The Process
As in previous years, the AOY process began with the selection of which agencies would be invited to compete. This was based on a poll of 50 senior creatives and client marketers from across Canada. From a comprehensive list of agencies and their major campaigns, each person was asked which shops stood out on the basis of their work over the past 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, Bleublancrouge, Bos, Cossette, DDB, Dentsu, John St., Leo Burnett, Lowe Roche, Ogilvy, Rethink, Sid Lee, Taxi and Zig.
Each shortlisted 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 media.
Next, we chose the judges: six marketing execs and six agency creatives, one of whom was an international judge. They were divided into two separate panels: a creative panel of agency creatives and a strategic panel of client marketers. Working in isolation, the 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 versatility – the agency's ability to work in different product categories and in different media.
The cumulative scores from the creative and strategic judges were then totalled and averaged, with equal weighting. The agency with the highest final score was the winner.
(The math was not only double-checked, but two editors separately performed all the calculations. And judges reported no incidents of vote coercion.)
The Scores
We know how you love the scores. So here they are: the judges’ averages that determined the Agency of the Year.
| Creative Scores | Strategic Scores | Overall Scores | |||||||||||
| DDB | 7.92 | Ogilvy | 8.4 | DDB | 7.93 | ||||||||
| Taxi | 6.83 | Zig | 8.03 | Ogilvy | 7.53 | ||||||||
| Rethink | 6.75 | Taxi | 8.0 | Taxi | 7.42 | ||||||||
| Ogilvy | 6.67 | DDB | 7.95 | Zig | 7.31 | ||||||||
| Zig | 6.58 | Cossette | 7.62 | Rethink | 6.62 | ||||||||
| John St. | 6.08 | BBDO | 7.37 | John St. | 6.54 | ||||||||
| BBDO | 5.67 | Sid Lee | 7.2 | BBDO | 6.52 | ||||||||
| Cossette | 5.17 | Leo Burnett | 7.02 | Cossette | 6.39 | ||||||||
| Leo Burnett | 4.92 | Lowe Roche | 7.0 | Leo Burnett | 5.97 | ||||||||
| Dentsu | 4.83 | John St. | 7.0 | Dentsu | 5.78 | ||||||||
| Lowe Roche | 4.25 | Dentsu | 6.72 | Lowe Roche | 5.63 | ||||||||
| Bos | 4.08 | Rethink | 6.48 | Sid Lee | 5.27 | ||||||||
| Bleublancrouge | 3.92 | Bos | 6.05 | Bos | 5.07 | ||||||||
| Sid Lee | 3.33 | Bleublancrouge | 5.88 | Bleublancrouge | 4.9 | ||||||||
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