The Process
As in previous years, the AOY process began by selecting which agencies would be invited to compete. This was based on a poll of 50 creatives and client marketers from across Canada. From a comprehensive list of agencies and their major campaigns, each person polled was asked which shop stood out on the basis of their work over the last year. Points were earned based on the number of times a particular agency was selected to be on the shortlist. The agencies that ended up being invited to participate were BBDO, Bensimon Byrne, Bos, DDB, Diesel, Grip, John St., Leo Burnett, Lowe Roche, Rethink, Taxi and Zig.
Each selected agency was asked to submit five advertising campaigns representing work executed for five different clients over the previous 12 months. The agencies were advised that the judges would consider their ability to work across different product categories and across different media.
Next, we chose the judges: five marketing execs, five agency creatives and, for the first time, one media type. These were divided into two separate panels: a creative panel of agency creatives and a strategic panel of client marketers. Working in isolation, judges gave each agency's submission an overall score of zero to 10 based on strategic insight and the ability to execute creatively as well as its versatility in terms of the agency's ability to work in different product categories and in different media.
The cumulative scores from both the creative and strategic judges were then totalled and averaged, with equal weighting. The agency with the highest final score was the winner.
The Scores
Here are the judges' totalled scores that crowned the Agency of the Year.
| Creative Scores | Strategic Scores | Overall Scores | |||||
| DDB | 7.42 | Bos | 8.14 | Rethink | 7.59 | ||
| Rethink | 7.25 | Rethink | 7.93 | DDB | 7.5 | ||
| BBDO | 7.03 | Taxi | 7.89 | Lowe Roche | 7.39 | ||
| Zig | 7.03 | Lowe Roche | 7.87 | Taxi | 7.38 | ||
| Lowe Roche | 6.91 | John St. | 7.86 | Zig | 7.32 | ||
| Taxi | 6.87 | Bensimon Byrne | 7.76 | BBDO | 7.19 | ||
| John St. | 6.02 | Leo Burnett | 7.63 | John St. | 6.94 | ||
| Leo Burnett | 5.44 | Zig | 7.62 | Bos | 6.59 | ||
| Diesel | 5 | DDB | 7.59 | Leo Burnett | 6.54 | ||
| Bos | 4.92 | Grip | 7.42 | Bensimon Bryne | 6.28 | ||
| Bensimon Byrne | 4.92 | Diesel | 7.39 | Diesel | 6.2 | ||
| Grip | 4.59 | BBDO | 7.35 | Grip | 6 | ||