The award ceremony of the 45th edition of the Grand Prix for Agencies of the Year aimed at distinguishing the most efficient communication advice brands on the market, took place on Thursday December 19, 2024.
The 2024 Awards crown TBWAGROUPE FRANCE as Communications Group of the Year, ACCENTURE SONG as International Advertising Agency of the Year and TBWAPARIS as Advertising Agency of the Year, AUSTRALIEGAD as Independent Communications Group of the Year, BELLE as Independent Advertising Agency of the Year, among others.
Placed under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture, this prize also benefits from the aegis of the main professional associations and is supported by the professional press. Each year, it is an opportunity to distinguish the most efficient and emerging communication brands, based on a study of agencies, supervised by a selection commission bringing together independent specialists in this market (a merger & acquisition consultancy , a headhunter, a lawyer and a chartered accountant) according to criteria of evolution of their turnover or their gross margin, the acquisition of new budgets, the loyalty of their customers, and the creativity of their campaigns as awarded during of the main major prizes and festivals of the profession.
The 2024 Honorary Committee
HONORARY PRESIDENT: Stéphane ABITBOL, president of the LEVENEMENT association and the S’CAPE agency
GODMOTHER : Isabelle MUSNIK, founder of INFLUENCIA
GODFATHER : Benoît HEIBRUNN, professor of marketing-communication at ESCP Business School
GUEST OF HONOR: Catherine SAINT LOUBERT, founder of the ACADEMY OF NEWBIZ
Communicators of the Year 2024
COMMUNICATION PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR:
Thierry REBOUL, Executive Director of Creation and Ceremonies for the PARIS 2024 Olympic Games and his special collective prize rewarding his closest operational team
COMMUNICATIONS ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR:
David JONES, founder and President of THE BRANDTECH GROUP
Vincent DUCREY & Emmanuel VIVIER, co-founders of the HUB INSTITUTE
THE COMMUNICATIONS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR:
Xuoan DUQUESNE, general director of LA RECLAME
MEDIA ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR:
Valentin RICHARDOT & Laurent GARROUTE, associate directors of J’AI UN POTE DÉ LA COM
On the occasion of this 45th edition, tribute is paid to:
- The team of Thierry REBOUL, Executive Director of Creation and Ceremonies of COJO PARIS 2024, assisted by the PANAME 2024 agencies (Auditoire + Havas Events + Obo + Ubi Bene + Double2) and HOPSCOTCH Groupe, for these stagings which will mark the history of the Olympic Games for a long time… And the market in 2024:
- To the advertising trails (presented by LA MAISON DE LA PUBLICITE for the occasion) by: Alain Delon, Michel Blanc, Françoise Hardy, Bertrand Suchet).
- As well as ACT RESPONSIBLE in favor of the ” advertising for a better world ! »
AGENCIES OF THE YEAR 2024
ADVERTISING COMMUNICATION SIGNS:
The Communication Group of the Year: TBWAFRANCE GROUP
International Advertising Agency of the Year: ACCENTURE SONG
Advertising Agency of the Year: TBWAPARIS
The Independent Communications Group of the Year: AUSTRALIA STREET
The Most Creative Agency of the Year: BUZZMAN
Independent Advertising Agency of the Year: BELLE
The Most Creative Independent Agency of the Year: STEVE
Challenger Agency of the Year: BEARIDEAS
The Iconoclastic Agency of the Year: GLORY PARIS
The Regional Communication Agency of the Year: HOOP DANCE
The Communication Agency of Tomorrow: HUMANFISH
BRAND COMMUNICATIONS AGENCIES:
Innovative Agency of the Year: PANAMA 24
Branding Consulting Agency of the Year: FUTUREBRAND
Brand Experience Agency of the Year: AUDIENCE
Brand Content Agency of the Year: R2
The Event Communication Agency of the Year: SHORTCUT EVENTS
Luxury Communications Agency of the Year: SIENNA
The Life-Style Communication Agency of the Year: PEOPLE & YOU
Food Communication Agency of the Year: GULFSTREAM COMMUNICATION
International Health Communications Agency of the Year: TBWAADELPHI
The Independent Health Communications Agency of the Year: FMAD
CSR Communication Agency of the Year: BAD WORDS
Special Favorite Prize out of competition: HOPSCOTCH GROUPE
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AGENCIES:
The Responsible Communications Group of the Year : WMH PROJECT
Corporate Communications Agency of the Year: NEWGATE CLAY/SEC
The Influencer Communications Agency of the Year: BABYLON
Crisis Communications Agency of the Year: BACKBONE CONSULTING
Business Communications Agency of the Year: MASCARET
Institutional Communication Agency of the Year: CORIOLINK
Public Affairs Consulting Agency of the Year: CNTVRS
Financial Communications Agency of the Year: CICOMMUNICATION
Public Relations Agency of the Year: ZMIROV COMMUNICATION
Editorial Communication Agency of the Year: ABOUT
Special Prize for Resilient Communications Agency of the Year : I&S
The Young Communication Agency of the Year: IKIGAÏ
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AGENCIES
Influencer Marketing Agency of the Year: YKONE
Digital Agency of the Year: CONVERSATIONAL
Media Agency of the Year: FROM ALLMA
Social Media Agency of the Year: THE SOURCE
Integrated Communications Agency of the Year: NOVEMBRE CREATIVE BUSINESS PARTNER
Activation Agency of the Year: TLC MARKETING FRANCE
The Junior Communication Agency of the Year (Toulouse Business School): SQUADRON
B2B Talks
Analysis by Henri-Christian Schroeder, founder of the Agencies of the Year Grand Prix
According to the analysis of Henri Christian Schroeder, founder of the Grand Prix des Agencies of the Year: “ This 45th edition of the GRAND PRIX DES AGENCIES OF THE YEAR clearly illustrates the return to normal of the market in 2023after the catch-up effect of the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, then currently an improvement with a year 2024 boosted by the PARIS 2024 Olympic Games and marked by a continuous restructuring of the agency market around three major poles:
(1) Large international groups listed on the stock exchangelike ACCENTURE SONG, and TBWA (Omnicom) – celebrating its 40th anniversary – are establishing themselves as the main alternative with the most complete and diversified integrated international offer compared to the two large, historically dominant national groups PUBLICIS and HAVAS.
