Thjnk is at the top of the creative ranking 2022
While the Thjnk agency had taken a break in 2021, it worked its way up to first place in the annual creative rankings in 2022. Just behind Thjnk is the boutique agency Ruf Lanz, which has remained stable as usual. Wunderman Thompson has catapulted from ninth place to third.
With 445 points, the Thjnk Zurich agency is clearly number one in this year's ranking of the most creative agencies. The agency, which has been shaking up the industry in Zurich for six years, has steadily increased its ranking. In 2019, it already ranked second, then fell to third in 2020, took a break in 2021 and has now worked its way to the top of the creative rankings with first place. Alexander Jaggy, Co-Founder and CCO of Thjnk Zurich is overwhelmed by the result. "The fact that we are at the top of the podium six years after our founding has to do with a lot of love, persistence and, of course, a bit of luck that you score accordingly in creative competitions." For its campaigns with Ochsner Sport (Runtime and Teile dein Feuer) , Denner (Alles da. Immer nah.) and Bio Suisse (Gemüseteller), the agency won numerous awards, both nationally and internationally.
Asked about the outlook for 2023, Jaggy is hopeful: "2023 is under the sign of the hare. In Chinese culture, the hare stands for longevity, peace and prosperity. Let's hope that the course of the world develops in this direction."
Second to fifth place
With a difference of just under 50 points, the boutique agency Ruf Lanz is firmly established in second place. For the third time in a row, the eight-person creative agency is in second place. Markus Ruf is accordingly satisfied. He is delighted with the exhilarating result and is proud to have been right up there at the top without interruption since 2002. He would like to emphasize that it would be worthwhile to include the number of employees in the ranking, because with eight heads, Ruf Lanz is the David among the Goliaths. He is all the more proud of his employees. The agency has received numerous awards for its campaigns for Welti-Furrer, as well as for its long-standing collaboration with VBZ, which was the first campaign ever to win the ADC Evergreen Award for the second time. Most recently, the BFU campaign "Always stop when distracted in traffic" was included in the "Lürzers Archive Best Advertising Worldwide".
Third place in the ranking this year goes to Wunderman Thompson with 322 points. After ninth place in 2021, this is a serious leap upwards. It's a great result, says the agency's head office, and it's the result of constant hard work for creative excellence. It's not just about being "creative," but about proving that creativity inspires growth. That's why the agency is particularly proud of winning gold twice and silver once at the Swiss Effies. They are also proud to have underlined their claim as a full-service agency by winning awards for a total of 7 different companies in 14 different categories ranging from multichannel to social media and digital to PR. For the future, it is important to the agency to continue to create an environment for employees in which they feel understood, appreciated and supported.
The Farner Group was able to work its way up from eighth place in 2021 to fourth. This is a striking improvement that makes Farner Switzerland partner and CCO Philipp Skrabal very happy. With the "Krebsliga Schweiz Resipes rewritten" campaign, the agency won not only a lot of media attention but also two silver medals, one bronze at ADC and two bronze medals at ADC Europe. With the SBB Employer Branding campaign "Back to Business" for people re-entering the workforce, Farner won a Silver Effie. The branded content campaign "UBS Growth Talk" won silver at the SDV Awards and the industry prize. Philipp Skrabal would like to emphasize one thing in spite of all the joy: "It's a pity that well-known agencies can't be ranked behind us, which diminishes the significance of the ranking. It remains to be seen whether we will continue to participate in the ranking under these circumstances. What remains clear: We will continue to be measured by our work."
Fifth place is held by TBWA\Switzerland, and this for the second time. For Manuel Wenzel, part of the management team and solely responsible for creation since 2019, this place is perfectly fine. He and his employees are proud to have scored with ten different works in 2022. From Bell to Coop and Terre des Femmes to Porsche, for whose "Tesla Targeting" campaign TBWA won gold and bronze at the Epica Awards, as well as bronze at ADC Europe. And of course McDonald's. They want to do everything they can to continue to play in the top 5. Manuel Wenzel adds: "We're pleased, not least because we achieved this result in a year in which we also developed further as an agency. We continued to grow thanks to exciting new clients, founded a social media unit with Buzz and strengthened ourselves with super people. Of course, we'd like to be even higher in the rankings, do even better things, and grow even more in 2023. And do something with AI, of course, hahaha."
Rank six to ten
Havas Switzerland ranked sixth this year, moving up one place in the rankings. The year 2022 had challenged and sharpened the vision. The determined efforts of the entire agency to continually strengthen its competencies in the area of "customer experience" have positively influenced the creative strategies and thus also the creative ideas, according to a statement from Havas. The new mindset opens up new possibilities and allows innovative campaigns to be developed that focus on both performance and creativity. The Punishment (La Punition) by Canal+, for which Havas won Gold at the ADC, is an example of how Havas can use an entire ecosystem to pursue this approach and at the same time meet the expectations of clients and the creative agency.
Publicis Groupe falls from third to seventh place. Of course, Martin Stauch (Notch) and Matthias Koller (Publicis) congratulate the agencies in the top ranks, but agree that although the number 7 is considered a lucky number, they are naturally not satisfied with it. Nevertheless, 2022 will be remembered as a successful year. For the customers one could realize important projects and at the same time exciting mandates in addition win. As in every year, the agency would like to develop further in 2023 and is already looking forward to many challenges and new opportunities.
