WPP has taken the top two creative network honours at Cannes Lions 2026, with Ogilvy and VML finishing first and second in the festival's network rankings.

The result hands the holding company a one-two finish at the industry's most closely watched creative awards competition. Ogilvy and VML — two of WPP's flagship agency brands — claimed the leading positions in the creative network category, the ranking that aggregates award performance across a network's offices worldwide.

WPP announced the outcome on its corporate site under the headline "WPP agencies triumph at Cannes Lions 2026, with Ogilvy and VML claiming the top two creative network honours."

What does a one-two network finish mean?

The creative network rankings at Cannes Lions measure cumulative performance: Lions won, shortlist placements and points accrued across every agency office competing under a network's banner. A first-and-second finish means WPP networks did not simply win — they outperformed every rival network in aggregate creative output across the week of judging.

For WPP, the result functions as an external validation of its creative product at a moment when holding companies compete aggressively for premium creative talent and accounts. Ogilvy and VML sitting in the top two slots also concentrates the honours within a single parent company, rather than splitting them across rival groups as often happens.

Who are the winners?

• Ogilvy — the long-established global agency network, a perennial contender for the network title.
• VML — the network formed from the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, now one of the largest creative agencies in the world by scale.

Both operate under the WPP umbrella, which has positioned creative performance at Cannes as a core proof point of its strategy.

What changes in the race?

A sweep of the top two network positions resets the benchmark for next year's competition. Rival networks will now measure their 2027 campaigns against a bar set not by one WPP agency but by two.

The result also sharpens the internal dynamics at WPP itself: with Ogilvy and VML occupying the two top spots, the question for the coming year is which of the two networks can convert momentum into a repeat — and whether a competitor network can break the pairing's grip on the podium.

Cannes Lions remains the reference point for global creative rankings, and network honours are among the most coveted titles handed out at the festival. The 2026 edition has now placed both of those titles inside one holding company.