This year, Adweek is not only celebrating the best ad agencies in the business but also striving to help other shops understand what makes the best of the best truly stand out.
That’s why, for the first time, Adweek has a theme for its Agency of the Year awards: Building a Better Agency. We asked each finalist across all seven categories to explain how it is building a better agency for the future.
Last year, Mischief took home the title of Adweek’s U.S. Midsize Agency of the Year.
How we got here
Adweek invited any agency to enter (without a fee) its yearly Agency of the Year awards program by providing information about its past year and best work.
A team of Adweek editors and reporters combed through the entries and generated a list of five finalists in each category. Adweek’s internal jury deliberated over these finalists, taking into account three main factors:
- Business success: client wins and losses, revenue growth, strategy and use of technology
- The work: a reel featuring the agency’s 10 best and most effective pieces of creative
- Talent and ESG: creating an environment for employees to succeed through its culture and benefits, as well as advancing DEI and sustainability
On Oct. 10, Adweek will reveal the winning agencies. Below, in alphabetical order, are the finalists for U.S. Midsize Agency of the Year.
Colle McVoy
This Midwestern shop is closing in on its 90th birthday but has the look of a modern agency thanks to a transformation in the past few years. Colle McVoy attained B Corp status earlier this year and redesigned how its teams work together in order to be a more attractive agency to the next generation of talent.
After losing the Land O’Lakes account in 2021, the agency rebounded to make up for that revenue and then some thanks to a string of client wins like Stanley Black & Decker, Craftsman, La-Z-Boy and DeWalt. While the agency’s work speaks to similar audiences for many of those brands, it’s produced a variety of campaigns that use rock anthems for Craftsman, Luke Bryan-grown corn for tractor brand Fendt and custom sneaker drops for Cub Cadet to catch the attention of consumers.
How it’s building a better agency: “We are staying true to who we are. Becoming B Corp certified has connected our longstanding values to the future and gives our employees a greater sense of purpose and belonging. We know being a better employer attracts the best talent and having a people-first culture yields the best work,” said Christine Fruechte, CEO. “We’re built differently, we work differently, we’re wired differently, and we’ve future-proofed our model to unite teams to get to outsized results. We set the bar high for our people, which in turn does the same for our clients.”