Regional agencies have featured prominently in this year’s The Directory Big Won rankings, with Leo Burnett MENA’s Bechara Mouzannar named the top chief creative officer in the world and FP7’s Tahaab Rais ranked the top planning director globally.
The Big Won ranks agencies and individuals based on awards won at 32 of the most important award shows and festivals during the previous year.
Amongst the listings, Leo Burnett Beirut is ranked the fourth most creative agency in the world, while FP7/DXB is placed in 14th position. Leo Burnett Beirut’s ‘Keep the flame alive’ for Johnnie Walker is also named the fifth best digital campaign in the world during 2015. FP7/DXB’s ‘Project Akshar’ is the second highest ranked campaign in media. UM MENA landed the runner-up spot in the ranking for top media agencies. Geometry Global Dubai also hit ninth position in the top media campaigns thanks to its ‘Back off radio’ campaign for the RTA.
In terms of personnel, Leo Burnett Beirut’s Malek Ghorayeb is ranked the world’s number one executive creative director, while the office’s Areej Mahmoud is placed in second place in the creative director league table. Meanwhile, FP7/DXB’s Paul Banham is considered to be the ninth best executive creative director globally, Nayaab Rais is the eighth best copywriter, and Josephine Younes is the eighth best art director.
“It means a lot to the agency and its people to be ranked in The Directory Big Won, since it’s a collation of the winning work from all the award shows around the world,” said Sasan Saeidi, FP7’s managing director for the UAE. “Through its unbiased analysis it has become a respected benchmark for performance and excellence. We are only one of two [creative] agencies that have ranked directly this year, and this shows our agency’s strive for excellence and eagerness to compete with the best. Congratulations to Leo Burnett Beirut also for a phenomenal performance.”
In The Gunn Report, which also ranks agencies according to awards won, Leo Burnett Beirut ranked equal 18th in the most awarded agency in the world listing.