WPP was today named the most creative company of the year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

WPP agencies collected a total of 176 Lions, including 1 Titanium Lion, 4 Grand Prix, 36 Gold, 47 Silver and 88 Bronze, with winners representing 40 different countries.

For the first time since 2019, the Cannes LIONS International Festival of Creativity took place in person to showcase the best creative work from around the industry.

A total of 25,464 entries from 87 countries which, combined, provided a phenomenal insight into creative marketing globally. The sheer volume of entries demonstrated the value of creativity to corporates, to trade and to growth.

Ogilvy was awarded Network of the Year and took home a Titanium Lion together with Wavemaker for Shah Rukh Khan My Ad for Cadbury, a data-driven campaign that personalised ads for local businesses impacted by COVID-19.

WPP winners and shortlisted entries came from every part of the company, and from across its agencies. VMLY&R won a Grand Prix for its I Will Always Be Me campaign for Dell and Intel, designed to make it easier for people with motor neurone disease to bank their voice by reading a story, and a Grand Prix for Maxx Flash’s The Killer Pack, which helps, through biodegradable packaging, combat deadly diseases like malaria and dengue caught outdoors in India. Speaking in Color for Sherwin Williams by Wunderman Thompson won the Grand Prix for Creative B2B – a prestigious win in the inaugural year of this category – for its voice-activated colour-selection system. A Grand Prix for Media Placement was also awarded to MediaCom’s Hope Reef for Mars Petcare (with AMV BBDO).

The Creative Company of the Year award is given to the company which earned the most points across its agencies. WPP was also the most awarded company in the Creative Business Transformation category, reflecting the company’s expertise in creating new and innovative products and services for clients, and reimagining customer experiences or business models.

The award comes at the end of a week when WPP also announced a pro bono partnership with the government of Ukraine on a global campaign to demonstrate that Ukraine is open for business, launched an initiative with IBM to tackle bias in advertising technology, and supported the industry’s global Ad Net Zero plan that follows the lead of WPP’s own net zero commitments announced last year.