Innovation SABRE Awards North America 2025 finalists

The 2025 Innovation SABRE Awards North America shortlist was selected from more than 900 entries in this year's competition, which recognizes Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation and Engagement.

The 2025 North America Innovation SABRE Awards winners will be announced during the 2025 PRovoke Summit + Innovation SABRE Awards on February 19 at RPM Events in Chicago.

The Innovation SABRE Awards

Experiential Marketing

Live Events

• Chill Train — Molson Coors Beverage Company with Citizen Relations
• Japanese Green Tea x Peppercomm — Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion center (JFOODO)
• Let's Get Creative — Newell Brands, Sharpie and Paper Mate with Zeno Group, Coffee Labs and LiveLab
• Spiller on the Loose — The Clorox Company with Ketchum
• The First Edible Mascot — Pop-Tarts with Weber Shandwick

Digital Promo & Activation

• Candela Matrix Pro Influencer Program — Candela Medical with WE Communications
• Chipotle Mexican Grill x Strava — Chipotle Mexican Grill with Day One Agency
• DiGiorno Thanksgiving Pizza — DiGiorno / Nestle U.S. with Weber Shandwick
• Nestlé Toll House Cookie Shot Glass — Nestlé Toll House / Nestlé U.S. with Weber Shandwick
• Sky-High Sales: Jack Link’s Takes National Jerky Day 2024 to New Heights — Jack Link's with Padilla

Sponsorships

• Aperol at Coachella & The US Open — Aperol
• Clorox x Bravo Partnership — The Clorox Company with Ketchum
• Lip Oil Change: Empowering Legendary Females at the Indy 500 — e.l.f. Cosmetics with Day One Agency, All Terrain, eGen, Shadow

Earned Media

Digital/Print Media: General, Consumer and Lifestyle Media

• Pods Are Plastic — Blueland with SolComms
• Burger King x Great American Eclipse — Burger King with ICR
• Date Night Pass — Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill Bar with Current Global and Initiative (NY)
• Scout Lab for Hey Jane — Hey Jane
• Smack for Heinz: Now Serving Heinz Wherever Heinz Isn’t Served — Heinz with Zeno Group, Rethink, The Kitchen, Carat

Digital/Print Media: Business/Trade Media

• Building a Science-Backed HR Brand — Achievers with PAN
• PwC's big bet on AI: Driving client and workforce transformation through first-of-its kind collaboration — PwC with WE Communications
• Revolutionizing Digital Therapeutics with Rejoyn — Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. with Coyne PR
• SourceCode Communications: DataBank PR Branding Campaign — DataBank with SourceCode Communications
• The Making of Generative AI’s Thought Leader: BCG Henderson Institute — BCG Henderson Institute with Zeno Group

Broadcast Media

• Beyond the Blue Screen: Parametrix puts a price on the Crowdstrike Crisis — Parametrix with Bospar
• Big Boy No. 4014 Steams Across America — Union Pacific with Burson
• Just What Auntie Anne's Kneaded — Auntie Anne's with M Booth
• Scoot Aside, Crypto: Paving a New Lane for Blockchain with Tier-1 Broadcast Media — EY with The Hoffman Agency
• Tropcn — Tropicana with MullenLowe U.S. PR Cramer-Krasselt

Product Reviews

• Behr 2024 Color of the Year — Behr Paint with M Booth
• How Charmin Reinvented the Square (for the First Time in 100 Years) for a Smoother Tear — Charmin (Procter & Gamble) with MSL
• The Electrifying Transformation of an Underdog — Kia America with Zeno Group

Earned Media with Influencers + Communities

• Bank of America Play it Forward Clinics — Bank of America with Burson
• BIC Intensity Pens Clic with TikTokers — BIC with M Booth
• Cetaphil Game Time Glow — Cetaphil with Lippe Taylor
• Harnessing The Power of Niche Influencers — Impulse Space with The Bulleit Group
• The Macallan: Harmony III Launch — The Macallan with M Booth, Matte Projects

Persuasive Content

• Box Out Colon Cancer — Exact Sciences with Burson
• Dire Consequences of a Bad Flush — Responsible Flushing Alliance with Burson, Notorious111
• Putting the Flex(tirement) in Media Relations — HireClix with PAN

Content Creation for Media Sites (Earned)

• Winner: "Let's Run There" with Jeremy Renner — Brooks Running with M Booth, Venture Production Group

Sponsored & Paid Media

Content Creation for Media Sites (Paid)

• Blitzing the Region: A Targeted Approach for iovera° — Pacira BioSciences with Coyne PR
• Future You — Treace with 21Grams/Real Chemistry
• TurboTax Undone — TurboTax with Citizen Relations

