• Liberty Global, the American cable giant, has agreed a $23.3bn (£14.9bn) deal to buy Virgin Media, renewing the rivalry between Liberty's controlling shareholder John Malone and BSkyB-founder Rupert Murdoch.

• Publicis is to merge its digital agencies Digitas and LBi to create a single network called DigitasLBi.

• DraftFCB's media department shifts to sibling shop in Interpublic reorg.

The results of The Gunn Report 2012 are now available in full at www.gunnreport.com

Highlights from the 2012 Report include:

The Most Awarded Commercials in The World in 2012

Canal+ • The Bear (BETC, Paris) triumphs in the Film table and also takes the prize as the most awarded commercial in the 14 year history of The Gunn Report.

2. BGH Silent Air • Dads In Briefs campaign (Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires)

3. Doritos Dips • Dip Desperado (AMV BBDO, London)

4. Chipotle • Back To The Start (Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles)

5. John Lewis • The Long Wait (Adam&EveDDB, London)

The Most Awarded Print Ads & Campaigns in The World in 2012

Samsonite Suitcases • Heaven And Hell (JWT Shanghai) became the first ever ad to top the table 2 years in a row. It is now the most awarded Print ad in the 14 year history of The Gunn Report

2. Pictionary • Quick Draw Wins campaign (Ogilvy Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur)

3= Coca-Cola • #Cokehands (Ogilvy & Mather, Shanghai)

3= Ministry of Defence Colombia • Rivers of Light (Lowe-SSP3, Bogota)

5= The Sunday Times Rich List • Rich List 2012 (CHI & Partners, London)

5= Volkswagen Park Assist • Nightmare Spots campaign (DDB, Sydney)

The Most Awarded Digital in The World in 2012

Intel • The Museum of Me (Projector, Tokyo) created absorption without end for the self absorbed to top the table. The second time Projector has topped the table (also for Uniqlo in 2008).

2= Google Chrome • OkGo – All Is Not Lost (Hakuhodo, Tokyo)

2= Philips • Obsessed With Sound (Tribal DDB, Amsterdam)

2= US State Department • Slavery Footprint (Muh-Tay-Zik/Hof-fer (San Francisco)

5= American Express • Small Business Gets An Official Day (CP+B, Boulder/Digitas, NY)

5= Chipotle • Back To The Start (Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles)

5= CNN • The CNN Ecosphere (Heimat, Berlin)

5= Skittles • Touch The Rainbow (BBDO, Toronto)

The Most Awarded All Gunns Blazing in The World in 2012

The winner in this table, Amex’s “Small Business Gets An Official Day” (from Boulder, Colorado), obliged the US Senate to vote in a new and permanent Official Day in the national’s calendar.

2. National Australia Bank • Break Up (Clemenger BBDO Proximity, Melbourne)

3= Engagement Citoyen • The Return of Dictator Ben Ali (Memac Ogilvy Label, Tunis)

3= Mercedes-Benz F-Cell • The Invisible Drive (Jung von Matt, Hamburg)

5. Troy Public Library • Book Burning Party (Leo Burnett, Detroit)

The Most Awarded Countries in The World in 2012

The USA wins again. Australia has its best ever ranking in 3^rd place. A total of 58 countries scored at least one point. Tunisia makes it in for the first time, taking the number of countries ever to appear in the Top 25 up to 40.

2. UK

3. Australia

4. Japan

5= Argentina

5= Brazil

The Most Awarded Advertisers in The World in 2012

Top three were the same as last year but in a different order. Volkswagen go back to the top for the 11^th time in 14 years. Both Coca-Cola and Mercedes-Benz had their highest ever ranking.

2. Google

3. Nike

4. Coca-Cola

5. Mercedes-Benz

The Most Awarded Production Companies in The World in 2012

MJZ back at the top for the 7^th time.

2. Soixan7e Quin5e (Paris)

3. Rattling Stick (London, Los Angeles)

4= Nexus (London)

4= Primo (Buenos Aires)

4= Propaganda (Tunis)

The Most Awarded Director in The World in 2012

Director of “The Bear”, Matthijs van Heijningen is the clear winner in the Director’s table.

2. The Glue Society (Australia, UK)

3. Nico&Martin (Argentina)

4= Johnny Kelly (UK)

4= Tom Kuntz (USA)

The Most Awarded Agency in The World in 2012

Wieden+Kennedy (Portland, New York) move up from 2^nd last year to 1^st in 2012. 3 of the top 5 have previously been no 1.

2. Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi (highest ever ranking)

3. BBH (London) (highest ever ranking)

4. AlmapBBDO (Sao Paulo)

5= Adam&EveDDB (London)

5= Dentsu (Tokyo / Fukuoka)

The Most Awarded Agency in Digital in The World in 2012

First time winner from Japan - Hakuhodo (Tokyo)

2= AlmapBBDO (Sao Paulo)

2= R/GA (New York)

4= DDB / Tribal DDB (Amstelveen)

4= Party Inc (Tokyo)

The Most Awarded Agency Network in The World in 2012

Rankings 1 to 4 are the same for the fourth year in a row. DDB closed the gap on BBDO who won for the 7^th year consecutive year. In the 14 years of The Gunn Report, DDB has won in the Networks table twice, Leo Burnett and TBWA once each. And BBDO all the other 10 times.

2. DDB

3. Ogilvy

4. Leo Burnett

5. Y&R (highest ever ranking)

“It’s both an interesting as well as challenging time for our Industry as it gets redefined… To create work that rises above the challenge of this changing world, media and mind space around us is no mean feat”, commented the Guest Editor for 2012, Prasoon Joshi, President of McCann South Asia in his Intro. He also contributed his own personal commentary on The Report and chapters on the most awarded work in the Film, Print, Digital and All Gunns Blazing tables as well as being involved in making the final selections for The Showreel of The Year.

