The 2018 Innovation SABRE Awards — North America Finalists 

This year's Innovation SABRE Award entries spanned an impressive breadth — the work touched on cultural moments, the political climate, social movements, technological change and, in some cases, unearthed innovation in unexpected places.  

There were also a record number of entries to the competition this year, which also means it was an exceptionally competitive year. For many categories, narrowing down the shortlist was especially challenging. And while lots of excellent work is recognized, some very strong contenders ultimately couldn't make the shortlist. Olson Engage and Ketchum lead the nominations — meanwhile, MullenLowe, M Booth, Allison + Partners, Weber Shandwick, W2O Group and Golin are among those agencies whose work is recognized multiple times for innovation. 

The winners were announced on the evening of Tuesday, February 13 at the InterContinental Hotel in New York. The gala followed the 5th Innovation Summit — North America that explored the collision of content, media and technology — and more.

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING 

LIVE EVENTS 

DIGITAL PROMOS & ACTIVATIONS
Adobe Make It On Mobile
Adobe with Golin 

McDonald's The FrorkTM for Signature Crafted Recipes
McDonald's with Golin
 
“A NIGHT AT” the Home of Guinness
Guinness Storehouse with Ogilvy

The One-Chip Challenge
Paqui with Olson Engage

Pair Up with JCPenney CSR Campaign
JCPenney with VP&C and M Booth

SPONSORSHIPS
Chess Empowers Students in the Face of Adversity

Driving Rare Disease Dialogue with a Daytime Drama – VoicesofMPN General Hospital Integration

 

Hisense Dual Threat Challenge
Hisense USA with Kwittken

The NFL Tastes The Rainbow

TRADE SHOWS & AWARDS
American Greetings Breaks Onto the Tech Scene at CES

Orbital Insight and the Bulleit Group: Awards Campaign

Semiconductor Maker to CES Journalists: "It's Not What We Make. It's What We Make Possible."

Women's Health In Bloom
AMAG Pharmaceuticals with Marina Maher Communications 

Zelle Gets Money Moving

EARNED MEDIA

BEST IN DIGITAL/PRINT CONSUMER MEDIA (EARNED)
All Pink Starburst

Kit Kat® Thief
Kit Kat® with Ketchum 

The One-Chip Challenge
Paqui with Olson Engage  

Social Saw It Coming
Socialbakers with Hotwire

YES Means TEST: Empowering Sexually Active Young Adults to Get Tested for STDs

BEST IN DIGITAL/PRINT B2B MEDIA (EARNED)
Corporate Profile in Inc. Magazine 

Forbes Cloud 100
Domo, Pluralsight, Sorenson Capital, Qualtrics with Method Communications 


How SAP Ariba Technology is Stomping Out Modern Slavery

Storytelling with Data: Instagram vs. Snapchat
Jumpshot with the Bulleit Group 

PRODUCT REVIEWS (Earned)
Can Do, Can Did: Creating the Canned Cocktail Movement
Cooper Spirits Company with KLG Public Relations 

JetBlue Vacations delivers Office Souvenirs

Now You’re Cookin’ with the New SmartChef® Gas Grill

Pantene Gold Series Launch Initiative 

SculpSure: A Smarter Way to Sculpt

BEST EARNED MEDIA WITH INFLUENCERS + COMMUNITIES
All Pink Starburst

Showcasing the Best Bites at 30,000 ft. with JetBlue

With Zumba Fitness, Despicable Me 3 Dances Its Way To Global Box Office Domination 

BEST PERSUASIVE CONTENT
Konnect helps Amber Rose find her voice for the 2017 Amber Rose SlutWalk

Show-and-tell Persuasion. Paris Beyond the Eyes of a Tourist.