Paid Influencer Programs + Endorsements

• Heineken 0.0 Brings the L0VE.L0VE for Moderation to US Open — Heineken
• Inspiring American Travel to Japan — ANA with Burson
• Nerds® 2024 Big Game Debut — Nerds® with Golin

Product Placement (Entertainment Vehicle)

• Winner: Campari x SAG Awards 2024 — Campari with M Booth

Digital Marketing/Advertising

• Allegra Airways — Opella (previously Sanofi) with Salutem, an Edelman family agency
• Buffalo Wild Wings Scores Free Wings for America — Buffalo Wild Wings (Inspire Brands) with MSL
• Know Plan Go — Pfizer with Real Chemistry, FCB Health NY, and starpower, part of Real Chemistry

Social Media & Community Management

Overall Use of Social Media & Platforms

• How x G-Shock — G-Shock with The How Agency
• Modernizing Mr. Clean the Brand and Man — Mr. Clean (Procter & Gamble) with MSL
• Pizza Pyramid Scheme — Daiya Foods with Manifest
• The Richmond Region Speaks For Itself — Richmond Region Tourism with Padilla
• We Put That $#!T on Super Bowl LVIII With Jason Kelce — Frank’s RedHot with Colle McVoy & Exponent

Social Video

• An Ode-r to Equipment Managers with Alex Rodriguez — Lysol with Hunter
• Green Chemistry — Merck with Edelman
• Peach Responsibly — Molson Coors Beverage Company with Citizen Relations
• Try This at Home — Nestle Starbucks with Edible, Spark Foundry, Tracy-Locke, 900 Films, Golden LA
• Will Levis No. 8 — Hellmann's/Unilever with Edelman

Social Publishing / Blogs

• Winner: Conversationally: Helping Consumers Achieve Their Financial Goals — Ally Financial with Tier One Partners

Influencer Marketing

• Bringing New Life to Data Science via Influencers — Alteryx with The Hoffman Agency
• Face of Cetaphil — Cetaphil with Lippe Taylor /prompt.
• Fighting for Fairness for Live Music Fans — Fan Fairness Coalition with Precision
• Gro Like Martha — Miracle-Gro with MullenLowe U.S. PR
• The Search for the Best. Job. Ever: Brock Purdy’s Road Trip to Find John Deere’s Chief Tractor Officer — John Deere with Racepoint Global

Crowdsourcing & Co-creating

• Chipotle Mexican Grill - Napkin Holder — Chipotle Mexican Grill with Day One Agency, Bamko
• Next Flavor Network — Rubix Foods with Belle Communication

Platform-Specific Campaigns

Best Use of Facebook

• Winner: #bratsummer for sexual health — Missouri Family Health Council with Candor

Best Use of Instagram

• Winner: Jackson Hole Helps Overzealous Tourists Practice "Selfie Control" to Protect Wildlife — Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board with Colle McVoy & Exponent

Best Use of LinkedIn

• Addressing AI Anxiety in the Workplace — EY Consulting with M Booth
• Connecting Through Content: Elevating BASF’s Automotive Story — BASF with Current Global
• How CEO Maggie Barnett launched her fulfillment company, providing a new vision of female leadership in logistics — LVK with The Bulleit Group & LSR Brand Consulting

Best Use of TikTok

• Carnation Milks and Grandma Helen — Carnation Milks / Nestlé USA with Weber Shandwick
• Moderna CMV TikTok — Moderna with Spectrum Science
• Tokking Their Language — Genentech with 21Grams/Real Chemistry

Owned Media

Website

• Introducing ONO to the U.S. Market — ONO Pharma USA with Current Global
• Liver’s #1 Fan — Madrigal Pharmaceuticals with Real Chemistry
• “So, Have You Found It?” featuring Ted Danson & Mindy Kaling — Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) with Real Chemistry, starpower, part of Real Chemistry, Humancare, MPath, Eversana

Mobile Apps

• Winner: Otsuka Salary.com Family Caregiver Calculator — Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals with WE Communications

Digital Publishing

• Penn Engineering Launches First Ivy League Degree in Artificial Intelligence — University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science with M Booth
• SignalFire: From Seed Stage to Front Page — SignalFire with Bospar
• The Square: Establishing G Squared as a Secondaries Leader Through Digital Publishing — G Squared with The Bulleit Group

CSR, ESG and DEI Reporting

• Enviri's 2023 ESG Report — Enviri Corporation
• Mental Elf — Spectrum Science

Annual Report

• Winner: Mars Pet Nutrition Annual Report — Mars Pet Nutrition with Weber Shandwick

