Between M&A, leadership shifts, and the rise of AI, it was a whiplash year for agencies with a tumultuous ending. But ADWEEK’s 2025 Agency of the Year winners didn’t just weather the ups and downs but fired on all cylinders, delivering breakthrough creativity, business-moving strategy, and culture-shaping work for their clients.
At the same time, this pack of industry leaders — notably, 8 out of 11 of them independents — grew their businesses while attracting and retaining top talent and making their companies great places to work.
2025 US Agency of the Year: Mischief @ No Fixed Address
At five years old, Mischief @ No Fixed Address could have ended 2025 scaled up, sold, or fizzled out. But as ADWEEK’s U.S. Agency of the Year for the second time, Mischief forged its own path. The independent agency has matured from its scrappy underdog days into a partner for long-term brand building. Read the full story.
2025 Social/Influencer Agency of the Year: Billion Dollar Boy
As creators and social media have established themselves as core marketing channels, Billion Dollar Boy is reaping the rewards. With capabilities from brand building to performance marketing, BDB taps a network of more than 2,500 creators across 42 markets on behalf of its clients. On its way to the top of the creator marketing heap, BDB has managed to strike a tough balance: scaling globally without losing touch with culture. Read the full story.
2025 Breakthrough Agency of the Year: Special US
Special US kicked off 2025 amid major disruption. As wildfires swept through Los Angeles — home to the agency’s flagship U.S. office — the team raced to complete two high-profile Super Bowl campaigns. The chaos tested Special’s limits, but underscored its creative drive in what became its most successful year yet. Read the full story.
2025 Global Agency of the Year: Wieden + Kennedy
At the top of 2025, after a 27-year hiatus, Nike decided to return as a Super Bowl advertiser. It was a choice that put its longtime agency Wieden+Kennedy in the hot seat. In typical style, W+K surprised everyone with its approach — but that’s what W+K is known for: work that breaks through with worldwide cultural resonance. Read the full story.
2025 Multicultural Agency of the Year: IW Group
Amid a sharp pullback in diversity, equity, and inclusion progress this year, multicultural agency IW Group did more than just weather the storm. While revenues were only up slightly, from $23 million to $24 million year-over-year, president and chief momentum officer Nita Song described the agency as “stronger than we’ve ever been.” Read the full story.
2025 Small Agency of the Year: Mirimar
Mirimar is growing up — and making its mark. After being named ADWEEK’s Breakthrough Agency of the Year in 2024, the Venice, Calif.-based shop spent 2025 proving that momentum wasn’t a fluke. The agency added five new brand partners in 2025, including Poppi, Netflix, and BJ’s Restaurant as AORs, and expanded its relationship with Mammoth Brands’ Mando, Flamingo, and Lume. Read the full story.
2025 Midsize Agency of the Year: Known
In an industry dogged by vanity metrics and opaque economics, Known proves that transparency and profitability can coexist. The pitch to clients is simple: “We don’t lie,” said chairman and CEO Kern Schireson. Known charges only for the services and software in its proposals — no rebates, no hidden margins — with between 10% and 25% of its fees tied to clients’ business outcomes. In 2025, that model proved its worth. Read the full story.
2025 Innovation Agency of the Year: Code and Theory
When consumer attention shifts, Code and Theory transforms itself in response to the chaos. Then, with a staff of half creatives and half engineers, it helps its clients do the same. ADWEEK’s 2025 Innovation Agency of the Year launched in 2001 with the hypothesis that combining creativity with technology to solve problems was a missing link. The agency says its creative and engineering DNA is why more than 35 Fortune 500 companies have turned to Code and Theory when they need to hit the reset button. Read the full story.
2025 Agency Network of the Year: FCB
FCB has a lot to be proud of this year, but the celebration is bittersweet. It might feel funny to win an accolade when, as Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG in November, FCB was folded into BBDO — and has ceased to exist. But the machinations of holding company spreadsheet logic are distinct from the fact that FCB fired on all cylinders during what it didn’t realize was the final lap of its 151-year legacy. Read the full story.
2025 Independent Agency of the Year: Rethink
In its 25th year, Toronto-headquartered Rethink refused to coast on its legacy. The indie powerhouse expanded in its hometown, as well as New York, Montreal, and Vancouver, while sharpening the creative edge that made its name. “By any metric — financial, people, creative work — we’re better than we’ve ever been,” said Sean McDonald, global chief strategy officer and partner. Read the full story.
2025 International Agency of the Year: VCCP
Of all the work VCCP has produced in the past 12 months, none embodies the tech, strategy, and creativity fueling its next chapter more than “Daisy vs. Scammers.” Based on the insight that one in five Brits experience a fraud attempt every week, the privately owned agency used AI to develop a “grandmother” that answered nuisance calls and wasted scammers’ time by chatting about her cat, Fluffy. The campaign made global headlines and resulted in $45 million in earned media. It also saved U.K. consumers an estimated $3 million and won 48 awards in 2025, including five Cannes Lions. Read the full story.