“The Talk” – Creating a National Movement to End “The Talk” and Racial Bias

BEST CONTENT CREATION FOR MEDIA SITES (Earned)
For The Love of Hot Dogs
Oscar Mayer with Olson Engage 

McDonald's theSTRAW
McDonald's with Golin 

Power of Pizza

Trans102

With Zumba Fitness, Despicable Me 3 Dances Its Way To Global Box Office Domination 

BEST CONTENT CREATION FOR MEDIA SITES (Paid)

BEST INFLUENCER PROGRAMS + ENDORSEMENTS (Paid)

BEST MEDIA PARTNERSHIP
Uncharted Waters (Winner)
Land O'Lakes with Exponent PR  

HPE Takes Its Mars-shot (Finalist) 
Hewlett Packard Enterprise with Interfuse Communications, a Ketchum Company 

BEST IN SEO/CONTENT DISTRIBUTION (PAID + ORGANIC)
CloudCraze Digital Commerce ROI Campaign (Winner)

BEST IN DIGITAL MARKETING/ADVERTISING

Feeding the World, Acre by Acre
JetBlue's Tax Return Return Flight

SOCIAL MEDIA & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

BEST USE OF INTEGRATED SOCIAL MEDIA
Arla’s 12 Days of Grilled Cheese

BEST USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
Allstate #StreitCred

Adobe Make It On Mobile

Fractured Truth

Jack Link’s Reclusive Spokesbeast Sasquatch Helps the Brand Reclaim Its Spot on the Culture Map
Machine Learning Enables Alteryx to Dominate on Social Media

BEST USE OF VIDEO NETWORKS 
EnLIVEning the Conversation: Creating New Pathways for the MS Patient

BEST USE OF BLOGS
‘Great American Eclipse’ Flight (Winner)
Alaska Airlines with C+C

Allstate Canada's GOOD HANDS Blog; Moving Beyond Impressions (Finalist)

BEST IN BRAND NARRATIVES
American Greetings breaks onto the tech scene at CES

Genentech’s 40 Defining Moments

The Order of Cholula: Founding a Cult of Flavor

“The Talk” – Creating a National Movement to End “The Talk” and Racial Bias
Procter & Gamble / My Black Is Beautiful with EGAMI Group

VSL#3 & Me: User-Generated Consumer Video Series

BEST IN DIGITAL BRAND PLATFORMS

JetBlue's Tax Return Return Flight

Microsoft Story Labs

National Today: The World's First Viral Holiday Platform

The Order of Cholula: Founding a Cult of Flavor

BEST IN BRAND FILM/VIDEO

Dove and Shonda Rhimes Launch Real Beauty Productions

Encourage Everyday Connections with Give Meaning

For The Love of Hot Dogs

Push of a Finger

BEST IN BRAND ANIMATION VIDEOS
Explanimators Video Series

BEST USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS + PHOTOGRAPHY
All Pink Starburst

BEST IN AUDIO: PODCASTS + MUSIC

Rise to the Occasion: A Pizza Anthem

BEST IN IDENTITY BRANDING

Hitachi Vantara Brand Identity

ANALYTICS + INSIGHTS

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA OR ANALYTICS FOR AUDIENCE INSIGHTS OR INFLUENCER TARGETING

BEST USE OF ORIGINAL/COMMISSIONED RESEARCH FOR ENGAGEMENT 

BambooHR Bad Bosses Study

Jameson Gives Promising Musicians A Shot

Owler CEO Likeability Study

The Power of a Smile

BEST IN MEASUREMENT, POST-CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS

Bringing a New Generation of Campers to KOA

BEST IN MARKETING TECHNOLOGY
Beyond Impressions: Earned Audience Attention Index and Platform Delivers Actionable Media Relations Intelligence