Documentary Film and Video

• Winner: The Unseen Journey — Incyte with Real Chemistry

Tools and Tactics

Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Immersive Technology

• More Than Just Words — Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation with Biosector 2
• The Hopefall: A One-of-A-Kind Visualization of a Life-Changing Sound — American Cancer Society with Real Chemistry

Best Use of Artificial Intelligence in PR

• AI in Action: Revolutionizing the Way We Work — Grubhub with Golin (lead agency), The Brooklyn Brothers
• Mom Experience Translator — Dove with Weber Shandwick
• The Unseen Journey — Incyte with Real Chemistry

Audio: Podcasts + Music

• Catch A Cat Burglar: Purry Duty — Temptations™ with Weber Shandwick
• Gallery of Memories — Egale Canada with Citizen Relations

Gamification/User-Generated Contests

• FPL Brings Energy-Saving Tips to Life with the House of Savings — Florida Power & Light Company with rbb Communications
• Marathumb Challenge — Saucony with KWT Global
• Summer Bummer Insurance — Que Pasa with Citizen Relations

Identity Branding

• Campbell’s Chunky Celebrates Jason Kelce with First-Ever ‘Legend Edition’ Can — Campbell's Chunky with MSL
• Harmony Biosciences Newrology — Harmony Biosciences with Spectrum Science
• Naked Smoothies x Coco Gauff — Naked with MullenLowe PR, MullenLowe, Team8 Studios, Dentsu X, Vayner Media

Illustrations + Photography

• Ag in :60 Content Series — Syngenta Crop Protection with G&S Business Communications
• Coors Light Fix Tixflation — Molson Coors Beverage Company with Citizen Relations
• Dad Genes — Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine with 21Grams/Real Chemistry

Meme

• #bratsummer for sexual health — Missouri Family Health Council with Candor
• AI Lesson Plan — Brainly with Bospar
• Miss COPDee — Boehringer Ingelheim with Burson

Real-time Engagement (Crisis and Issues)

• Winner: Beyond the Blue Screen: Parametrix puts a price on the Crowdstrike Crisis — Parametrix with Bospar

Real-time Engagement (Newsjacking)

• Dear President Biden — Nadya Okamoto with SolComms
• Dollarita Steve — Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill Bar with Current Global and Grey NY
• Elevating Brand Awareness of alliantgroup Through Strategic Thought Leadership — alliantgroup with Diffusion PR
• Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch — Heinz with Zeno Group, Rethink, The Kitchen
• Newsmakers Who Run the World (Gannett’s Version) — Gannett with 160over90

Partnerships

Media Partnership

• It Takes 2 — Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company with dna Communications, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company, starpower
• The Making of APEC CEO Summit 2023: Engaging the U.S. Business Community on “Creating Economic Opportunity” — NCAPEC with Global Gateway Advisors

Influencer Partnership

• Orangetheory's “WTF is OTF?! Comedy Event” Blended Humor and Fitness to Ease Gym-timidation — Orangetheory Fitness with Coyne PR
• Skittles Littles Living — Mars Wrigley with Weber Shandwick
• Special for a Reason — Special K (WK Kellogg Co) with MSL

Celebrity Partnership

• Corona Lime Wedge Football — Corona with MullenLowe
• Global Day of Unplugging — UScellular with Ketchum
• Its the One for Me with Jessica Simpson — Chicken of the Sea with Hunter
• St. Patrick's Eve — Jameson Irish Whiskey with Weber Shandwick, Publicis Collective, 160over90, UEG
• Your Fans Are with You — Incyte with Real Chemistry/starpower

NGO and Charity Partnerships

• Campbell’s Chunky Puts Consumers in the Game with Chunky Sacks Hunger — Campbell's Chunky with MSL
• Nivea’s 'Proud In Your Skin' Campaign Tackles LGBTQ Loneliness — Nivea with M Booth
• Outnumber PAH — Merck with Real Chemistry

Brand Partnership

• Campbell’s State of the Sides — Campbell's with MSL
• Flavors of the Island: Discover Puerto Rico x Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Launch — Discover Puerto Rico with The Discover Collective – MMC, H&S
• Pebbles Cereal Teams Up with Susan Alexandra for a Berry Sweet Collection — Post Consumer Brands with Hunter
• Rao's Homemade Pasta Alla Tequila — Rao's Homemade with M Booth
• Tums Fuses Food, Fashion and Heartburn Relief through Limited Edition Tums Bag — Haleon/Tums

