2024 was a year that asked hard questions of the ad industry—and didn’t wait around for easy answers.
Budgets were tighter, layoffs and contractions made regular headlines. Attrition slowed—not from satisfaction, but from necessity while investment and adoption in generative AI was rapid. Organic growth was slow, volatility in China has been a consistent theme, particularly for creative shops, many of which stagnated or declined year-on-year. In some cases, agencies dragged their parent companies’ revenues down with them.
Even in a tough year, there were bright spots. A handful of agencies delivered work that won metals and tapped into culture, driving real business impact for clients. But true, head-turning creativity was rare. Few agencies fired on all cylinders, and while some proved the value of bold ideas, the bigger picture is harder to ignore: the industry’s challenges are no longer just financial, they are existential.
Generative AI was the dominant theme of the year. Agencies rushed to adopt it, use it, automate workflows, data, buying and, in some cases, even generate ideas. But for all the excitement, the results were mixed. Too often, real business impact of AI adoption was hard to make out. There’s no denying its potential to reshape the industry—but right now, there is limited evidence to say if its elevating creativity or stripping it of its soul?
It’s no exaggeration that 2024 was an inflection point, but 2025 will redraw the map The impending IPG-OMG merger will redraw boundaries, business models will be torn down and rebuilt, and client loyalties will be tested in ways we can’t yet predict. Will true blue creativity stand out, or the might of scale and size? One thing is certain: those clinging to outdated practices are guaranteed to fail.
As the industry braces for this new era, Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Agency Report Cards return for their 22nd year with a comprehensive and detailed evaluation of APAC’s leading marcomms networks.
The grades for 25 leading agencies are in.
The Agency Report Cards are available to Campaign members only. |
What’s changed in 2024?
This year, we’ve changed gears. Each report card is now in a SWOT analysis format for a sharper and more actionable perspective. While we continue to grade agencies across the five metrics—business, innovation, DEI & sustainability, creativity & effectiveness, and management—we’ve adjusted the weighting to better reflect the realities and challenges the agencies face right now.
Previously, each category was weighted equally. Now, recognising the increasing importance of growth and adaptation in the current market, we’ve placed greater emphasis on business and innovation, each accounting for 20% and 25%, respectively, of the overall grade. Creativity & effectiveness remains a crucial driver at 25%, while DEI & sustainability and management each contribute 15%.
We’ve also updated the agency roster. Carat has been consolidated into Dentsu Media to reflect its structure more accurately. RGA was removed due to sale-related changes, and W+K, AKQA, and Grey retired due to their reduced regional footprint.
Result trends
The 2024 Report Cards revealed a concentration of agency performance within the B and C bands—evidence of a competitive but cautious market. This year’s top performers were media agencies, all earning A- grades. Their consistency in business growth and operational execution, combined with a clear focus on innovation, allowed them to rise above the rest in a year where excellence was difficult to sustain.
B+ grades were awarded to five agencies, a few of which enjoyed an award-heavy year with wins at Campaign AOY, Cannes Lions or LIA. Yet despite these accolades, creative performance overall remained firmly in the middle of the bell curve. Agencies known for exceptional creative pedigree landed in the B or B- range. These scores weren’t a reflection of poor work, but of broader economic headwinds: Cautious client budgets, shifting business priorities, and a global pivot toward AI that is reshaping the very foundations of ideation and delivery.
The mid-section of the curve was densely populated.
Several agencies produced quality work or made strides in innovation and DEI, but were held back by uneven business growth or inconsistencies across other key categories.
Ten agencies sat in the C+ tier—showing sparks of progress in isolated areas but lacking cohesion across the full spectrum of assessment. At the lower end, one media agency and one creative agency received C grades, reflecting a need for more sustained momentum across business and brand-building metrics.
Importantly, no agency scored below a C—indicating a minimum standard of performance is being maintained across the board. But the journey from stability to standout remains steep. The agencies that will climb further in 2025 will be those that can tightly align creativity, commercial output and future-facing strategy with greater consistency and clarity of purpose. Dive into the full reports to see how the APAC region’s top agencies measured up in 2024.
 CRITERIA We assess each agency network in the following categories: 1. Business growth: We assess a combination of overall revenue, new-business revenue (using both reported figures and recorded figures from 2023 in Campaign AI‘s new business agency rankings using data from consultancies R3 and COMvergence), organic growth, profitability, client wins and losses, and diversification of revenue. 2. Innovation: A qualitative assessment of Asia-based initiatives and innovations based on their improvements to the agency, people, clients and industry. 3. DEI & Sustainability: We qualitatively assess the degree of commitment to progress in both of these areas, recognising initiatives at holding group level but with more weight given to regional and local initiatives. 4. Creativity & Effectiveness: Compelling and effective campaign work, judged qualitatively. Regional and global awards recognition is included, with higher weighting given to wins at major shows. Work demonstrative of high effectiveness for clients is also considered. 5. Management: A qualitative assessment of leadership performance based on the four categories above plus other elements, such as key regional decisions, management stability, contributions to the industry by agency leaders, commitment to staff training and development, staff annual turnover, and more. PROCESS Most agencies complete a written submission form that asks for details across all aspects of the business. Based on this submission, plus extensive independent research and, in most cases, an hour in conversation with the agency’s regional leader(s), Campaign Asia-Pacific‘s senior editors assess each agency’s performance across the five grading categories, assigning a grade between 0 and 10 in each category. These point values and their letter-grade equivalents are shown below. Once the five category grades are assigned—and discussed at length by the editors—a final grade is calculated by averaging the five grades. The numerical averages first provide a more granular view of how each agency has progressed or regressed.
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