Serviceplan Switzerland secured eighth place. The agency considers itself lucky that it was able to produce good work for its customers in 2022. Nevertheless, the aftermath of Corona kept the agency busy and cost it energy. The agency is once again concentrating on its strengths and definitely wants to realize more creative, effective campaigns for its customers this year.
For Bühler & Bühler, making it into the top 10 for the first time as a rather small team is a great honor. They are satisfied with their ninth place, but their focus is not on chasing points, but primarily on success for their own clients and on the good team vibe in their day-to-day work at the agency. If this results in an award or two, that's all the better. With "Burn Baby," the 2022 agency won the highest agency industry award at the SDV Awards. For Swisscom, it won an Effie in the Marketing Automation category. They started 2023 with great enthusiasm, he said, thanks in part to winning a notable new client. "Soon we'll be able to reveal more ... And we're celebrating our tenth anniversary this year, including new branding. We are particularly looking forward to that," says Raphael Bühler.
Freundliche Grüsse is ranked tenth. In 2018, the agency participated in the ranking for the first time, then sat out and is now happy to be part of the top 10 again at the first attempt. The following goals are set: "In 2023, the agency's core values - Create Positive Impact - are in full focus: we want to make a positive impact with everything we do. Whether that's meeting our clients' business goals, creative excellence or contributing to a better society. We want to dedicate ourselves even more intensively to our strengths - creativity and networked thinking in the digital and analog worlds. This applies to the agency setup, our work, and new forms of collaboration with clients."
Statement by Alexander Jaggy, Thjnk, on the 1st place in the Creative Ranking 2022
"2022 was our strongest year yet".
To win the Creative Ranking 2022
After we took a break from the creative rankings last year, this is of course a return to the top. The fact that we're at the top of the podium for the first time six years after our founding is a real jolt to the agency. In addition to a lot of love and persistence, it also takes a bit of luck to score points in the creative competitions. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our competitors, who spur us on and make us better by showing us every day what is possible.
As of fiscal year 2022
2022 was our strongest year to date. We grew to 34 employees and were able to broaden our portfolio in size, quality and expertise. In addition to our long-standing mandates, the new addition of Sunrise and the pitch win of 24/7, our specialist for dynamic content development, for the global creative management platform of the Lufthansa Group are in the foreground here.
On the outlook for 2023
2023 will be the year of the steeplechase for us. We want to improve even further in terms of content and processes. But what seems more important to us is what is happening around us. 2023 is under the sign of the hare. In Chinese culture, the hare stands for longevity, peace and prosperity. Let's hope that the course of the world develops in this direction.
Statement by Markus Ruf, Ruf Lanz, on Rank 2 in the Creative Ranking 2022
"Ruf Lanz is the David among the Goliaths with eight heads".
"The news of our once again terrific performance in the creative rankings reached me in a jungle lodge in Colombia, via a WLAN network aptly named 'One Love'. I popped open a bottle of the local beer Happy Colibri and toasted our great customers first thing. The next bottle I raised to our talented employees and to my intrepid business partner Danielle. With the third bottle, I began to ponder what it would be like if the number of employees were included in the creative ranking. Ruf Lanz, with its eight employees, is the David among the Goliaths in the ranking. I'll spare you what I thought about the fourth bottle. Conclusion: We are pleased with the exhilarating result, but even more so with the consistency of being in the lead without interruption since 2002. 2022 was generally a good year for us, with wonderful new clients such as Tilsiter Switzerland, the Munich transport company MVG and the city of Zurich, and with additional projects from long-standing valued clients such as VBZ, BFU, Ex Libris and EWZ. Our focus for 2023: Continuing to keep at it spiritedly. And win a local beer brand!"
Statement from Swen Morath, Co-CEO and CCO at Wunderman Thompson, on Ranking 3 in the 2022 Creative Rankings.
"It's the result of constant hard work for creative excellence."
A huge thank you to our great customers and the fantastic WuThomClan. The podium position is a result of constant hard work for creative excellence. It's not about just "being" creative, but proving that creativity inspires growth. That's why we are particularly pleased to have won gold twice and silver once at the Swiss Effies. Also important for us is the fact that we won awards for a total of 7 different companies in 14 different categories ranging from multichannel to social media and digital to PR. This underlines our claim as a full-service agency.
Fiscal year 2022
We were able to welcome great new clients and, as Team Connect (Hogarth, Ogilvy, Scholz & Friends, Wunderman Thompson), convince the Migros specialist stores with a completely new WPP agency model. And we were able to live out our unique agency culture: with a 60th anniversary celebration, with aperitifs, trend breakfasts, summer parties, collision sprints, lunch and learns and, above all, with a now legendary Disney Christmas party - including a visit from the fire department.
Outlook 2023
The global crises have not disappeared, they also affect Switzerland and our work. That is why an excellent and inspiring relationship with our customers is an absolute priority for us. As a well-coordinated team at eye level, we can emerge from these difficult times stronger than before. And we continue to work on creating an environment for our employees in which they feel understood, appreciated and supported, so that they can do the best work of their careers.
