D&AD Rankings 2025
Calculations and Method for D&AD Awards Rankings 2025
Each year D&AD publishes their official table of the most successful companies, networks, countries and clients. The rankings are based on the results of the D&AD Awards. This page offers an overview of the methodology we use to determine each ranking.
Pencil winners and shortlisted companies are allocated points for each win. The points are then accumulated to determine the following categories:
- Advertising Agency of the Year
- Design Agency of the Year
- Production Company of the Year
- Client of the Year
- Brand of the Year
- Country of the Year
- Network of the Year
- Independent Agency Network
- Independent Agency of the Year
- Brand-Side Agency of the Year
- Individual Creative Rankings of the Year
The ‘Of the Year’ award for Advertising, Design, Production and Client will be announced at the D&AD Awards Ceremony. All remaining winners, along with full-ranking tables and individual rankings, will be published in the D&AD Annual.
Pencils = Points
When a company or client is credited on a piece of winning work, this win translates into points. The points depend on the award level, outlined below:
Black Pencil = 20 Points
White Pencil = 12 Points
Yellow Pencil = 9 Points
Graphite Pencil = 6 Points
Wood Pencil = 3 Points
The Shortlist = 1 Point
Credits are provided by the entrant on the D&AD entry site. All results are calculated based on this information.
Note: Only credits submitted at the point of entry via the D&AD entry site are used and cannot be changed retrospectively.
The agency, network or client with the highest number of points wins, subject to the number of unique wins:
- If the agency with the highest number of points has won for only one project then the ‘of the year’ award will go to the next agency with the highest number of points with more than one winning project
Additional Criteria
If two companies are ranked equally, then:
- In the first instance, we prioritise the entrant that received the higher level of awards
- If they are still equal, we prioritise the entrant with the higher number of total awards
- If they are still equal, we prioritise the entrant with the more unique entries
If multiple agencies are credited for a piece of work, or in instances of collaboration, each agency will receive the full points due.
Some categories and some company types, which are not deemed appropriate for the rankings, are excluded. A particular methodology therefore applies to each ranking.
In all cases, points are not attributed to the D&AD President’s Award winner.
Methodology: Advertising Agency of the Year
Advertising agency rankings are calculated using advertising agency credits across all Awards categories.
Methodology: Design Agency of the Year
Design agency rankings are calculated using design agency credits across all award categories.
Note: Only design-focused companies will be considered for these Design Agency rankings (i.e, companies such as brand-side design agencies, advertising agencies, VFX or post-production studios, motion design companies, tech companies or content agencies will NOT be included in the rankings).
Methodology: Production Company of the Year
Production company rankings are calculated using production agency credits across all Awards categories.
Note: The Production Company ranking will only include registered production companies. Production departments or divisions of advertising agencies will not be included.
Methodology: Client of the Year
Client rankings are calculated using client credits across all Awards categories.
Methodology: Country of the Year
Country rankings are calculated based on the location of all ranking credits submitted at the time of submission across all Awards categories. This information is provided by the entrant via the D&AD entry site.
For each piece of work:
- If the agencies are from the same country, the points are only counted once
- If multiple agencies are credited for a piece of work, or in instances of collaboration, each country will receive the full points due
Methodology: Network of the Year
Network rankings are calculated based on ranking credits submitted at the time of submission across all Awards categories. This information is provided by the entrant via the D&AD entry site.
For each piece of work:
- If the agencies are from the same network, the points are only counted once
- If the same agency is credited multiple times, the points are only counted once
Methodology: Independent Agency of the Year
Independent agency rankings are calculated based on the companies of the year credits for advertising agencies across all Awards categories.
Note: independent agencies aren’t owned by a larger holding company or group, but may still belong to a network.
Methodology: Independent Agency Network of the Year
Independent Agency Network of the Year rankings are calculated using agency network credits across all Awards categories.
Note: Independent Agency Networks aren’t owned by a holding company and are independently owned and operated.
Methodology: Brand-side Team of the Year
Brand-side (In-house team) rankings are calculated using all ranking credit information across all Awards categories.
Methodology: Individual Creative Rankings of the Year
Individual Creative Rankings are calculated using applicable credit roles across all Awards categories as collected once the shortlisted results are announced.
Note: Rankings are based on the credits submitted at the time of Award results announcements. If any individual creative credits are missing or incomplete, they will not be retroactively counted, and rankings will not be adjusted after the submission deadline. It is the entrant's responsibility to ensure that all relevant credits are submitted correctly and on time.
View past methodologies here:
