APG Creative Strategy Awards 2023
Creative Strategy Works
Great creative strategy is about more than just making great campaigns. Great creative strategy injects brands into popular culture, transforms company culture, inspires innovation and creates value for businesses.
This year’s APG awards are about showcasing the value of creative strategy, demonstrating the breadth and depth of ways in which creative strategy adds value to business and brands.
Because…
Creative strategy works everywhere. It may have started in advertising agencies but it’s now a discipline that has found a home in client organisations, in consulting, in design, PR, innovation and a whole host of other specialist areas. We will be celebrating this creative strategy diaspora in all its diversity.
Creative strategy adds value. As we head into what could be a lengthy period of economic uncertainty, we will celebrate the breadth of ways in which creative strategy adds value to businesses, brands and communication and show that our discipline is not a luxury but an increasingly essential skill for all kinds of business.
The Winners
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We are delighted to announce the winners for the 2023 APG Creative Strategy Awards.
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The Planning team at Leo Burnett carried away the Grand Prix for McDonald’s ‘Raise Your Arches’; a spectacular demonstration of transformational creative strategy.
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adam&eveDDB were crowned Stephen King Strategy Agency of the year.
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In the year where we had the highest ever number of entries, it’s a real accolade to win a prize and the winning cases are brilliant.
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And if you’re an APG member you can read the cases on Think Tank.
Grand Prix
Stephen King Strategy Agency of the Year
The Stephen King Strategy Agency of the Year Award is given to the agency with the best overall performance, calculated from points for each award earned.
For 2023, the prize was awarded to:
adam&eveDDB
Gold
CALM x ITV
The Last Photo: How Planning Changed the Face of Suicide Awareness
Planned by:
Will Grundy & James MacAskill
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
MINI
Why MINI opened its doors to paws.
Planned by:
Jonny Ewles, Rebecca Brett & Catherine Willoughby
Agency:
Media Monks
Replens
Sex Never Gets Old: The Power of Noticing
Planned by:
Kit Altin & Bruno Carramaschi
Agency:
The Gate London
Flora Plant
Flora Plant B+tter. Challenging the norm.
Planned by:
Joan Devereux
Agency:
Pablo
Partners Life
The Eulogy of ‘The Last Performance’
Planned by:
Rory Gallery, Jolene D'Souza & Emily Harlock
Agency:
Special, New Zealand
Silver
Butlin's
How Butlin’s stepped off the stage to become a star
Planned by:
Nic Willison, Joe Beveridge, Mike Treharne & Tom Sussman
Agency:
Leo Burnett
Macmillan Cancer Support
Doing whatever it takes
Planned by:
Sam Williams & Tom White
Agency:
AMV BBDO
Cadbury Dairy Milk Fingers
CYNICISM: HELP OR HINDRANCE? How cynicism helped Cadbury Fingers encourage the nation to learn some British Sign Language
Planned by:
Xanthe Fuller & Andy Nicholls
Agency:
VCCP
Schmackos
Sales Go Wacko for Schmackos
Planned by:
Jack Spicer
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
Bronze
Boots & No7
Boots Menopause: Real Change Comes From Within
Planned by:
Marsha Tunkel-Somers, Anna Vogt & Chris Baker
Agency:
VMLY&R, The Pharm
Hey Girls
Seeing Red
Planned by:
Milla McPhee
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
Mayor of London
Having a Word with Men: How two strategists unravelled the male psyche to tackle violence against women and girls in London
Planned by:
Bianca Novaes & Tara Austin
Agency:
Ogilvy UK
Müller Corner
You say it best when you say nothing at all: Adopting the Ronan Keating approach to reviving an icon
Planned by:
Luke Stockil
Agency:
VCCP
Tesco Mobile
How an underdog took on the category bullies by weaponising pasta
Planned by:
Richard Madden & Alex Elder (BBH)
Rachel Swift, Emma Herridge & Zea Westwick (Tesco Mobile)
Agency:
BBH
EA SPORTS FIFA
Tackling the biggest anomaly in football
Planned by:
David Mortimer
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
International Paralympic Committee
#WeThe15: The story of the biggest human rights movement for persons with disabilities in history.
Planned by:
Lisa Stoney, Liora Ingram, Sarah Benson, Claire Strickett, Craig Spence, Will Grundy & Milla McPhee
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
Microsoft
The Future of Work
Planned by:
Martijn Nieuwenhuis
Agency:
Edelman, The Netherlands
Relate
How not beating around the bush got the over 65s to talk about STIs
Planned by:
Rob Sandford
Agency:
Ogilvy UK
Vitalon Foods
Super Supau - The sports drink that sponsored a pilgrimage
Planned by:
Kimmy Lin
Agency:
Zenith, Taiwan
APG Long Term Thinking Category
This is for a campaign that has run for 5 years or more and is still running. It awards the strategic thinking that has successfully and actively guided the brand or business over that time.
in association with
Long Term Thinking Gold
Anusol
Bum’s The Word, Don’t Follow The Herd: The Value of Challenging the Reinvention Convention
Planned by:
Kit Altin & Bruno Carramaschi
Agency:
The Gate London
KFC
The Colonel Strikes Back: 6 years of taking on the Empire
Planned by:
Jack Farrelly, Neasa McGuinness, Jack Carrington, Tatiana Jezierski & Chris Gallery
Agency:
Mother London
The British Army
The British Army & Account Planning: We’re More Alike Than You Think
Planned by:
Amy Gilmore, Rachael Quarmby & Rhonwen Lally
Agency:
Accenture Song
Yorkshire Tea
Long term brand building done proper
Planned by:
Loz Horner, Matt Gainsford & Myles Manyonda
Agency:
Lucky Generals
Long Term Thinking Bronze
McDonald’s
Are you #ReindeerReady? The story of the other Christmas carrot
Planned by:
Hamish Cameron, Tom Sussman, Mike Treharne
Agency:
Leo Burnett
Skittles
Skittles + Pride: From retail activation to cultural phenomenon
Planned by:
David Mortimer
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
Special Prizes and Sponsors
Thinkbox Prize for Delivering Cultural Impact
The British Army | Accenture Song
Denise Williams Prize for Best Performance in Front of the Judges​
Schmackos | Jack Spicer | adam&eveDDB
Nursery Prize for Best Contribution to Brand Growth
Yorkshire Tea | Lucky Generals
Davies+McKerr Prize for Best Insight
McDonald's - Brains Behind the Brows | Leo Burnett
Strategy Book Prize for Best Written Paper
Anusol | The Gate London
Prize for Best Strategic Response to the Challenge of Climate Change
Flora Plant | Pablo
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Prize for Best Media Thinking
Partners Life | Special, New Zealand
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Prize for Best Example of Diversity & Inclusion
Cadbury Dairy Milk Fingers | VCCP
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PR Special Prize
Microsoft | Edelman, The Netherlands
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