TBWA takes out Network of the Year in Campaign Brief’s The Work 2026 with VML #2 + HAKUHODO #3
TBWA has taken out the Network of the Year title in Campaign Brief’s The Work 2026 after a strong performance across multiple APAC markets, recording 126 Acceptances and moving up from #2 in 2025.
The network’s result was led by TBWA\Lintas India with 27 Acceptances and TBWA\SMP Philippines with 24, with both agencies featuring prominently in the overall APAC rankings.
Further strong contributions came from TBWA New Zealand (18), TBWA\Media Arts Lab ISEA (15) and TBWA\Kuala Lumpur (14), all of which ranked among the Top 30 agencies in APAC. TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc. Tokyo (13), TBWA China (8) and TBWA\Singapore (7) also contributed to the network total.
TBWA has been a consistent high performer in The Work, having ranked #2 last year, #4 in 2024 and #1 in 2023. The network ranked #5 in 2022 and #2 in 2021.
VML ranks #2 this year with 119 Acceptances, after taking out the top network position in 2025. VML has emerged as a major creative force across APAC in recent years, climbing from #12 in 2021 to #7 in 2022, #5 in 2023 and #3 in 2024.
Leading VML’s performance this year was VML Thailand, with an impressive 36 Acceptances to rank #4 overall in APAC. VML Singapore and VML Australia also made strong contributions with 23 Acceptances each, ranking #1 in Singapore and #3 in Australia respectively.
VML New Zealand was the #1 ranked agency in its market and contributed 20 Acceptances, while VML Malaysia added a further 12.
HAKUHODO ranks #3 among networks with 82 Acceptances, led by Thailand creative powerhouse Wolf BKK. Wolf BKK scored 42 Acceptances to rank #1 in Thailand and #3 overall in APAC.
Hakuhodo International Indonesia and Medialand Digital Strategy Taiwan each contributed 13 Acceptances, while Pilot HAKUHODO Taiwan added nine. Hakuhodo International Indonesia ranked #1 in Indonesia, while Medialand Digital Strategy and Pilot HAKUHODO ranked #3 and #4 respectively in Taiwan.
Ogilvy ranks #4 among networks with 68 Acceptances, with Ogilvy Thailand and Ogilvy Taiwan again delivering strong performances with 21 and 20 Acceptances respectively. Both agencies ranked among the Top 20 agencies in APAC, with Ogilvy Taiwan ranking equal #1 in the Taiwanese market.
McCann and Leo share the #5 network ranking with 61 Acceptances each.
McCann’s result was dominated by McCann India, which delivered 48 Acceptances to rank #1 overall in APAC and take the APAC Agency of the Year title, as well as ranking #1 in India. McCann New Zealand contributed a further nine Acceptances.
It was a significantly improved performance from Leo, with its Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines offices all delivering 14 Acceptances and ranking among the APAC Top 30 agencies. Leo Bangkok also made a strong contribution with 13 Acceptances.
BBDO ranks #7 among networks with 55 Acceptances, led by creative powerhouse BBDO Bangkok, which accounted for 30 of the network’s total. The Thai agency ranked #6 overall in APAC and #3 in Thailand.
BBDO Guerrero Philippines contributed nine Acceptances, followed by BBDO China with seven, BBDO Hong Kong with five and BBDO India with four.
Publicis ranks #8 with 53 Acceptances, led by Publicis Hong Kong with 17. Publicis JimenezBasic Philippines contributed 13, Publicis Groupe Vietnam 10, Publicis Thailand seven and Brilliant & Million Thailand six.
Publicis Hong Kong and Publicis Groupe Vietnam both ranked #1 in their respective markets.
Dentsu rounds out the Top 9 networks with 45 Acceptances, led by Dentsu Creative Taiwan with 20. The Taiwan agency, a consistent high performer in the market, ranked equal #1 in Taiwan and #18 overall in APAC.
Dentsu Creative Thailand contributed 10 Acceptances, followed by Dentsu Creative Philippines with nine, dentsu Creative New Zealand with four and dentsu Redder Vietnam with two.
The Work recognises the best advertising and creative work from across the Asia-Pacific region. This year saw 4,230 entries submitted from 245 advertising agencies and production companies. While entries were slightly down on last year’s 4,349, the 2026 total is up from 4,189 entries in 2024. Australia generated the most entries with 947, followed by Thailand (815), India (739), the Philippines (692), Malaysia (260), Taiwan (176), China (144) and Singapore (126).
See full coverage of Agency winners from Campaign Brief’s The Work 2026.