(2) Independent groups combine several complementary businessesaround the brand, the consumer or the company, more and more often backed by investment funds financing their diversification, or even the succession of their shareholder founders, where the large listed groups have often already stocked up of their purchases. AUSTRALIEGAD also embodies the oldest brand still independent on the market for 40 years, raising high the flag of creativity free from any constraints imposed by international staffs. At the other end of the spectrum, OKO is also another illustration which has established itself in corporate multi-communication.
(3) Independent, creative, specialized, sectoral agencies (like GULFSTREAM, FMAD, TERRE DE SIENNE, LES GENS ET YOU) or recent ones (like HUMANFISH, or IKIGAÏ) real uninhibited spurs of an increasingly intense competition delivered by advertisers favoring agility, audacity, short decision-making, fast and local, and creations sticking to the societal and cultural specificities of the domestic market. Brands like BELLE, STEVE, BEARIDEAS, GLORY, HULA HOOP or LES GROS MOTS clearly illustrate this offer, which increasingly competes at the margins with the large establishment groups and even their most creative flagship subsidiaries like BUZZMAN – in favor of SMEs, start-ups, family businesses, even second brands or challenger brands of major international advertisers.
On the supply side of agencies equipped to support companies and brands internationally on significant omnichannel budgets, and alongside leaders, such as the brand new generation ACCENTURE SONG or the essential TBWA and its subsidiary ADELPHI, we are witnessing the emergence of highly ambitious and creative specialized networks and agencies like AUDITORY, YKONE and SHORTCUT.
In commercial activation of brandsa brand like TLC MARKETING is capable of handling promotional and stimulation operations in favor of global advertisers.
On the side ofagencies’ digital offering – like R2, CONVERSATIONNEL, THE SOURCE, NOVEMBER, ALLMATIK – the cards fall suddenly on the market due to being sandwiched between, on the one hand, the trivialization of the classic interactive offer by the entire market , and on the other hand, by the tsunami of big data, cross-media automation and even more generative artificial intelligence, which are profoundly changing the consulting skills of agencies, their organization and their deliverables, but also – and above all – their economic model – already tested by a domestic culture – ultimately penalizing for the brands – of remuneration and wild competition between agencies by a minority of advertisers not yet always playing the best practices of fair, transparent, ethical, sufficiently documented and compensated consultation. The UDM, the Advertisers’ Club, the AACC, the SCRP, Léveil, the ADC and agency choice advice (such as VT SCAN) have a growing and irreplaceable educational and regulatory role here.
This year we must also note the totally unique and innovative case of PANAME-24created specifically to manage the event aspects of the PARIS 2024 Olympic Games (brotherly associating the usually competing agencies AUDITOIRE, HAVAS EVENTS, UBI BENE, OBO and DOUBLE-2) which is already exploring the next opportunities for world sporting events (or others) of more and more ambitious to which this brand of a new type could bring its exceptional experience.
As for CSR – which has the example of WMH PROJECT and LES GROS MOTS -, this new standard shows to what extent the entire market is now obliged to adapt to it, and this in an increasingly demanding environment, governed by multiple regulations , labels, guarantees, charters, consumer associations and after-sales service aimed at controlling and regulating this jungle still invaded by too many greenwashers.
On the side of consulting agencies operating in the business marketmore or less recent expert operators are emerging such as BACKBONE CONSULTING, MASCARET, CNTVRS, CLAI, CORIOLINK or BABYLONE providing governance advice on increasingly sensitive, multidimensional and complex strategic subjects with high leverage of influence. on their clients’ stakeholders. These brands are also joined by agencies such as ZMIROV, I&S, CICOMMUNICATION, offering particularly specialized and competitive expertise.