Data and Analytics

Social Listening

• Winner: Clearblue Shatters Taboo and Turns Up the Volume on Menopause — Clearblue (Procter & Gamble) with MSL

Data in Campaign Planning and Development

• Parvo is Poop — Elanco Animal Health with FleishmanHillard
• Reaching Target Audiences Through Talent Identification — Command Brand with Ketchum
• Small but mighty — optimizing omnichannel precision and impact with AI/ML — Currax Pharmaceuticals with Real Chemistry, Swoop

Behavioral Science

• Winner: Bounty is Your Wingman — Bounty (Procter & Gamble) with MSL

Insight

• Called to Care — Oklahoma Human Services with Candor
• M&M’S Rescue Squad — Mars Wrigley with Weber Shandwick
• Narcan® Nasal Spray: Ready to Rescue — Emergent BioSolutions with Curation Communications, a GCI Group Company
• Paint Your Rental Without Regret — Benjamin Moore with Hunter
• Special Delivery — Grubhub with Golin (lead agency), The Brooklyn Brothers

Original/Commissioned Research for PR

• Balancing the Boardroom: Navigating the Path to Equitable Leadership — Wednesday Women with Kickstand
• Coldwell Banker 2024 Trend Report — Coldwell Banker with G&S Business Communications
• Finding the “Blue Space” in Mainstream Media — Jobber with PAN
• Microsoft Work Trends Report — Microsoft with Edelman
• Team Lewis x BioCatch – AI and Fraud Survey — Team Lewis

Measurement and Post-Campaign Analysis

• From Headlines to Bottom Line: How Hahn Drove 23X Sales For Whataburger — Whataburger
• Influencing cleanliness, from insights to impact — Clorox with Ketchum

The Tech Stack Awards

PR Software and Services

• Notified Partners with Clear to Launch Industry-First Press Release Identity Verification Solution, Enhancing Security in Communications — Notified
• PRophet: Leading the Evolution of Communications Technology — PRophet

Campaign Awards

Platform Creation

• Curbing the Amputation Epidemic: Bringing Doctors Together to Urge Americans to Get a Pulse on Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) — PAD Pulse Alliance with BRG Communications
• "Let's Run There" with Jeremy Renner — Brooks Running with M Booth, Venture Production Group
• Love Language — Lindt Lindor with Burson
• MiraLAX Exposes The Gut Gap — Bayer Consumer Health with Coyne PR
• Progress Spotlight, Philip Morris International — Philip Morris International

Content Marketing Campaign

• Boden Agency x Mejor Con Pepsi: “Talking Sabor:” Celebrating the Best of Hispanic Culture, Cuisine and Community — PepsiCo with Boden Agency
• Box Out Colon Cancer — Exact Sciences with Burson
• How Do You Like Them…Donuts? Dunkin’ Introduces ‘The DunKings’ — Dunkin' (Inspire Brands) with MSL, Artists Equity
• Launching the 1 Pledge Movement — Sanofi with Ruder Finn, Patients & Purpose and Havas Media Network
• Using Valued Voices to Vaccinate a Nation — Pfizer with Biosector 2 (Syneos Health)

Storytelling

• Democratizing Reproductive and Sexual Healthcare for Women — Wisp with SolComms
• Eggo House of Pancakes — Eggo with Weber Shandwick
• It's Not The Same Without Your Buds — Labatt Breweries of Canada with Veritas Communications
• Setting Our Sights on the AFib Epidemic — Omron Healthcare with Ascent Strategy Group
• We Are the 96% — Illinois Farm Families with MorganMyers

Data-Driven Campaign

• AstraZeneca's 'What science can do' Campaign — AstraZeneca with Edelman
• Breaking Barriers with NeuroStar Depression Barometer — NeuroStar with EvolveMKD
• Breyers CarbSmart "Anti-Aging Cream" — Breyers with Edelman, United Entertainment Group, Mindshare, U-Studio
• CFP Board Public Awareness Campaign — CFP Board with The Bliss Group
• Otsuka Salary.com Family Caregiver Calculator — Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals with WE Communications

Boldest Campaign

• 5 gum Bodega Rave — Mars Wrigley with Weber Shandwick
• Dr. Squatch’s Ball Care Campaign — Dr. Squatch with Made You Feel
• Sonic Drive-In Eclipses the Competition — Sonic Drive-In (Inspire Brands) with MSL
• Stay Merry, Not Hairy — Suavitel with Burson
• The Shotline — Change the Ref and March for Our Lives with MullenLowe, MediaHub, and Edisen Tech

Most Disruptive Campaign

• HVR x HVR — Hidden Valley Ranch  with Current Global and FCB Chicago
• My Smile is My Superpower — Colgate with Burson
• The First Edible Mascot — Pop-Tarts with Weber Shandwick

