The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has today named WPP as holding company of the decade.
Cannes Lions is the world’s leading event and awards programme for the creative marketing community. This year’s special global rankings recognise those companies which have demonstrated the greatest sustained creative excellence, based on winning and shortlisted work over the last 10 years.
Among the Lions awarded between 2010 and 2019, WPP agencies won a total of 51 Grand Prix and Titanium Lions for a huge variety of work including: 2011’s Dove Real Beauty Sketches by Ogilvy – one of the most-viewed advertisements of all time; 2016’s double Grand Prix-winning, data-driven The Next Rembrandt for ING by Wunderman Thompson; and last year’s Glass Lion for Change and Titanium winner The Last Ever Issue for Mastercard and BNP Paribas by VMLY&R and Wavemaker, which sought to transform the narrative for women.
VMLY&R Dubai also won Regional Agency of the Decade in Middle East and Africa.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “Cannes Lions is our industry’s most important celebration of creativity, and this award makes me prouder than ever of our people and the extraordinary work we’ve done for our clients.
“Creativity is more than just a great idea; it’s about changing perceptions, questioning the status quo and transforming businesses. I would like to thank our fantastic clients who recognise the power of that creativity and who put their trust in WPP and our agencies to deliver it every day, all around the world.”