Tag: WARC

WARC’s Health of Creativity 2026 report shows highly award-winning creative ideas double campaign impact

Stuart Mitchell

Each year, WARC tracks the results of the top regional and global award shows for creativity and effectiveness for the WARC Rankings, the ultimate benchmark for marketing. Using 11 years of WARC Rankings data of show results from 2015 to 2025, a total of 6,360 ideas have been analysed to assess the correlation between creativity and effectiveness, the characteristics of the best-in-class campaigns, and the creative conversion by sector, brand and agency work. Amy Rodgers, Head of Content, WARC Creative, says: “Mounting evidence demonstrates how creativity plays a crucial role…

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New WARC x LinkedIn research: How to build more Buyable brands. Introducing the 3Rs that make B2B brands more buyable

Stuart Mitchell

B2B buying has changed. Cycles now stretch 272 days with 22 stakeholders, and decisions are driven by social and emotional factors. Additionally, AI is changing how B2B buyers discover, research, and validate brands, with research finding that 94% of B2B buyers used LLMs during their buying journey in 2025. New research from WARC, LinkedIn, and LIONS Advisory reveals that the most effective B2B creative does more than build awareness, it strategically builds decision defensibility. An analysis of more than 700 best-in-class B2B campaigns found that the strongest performers consistently helped…

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Global retail ad market to hit $200bn milestone this year as growth momentum slows

Stuart Mitchell

The global retail media market continues to grow and evolve, with ad investment projected to surpass $200bn this year and reach $223bn by 2027, per WARC Media. However, growth is slowing towards single digits, and there are dangers of ‘enshittifying’ the shopper experience, which in turn may have a negative impact on campaign effectiveness, as retail media networks look to meet ambitious targets. Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, says: “The retail media landscape is maturing and consolidating, forcing marketers to rethink their approach. While retail media excels at…

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WARC reveals insights from the winners of the Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions 2026

Stuart Mitchell

Strategically integrating cultural insights, interactive experiences, strategic creator partnerships, and platform-native ideas into campaigns are key drivers of commercial success, according to a new report by WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness.  ‘Creative Effectiveness Lions – Insights from the 2026 winners’, identifies trends and themes common to the winners of this year’s Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions awards category, which rewards creativity that has also met business goals and driven sustainable impact over time.  Based on WARC’s exclusive access to the jury deliberations and analysis of the entries, the report…

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Effectiveness under threat in shift to social-first marketing

Stuart Mitchell

As brands pour ever more of their marketing budgets into social and creator content, new research from WARC warns that this strategy alone will not scale growth. The Pace Principle 2.0 finds that social and creator marketing – for all its speed and cultural relevance – hits three structural ceilings that no amount of additional content or paid media can break through alone.    The findings build on WARC’s landmark effectiveness study The Pace Principle, released last year, which found the most effective brands in Asia run at twin paces…

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