Close-Up: Live Issue - Omnicom's networks shine in Gunn's new creative ranking.

Just how representative is the new consolidated Gunn Report?

Agencies around the globe have been squabbling for years over which of them has the strongest creative credentials.

Taking gold at any of the top awards shows, along with being recognised as a national leader, is no longer enough. In the increasingly global advertising community, being the best in the world seems to be the only accolade that matters for clients and agencies.

According to the consolidated Gunn Report 1999 to 2003, BBDO Worldwide is the most-awarded agency network of the past five years. Separately, the London arm of the network, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, earned second spot in the most awarded advertising agencies category.

Exactly how the gradings are determined remains one of the industry's most closely guarded secrets, known only by the report's creator, Donald Gunn, an ex-Cannes jury president and a former worldwide head of creative resources at Leo Burnett.

Meticulously researched and based on an intricate points system, the report totals up the winners from the key creative awards ceremonies across the 17 advertising markets where creative networks operate. Once the collating has been done, the story goes that Gunn 'breathes' on the report to ensure all the participants are in their rightful places.

His move to produce a five-year table demonstrates how the report has gathered momentum since its conception in 1999. It has earned a cult status while fuelling the increasingly cut-throat nature of a creative world eager to create an international league of champions.