 billion and investors offered us nearly UGX 50 billion, which allowed us to exercise our greenshoe option and raise UGX 30 billion. That is a clear sign of trust in how we run this business and in where we are taking it. These funds will help us reach more customers across Uganda, and listing on the USE gives investors an opportunity to back a business that is expanding access to finance.”

Brett Sievwright, Chief Executive Officer of Platcorp Group, said: “Ugandan investors have given Platinum Uganda a strong vote of confidence. Raising long-term funding locally, in shillings, means the business can lend in the same currency its customers trade in. The strength of demand shows clear investor confidence in Platinum Uganda’s growth story. We thank the Capital Markets Authority, the Uganda Securities Exchange and our partners for their work in bringing these notes to market.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Platcorp Group.

 

 




 

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All Roads Lead to Namibia: The 7th Canada-Africa Business Conference Returns to Windhoek, 2–4 February 2027

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6 hours ago

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October 8, 2026

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Ateau Zola

The Conference is anticipated to be the largest event the Chamber has convened on the African continent in its 33-year history

TORONTO, Canada, October 7, 2026/APO Group/ –The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business (www.CanadaAfrica.ca) is pleased to announce that the 7th Canada-Africa Business Conference will take place in Windhoek, Namibia, from 2–4 February 2027, under the headline sponsorship of B2Gold. The program opens with a site visit to B2Gold’s Otjikoto operations on 2–3 February, followed by a full conference day on Thursday, 4 February — in the days immediately preceding the Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town. The Conference is anticipated to be the largest event the Chamber has convened on the African continent in its 33-year history.

 




  

During Africa Accelerating 2026, held in Toronto, a point was made that echoed throughout the program: all roads lead to Namibia for the next Canada-Africa Business Conference. “We are so delighted to be returning to Windhoek, and to be doing so with partners who continue to demonstrate what Canada-Africa collaboration can achieve,” said Garreth Bloor, President of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business.

“Last year we welcomed over 50 Canadian company representatives among the hundreds of delegates – we’ve now doubled capacity for the next event, based on demand,” explained Bloor during the Africa Accelerating conference underway in Toronto this year.

Otjikoto has shown what is possible when a Canadian company and a Namibian community build together over the long term, in a country that is a gateway to the African continent

In remarks to the previous Canada-Africa Business Conference in Windhoek, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Mark Carney, recognized the Chamber “for convening leaders from across Canada and Africa” — commending its role in advancing investment, trade and partnership, and in connecting businesses and institutions to drive practical collaboration and shared growth.

“B2Gold is proud to support the Chamber’s largest event on African soil in its 33-year history, and proud that it is taking place in Namibia,” said John Roos, Managing Director of B2Gold Namibia. “Otjikoto has shown what is possible when a Canadian company and a Namibian community build together over the long term, in a country that is a gateway to the African continent. Welcoming business leaders to the mining operations, and to the investments in other sectors that have grown up around them, alongside the launch of the B2Gold Foundation in Windhoek, is our way of inviting others to see that partnership for themselves — and to consider what they might build here.”

Africa Accelerating, the Chamber’s flagship conference taking place in Canada this week, also featured a keynote address by Neil Reeder, Vice President, Government Relations at B2Gold, underscoring how vital B2Gold’s work is as a model for Canada-Africa trade and investment — and for deeper engagement between Canada and African markets.

Individuals who wish to find out more may visit the conference page here (https://apo-opa.co/4zjUsEH).

Registrants who wish to indicate their interest in joining the event may do so here (https://apo-opa.co/4hwRBlL).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business.

 




 

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