“2012 has got to go down as one of the strongest years in TGR ever”, says Donald Gunn. “There is so much awesome work clustered at the top end of our four tables for the Ads, not just for sheer magic in execution but also thanks to brilliant, daring and differentiating strategies. In Film alone “The Bear”, “Three Little Pigs”, Chipotle “Back To The Start” and “Dads In Briefs” would all have been worthy Cannes Grand Prix winners in a normal year.”

The tables in full, along with commentaries and all the winning work (as well as the 100 commercials appearing on the Showreel of The Year) are available to view at The Gunn Report online - www.gunnreport.com.

The book of The Gunn Report & Showreel of The Year 2012 will be available in early March and will include the results of The Gunn Report for Media 2012. It can be pre-ordered online now.

Three-Day Festival Celebrates the Art and Craft of the Industry with Keynote Oliviero Toscani and Other Leading Creative and Art Visionaries

NEW YORK— January 28, 2013—The Art Directors Club (ADC), the first global creative collective of its kind and longest standing organization championing the visual arts, announced today the program for the global ADC 92nd Annual Awards + Festival of Art and Craft in Advertising and Design. The three-day festival will be based out of W South Beach in Miami Beach from April 2-4, 2013.

Unlike any other industry event, the ADC 92nd Annual Awards + Festival of Art and Craft in Advertising and Design inspires international advertising, design, and visual communications professionals to reconnect and recommit to the art and craft of their industries by inspiring their inner artist. The Festival will feature interactive, hands-on workshops led by key industry visionaries throughout each day, the ADC Design Night Celebration, the ADC 92nd Annual Awards Gala, parties and social gatherings throughout the week, and of course the beauty and culture that is South Beach.

“The ADC is recommitting to its roots: the art and craft of advertising and design, and this Festival is the epitome of our vision. Instead of listening to speakers, our Festival will feature interactive workshops where we'll learn, play and be inspired again in an environment designed for lots of networking,” said Ignacio Oreamuno, Executive Director, ADC. “The unveiling of the 92nd Annual Awards winners will be done in a manner and magnitude that has never been done before.”

Confirmed Festival Presenters are as follows:

• Oliviero Toscani (Keynote Speaker and Host of the ADC Design Night Celebration)– world-renowned photographer
• Bruce Mau– designer and co-founder and director of Massive Change Network
• Jon Contino –alphastructaesthetitologist and illustrator
• Laurie Rosenwald – the world’s most commercial artist
• Sean Kenney – professional kid and LEGO certified professional
• Rafaël Rozendaal – visual artist
• Kyle MacDonald – founder of the One Red Paperclip project

Attendees should come prepared to be surprised, inspired, and turned-on by the commitment to art and craft celebrated at the ADC 92nd Annual Awards + Festival of Art and Craft in Advertising and Design. From laying bricks in South Beach to honing their design thinking and design leadership skills under the sun, festival attendees will not only gain inspiration, they will also gain a new perspective on themselves, their career and their industry.

The Festival will culminate on Thursday evening, April 4, with the ADC 92nd Annual Awards Gala at the New World Center, home of the renowned New World Symphony. Designed by Frank Gehry, the New World Center boasts state-of-the-art technological capabilities and an inspirational space within which the winners will receive their Cubes for achievement in art and craft in today's visual communications industries.

Entrants are eligible for best-in-show in Advertising, Design and Interactive categories, as well as cumulative awards for Design Team of the Year, Advertising Agency of the Year, Interactive Agency of the Year, Network of the Year and School of the Year, based on winning point totals for the year.

All-Inclusive Festival Passes include three complimentary nights of accommodations at one of Miami Beach’s top hotels: W South Beach or Shore Club. In addition, passes allow for entrance to all of the workshops and daytime activities, the 92nd Annual Awards Gala and the ADC Design Night Celebration, not to mention all the parties.

For more information and details about the ADC 92nd Annual Awards + Festival of Art and Craft in Advertising and Design please visit http://www.adcawards.org/festival/. The Festival is presented with the support of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, and sponsorship by iStockphoto and Adobe.

About the Art Directors Club
Founded in 1920, the Art Directors Club is the premier organization for leaders in visual communication, boasting one of the most concentrated groups of creative talent in the world. A not-for-profit membership organization, the ADC’s mission is to Connect creative professionals around the globe, while simultaneously Provoking and Elevating world-changing ideas. The ADC provides a forum for creatives of all levels in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries.

Join the first international creative collective of its kind, and follow ADC on Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo and Pinterest.

About iStockphoto
iStockphoto offers easy, affordable inspiration with millions of vetted, royalty-free photos, illustrations, videos and audio tracks. Using the most advanced search in the business, customers download a file every second from a collection of more than ten million files for business, marketing and personal projects. iStockphoto started in 2000, pioneering the micropayment photography business model, and has become one of the most successful and profitable user-generated content sites in the world. iStockphoto pays out more than $1.7 million weekly in artist royalties. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images.

About Adobe

Adobe is changing the world though digital experiences. We help our customers develop and deliver high-impact experiences that differentiate brands, build loyalty, and drive revenue across every screen, including smartphones, computers, tablets and TVs. Adobe content solutions are used daily by millions of companies worldwide—from publishers and broadcasters, to enterprises, marketing agencies and household-name brands. Building on our established design leadership, we enable customers not only to make great content, but to manage, measure and monetize it for maximum impact. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

Contact

Megan Sweat

megan.sweat@digennaro-usa.com

212.966.9525