Combating Disinformation

• Winner: Live Your PosSCZible — Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) with RXMosaic

Corporate Values in Action

• Launching The Climate College — Paul Smith's College with Bospar
• High West Distillery’s Protect the West Initiative with Brand Ambassador Shaun White — High West Distillery with Lippe Taylor
• Listening to Neurodivergent Travelers for More Inclusive Travel — Hyatt with Zeno Group
• Nebraska Medicine’s Employer Value Proposition Campaign – Together. Extraordinary.Nebraska Medicine — Nebraska Medicine with Unlock Health
• Skittles Pride 2024 — Mars Wrigley with Weber Shandwick

Start-Up Marketing Campaign

• Bringing Weight-Inclusive Care to The Mainstream — knownwell with SolComms
• From Correction to Celebration: How Civitai Overcomes Scrutiny in the AI Image Revolution — Civitai with The Bulleit Group
• Sparking Launch Love for a New Dating App — PreVue with Shift

Emerging Sector Campaign

• Winner: The ElectionGraph Project — Neo4j with Ruder Finn

Pro-Bono Campaign

• Addy's Crystal Ball — SickKids Foundation with Citizen Relations
• For Her — Aura Freedom with Veritas Communications and Forsman & Bodenfors
• UNDP Weather Kids Campaign — United Nations Development Programme with The Bliss Group

Micro-Budget Campaign

• Winner: Visit Finland's "Happiness Masterclass" Featured on ABC Nightline — Visit Finland with Zapwater Communications

This Year’s Issue: The Election

• Winner: The ElectionGraph Project — Neo4j with Ruder Finn

Agency Awards

Disruptive Agency of the Year

• Axicom: Disruptive Agency of the Year — Axicom
• Honeymoon's Coming Out — Sazerac, Mars Snacking, Opendoor, PepsiCo and more with Honeymoon
• PAN — PAN
• The Weber Shandwick Collective — The Weber Shandwick Collective
• Unlocking Transformational Growth: Unlock Health’s Proven Solutions for Driving Sustainable Healthcare Success — Unlock Health with Unlock Health

Data-Driven Agency of the Year

• Hahn: Champions of Change — Whataburger
• The Bliss Group: Delivering Impact Through Insight — The Bliss Group
• The Heart of Innovation is Data — Hotwire Global

Purpose-Driven PR Agency of the Year

• Bringing Empathy and Mentorship to Public Relations — SolComms
• Being Zeno: Certainty in Uncertain Times — Zeno Group
• JPA Health — JPA Health

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative

• Archetype Ascend — Archetype with Archetype Ascend
• My Living Legacy Campaign (supported by GSK) — Tigerlily Foundation with Real Chemistry
• The State of Latinas in the U.S. — Boden Agency

Agency Thought Leadership

• KWT Global xVoice — KWT Global
• Layered: A Report on Black Women’s Perceptions of Clinical Trials — GCI Health
• The State of Latinas in the U.S. — Boden Agency

Agency of the Future

• Axicom: Agency of the Future — Axicom
• Makers of Tomorrow - We Speak Tech not Fluff — Hotwire Global
• Mastering media monitoring for a modern workforce — Brands2Life
• Real Chemistry — Real Chemistry
• The Weber Shandwick Collective — The Weber Shandwick Collective

Individual Awards

Creative Professional of the Year

• Jeff Immel — The Weber Shandwick Collective
• Susan Osterloh — JPA Health
• Zach Russo, Head of RF Studio 53 — Ruder Finn

Data Professional of the Year

• Alex Christian — EvolveMKD
• Alison Reader, Head of Business Development: Lead Generation & Strategic Growth — Ruder Finn
• Colin Baughman — JPA Health
• Ken Deutsch — JPA Health
• Matt George - Data Professional of the Year — Seven Letter with Seven Letter

DE&I Professional of the Year

• Winner: Politely Push*E — Bospar

Innovator of the Year: Agency

• Chris Perry — The Weber Shandwick Collective
• Innovator of the Year Nomination: John Digles, Ascent Strategy Group — John Digles, Founder & CEO, Ascent Strategy Group
• Philip A. Nardone Jr. — PAN

Innovator of the Year: Brand

• Winner: Brendan McEvoy, Head of External Communications, AstraZeneca — AstraZeneca with Edelman

And finally…

Write your own category

• Winner: Honeymoon's Coming Out — Sazerac, Mars Snacking, Opendoor, PepsiCo and more with Honeymoon (category: Best Agency You've Never Heard Of)