Who is making the best work across the region’s digital industry? We dove into work from over 25 countries to rank Europe’s best-performing teams in The Lovie Awards Heat Index. The annual report maps the region’s most creative hubs from the highest-awarded organisations in the 14th Annual Lovie Awards.

Below, we’ve listed the top countries, agencies, and companies setting the bar.

For the third consecutive year, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany lead the country index, followed by France and Spain.

We noticed a focus on narrative depth, cultural resonance, and experimentation with new technologies.

UK organisations like BBC Studios and 4creative stood out with storytelling rooted in culture and utility for audiences. Germany saw a surge in purpose-led work, with projects that tackled public health and historical memory from SERVICEPLAN and &why. Dutch agencies like DEPT® and Build in Amsterdam set the standard for emotionally intelligent, design-forward digital experiences. France mixed digital elegance with substance, with agencies like FCINQ and Studio Artefact 3000 crafting sleek editorial experiences. And in Spain, we saw a wave of storytelling rooted in history and identity from teams like La Tempesta to unique explorations of AI from RTVE.

Europe’s most successful agencies crafted work with depth. Campaigns felt like ecosystems, not just executions.

AI expanded beyond novelty to deepen experiences in code d’azur’s The Lotus Personal Showroom and DEPT®’s Meet Kenna. SERVICEPLAN brought human-centrism into sharp focus, with a no-stigma push in 855-HOW-TO-QUIT-(OPIOIDS) and climate advocacy in Space Trash Signs.

One-off campaigns were expanded into whole worlds, like in Build in Amsterdam’s ARK8. Taste and narrative precision also surfaced, with campaigns like The Missing Jewels fusing aesthetics and a point of view.

Europe’s top media players in 2025 blurred the lines between broadcast and art installation.

Leading with story, following with form, the top five aren’t just reporting the world but reflecting how we experience it using humour and artistic expression to cut through digital fatigue.

BBC Studios leaned into immersive, influencer-led science storytelling with #OurPlanetEarth, while Channel 4’s 4creative turned satire and stunt into high-impact commentary with Partygate and the surrealist Change Climate. From CGTN Europe’s Bristol to Beijing documentary to Al Jazeera’s unflinching reporting, cinematic long-form formats made a comeback.

Monks eclipsed the competition as the top production studio.

Each recognised team flexed their range, blending craft, conscience, and cinematic flair across formats. Monks delivered brand activism with Sephora’s mAI colpevoli, turning AI into a conversation starter around bias and beauty, while also forming high-adrenaline visuals in The Ultimate Ride for BMW.

Meanwhile, Schibsted Partnerstudio’s campaign, “Takeoff – Norwegian”, merged entertainment and advertising with a binge-worthy tone. Fiction met feeling in Merman’s People Who Knew Me, a scripted podcast exploring identity, while Loftus Media created the indie standout, Where Are You Going? From Lime Pictures’ TikTok-era Shakespeare remix to Artisan Films & TV’s unfiltered portrait of youth spaces in “The Centre,” teams aren’t just making content. In an age of scroll fatigue, their strategy is clear: substance sticks, not spectacle.

Brands this year showed how to celebrate legacy with innovation.

Whether embracing AI or archive, these brands played at the intersection of culture, craft, and clarity. Christie’s is making history feel current, reimagining luxury through docu-style films like Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection and Sylvette David on Being Picasso’s Muse. On a modern take, The Absolut Company tapped into tech with Absolut Intelligence and Malibu x Aries, merging AI with playful aesthetics and self-expression.

Vueling gave its digital touchpoints a design-forward refresh, streamlining UX without losing brand personality. And Westfalia Fruit innovated a stunning site design to tell a sustainability story that feels premium.

From low-fi weird to high-concept polish, podcasts this year played with genres and turned niche stories into universal listening.

Tomorrow.is brought true crime into slowcore territory with A Murder Without End, favouring depth. Talking Kinky spun sexual wellness into something both informative and subversively intimate, while Queerphoria from Auddy celebrated centering queer joy over trauma.

R&K Media’s This Paranormal Life dives into paranormal rabbit holes, mixing humour with lore for weekly listening. On the flip, New Tree Media’s En ze noemden me… Dientje! elevated historical fiction through scripted audio that felt cinematic. Five Radio Stations broke the fourth wall entirely with Infraordinary FM—a surreal, interactive web-radio experience.

These five companies reminded us that tech and design don’t mean much without empathy at the core.

SERVICEPLAN / PLAN.NET GERMANY turned AI into a force for healing and remembrance in #StopRepeatingStories, while DEPT® helped process the human condition, as seen in Seasons of Grief.

AKQA’s Pink Chip flipped investment into a feminist movement. Havas Media Network delivered layered, artful work—from Fine P(A)rts to The Hidden Story—with purpose. And Kreatives GmbH gave the Paralympic Games a vivid new narrative. Across every touchpoint, these teams used digital to build trust, accessibility, and resources for better living.

Enter The Lovie Awards to Join Europe’s Most Creative Companies

As the region’s foremost award for digital creativity, The Lovie Awards helps your work stand out in your market, in Europe and on the world stage. We are the only award to accept work in seven native languages, including Deutsch, English, Español, Français, Italiano, Nederlands, and Svenska.

Enter before our Final Entry Deadline on Friday, 27th June.

Project Methodology

In May 2025, we analysed digital projects from over 25 European countries entered into the 14th Annual Lovie Awards to understand where the best work on the Internet is being made and which creative teams are behind it. We pulled all results in The Lovie Awards Industry Heat Index, an annual report showcasing which regions and companies produced the highest-awarded projects in our award programme with insights about the work. Each country and organisation is listed in numerical order based on the number of recognised projects and points their work received. The Gold and People’s Lovie Awards are weighted more heavily in calculations.

Judging Methodology

Winners in the Lovie Awards are determined by a point system established by our Judges in the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Academy members independently inspect each entry and rate it based on their respective judging criteria, eventually casting ballots to determine Shortlisted, Bronze, Silver, and Gold winners. In addition, the public votes for their favourite projects in the competition, earning select companies a People’s Lovie Award. Categories may include multiple winners of Gold, Silver, or Bronze awards. Other entries worthy of recognition are eligible to receive special commendation from The Academy as Shortlisted work.