Galileo6
Spectrum 

National Today: The World's First Viral Holiday Platform

Prove Your Business Impact

W2O Socialgraphics

AGENCY SPOTLIGHT

BEST AGENCY MARKETING
Global Relevance Review

The Launch of SourceCode Communications

Powerful Connections: 2017 Influence Impact Report

Protecting and Predicting Against Reputation Risk in Real Time

Wired by Nature, Swayed by Science

BEST AGENCY DISRUPTION - TOOLS & TACTICS
Accelerators of Relevance

Full Spectrum Measurement
Just Drive Media

Howler Soccer Ball Phone Video

"Kathy's Thoughts" Alexa Skill

#PRDiversity: The Struggle is Real

BEST AGENCY BLOG, EDITORIAL, COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM
Day One Agency Perspectives

BEST INITIATIVE — AGENCY
Fahlgren Mortine B2B Peer Summit

Driving Thought Leadership Among Emerging Leaders

Howler Soccer Ball Phone Video
Howler Media — Kovert Creative 

Clean Up At Cannes
Golin 

Event Series: Fake News, Real Consequences

#PrepareToProtect Healthcare Share Events

Unrivaled Thought Leadership at W2OatSXSW

SPECIAL CAMPAIGNS

BEST USE OF SOCIAL AND DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT ACROSS SECTORS

CORPORATE/B2B

BT "Must-Win" Campaign
Egon Zehnder Sparks International Leadership Diversity Progress

Honeywell Goes Live to Drive Demand Worldwide

HPE Takes Its Mars-shot

The Wolf with Christian Slater

CONSUMER GOODS

All Pink Starburst

ANA Welcome to Experience Class

Nuggs for Carter
Wendy's with Ketchum

The One-Chip Challenge
 

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
For Two-plus Years ASE Thought the Storm Would Blow Over. It Didn't. (Winner)

How innovative communications impact business transformation   
Bristol-Myers Squibb with Gagen MacDonald

Improving Open Enrollment   
UnitedHealth Group with Olson Engage

JJMDC Unites 53,000 Employees to Reach More Patients. Restore More Lives.
Johnson & Johnson Medical Device Companies with Marina Maher Communications (MMC)

HEALTHCARE

Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health

The Debate Headache
Driving Rare Disease Dialogue with a Daytime Drama – VoicesofMPN General Hospital Integration

Genentech’s 40 Defining Moments
Genentech with FleishmanHillard 

The Power of a Smile
 

FINANCIAL SERVICES/INSURANCE
Farm Credit Mid-America: Making Ag Finance Clickable

“Official Card of Sounders FC Fans” Campaign
BECU with C+C

SOCIAL GOOD/NON-PROFIT
Qualtrics 5 for the Fight

Sister March: Building A Movement

GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC AFFAIRS/LOBBYING
#LetsTrumpAddiction

TECHNOLOGY
Bringing On-Demand Retail to Rideshare

Hip Hop, STE(A)M & Tinkercad: Autodesk Brings Hip Hop Architecture Camps Nationwide

Writing Pimax Into The Record Books
Pimax with Dynamo Communications

LEAN MARKETING 

Making a Product Sing with Electric Jukebox

MICRO MARKETING

Hinge Milestone Marketplace

The Macallan: Women & Whisky
The Macallan with M Booth 

Moe's Ignites the Queso Wars!

Showcasing the Best Bites at 30,000 ft. with JetBlue

NEW TO MARKET

BEST NEW COMPANY LAUNCH 
Appian IPO
Appian with Highwire

Bringing On-Demand Retail to Rideshare
Cargo with Max Borges 

The One-Chip Challenge 
Paqui with Olson Engage

BEST NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH
The One-Chip Challenge

Push of a Finger
Gillette with Ketchum 

Writing Pimax Into The Record Books
Pimax with Dynamo Communications

Zima Returns

INNOVATION EXCELLENCE 

MOST INNOVATIVE PROJECT - UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE LEVEL
#PRDiversity: The Struggle is Real
The City College of New York ( CCNY), the Branding + Integrated Communications program ( BIC)

BEST IN SHOW - MOST INNOVATIVE 
We will countdown the five most innovative campaigns, selected from the evening's category winners.