APG Creative Strategy Awards 2025 - The Shortlist
In partnership with Channel 4
We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2025 APG Creative Strategy Awards in partnership with Channel 4.
A huge thank you to the record number of entrants we had this year, and to the superb judges, who undertook their responsibilities with such intelligence, rigour and fairness.
The Chair of Shortlisters is Kit Altin, CSO at The Gate. This is what she had to say:
"This year we had the highest ever number of entries and also, in our humble opinion, the highest standard of entries in the history of the awards.
Thank you to everyone who wrote a paper - you all played your part in a wonderfully diverse showcase of the best strategic thinking in our industry. We asked for every flavour of strategy, and you delivered. It made for fascinating and sometimes fiery debate, and we’re excited to showcase the many flavours that will be taking a prize home.
Thank you to the judges, who took their responsibilities seriously, whilst making the process a lot of fun. This was a phenomenally committed crew, who delved deep into every paper, giving detailed and thoughtful analysis at every stage.
The APG Creative Strategy Awards shortlist represents the very best of us as a strategy community - I hope you enjoy reading the papers as much as I did when they are published later this year."
Congratulations to the shortlisted authors who go on to the final judging stage of the competition in July...
Sarah Newman
APG Director
British Heart Foundation
Fair Play & Football: How the BHF unlocked our hearts and wallets
Authors:
Jimmy MacAskill, Emily Lewis-Keane and Elena Georgiou
Agency:
Saatchi & Saatchi
Dulux
How Planning Helped Dulux Break Through the Class Ceiling
Author:
Ryan Thomson
Agency:
Ogilvy UK
Heinz
Every flavour all at once: How Heinz’s sauce obsession created a product that helped sell many more
Author:
Rory Foster
Agency:
Wieden + Kennedy
Kōpū O Te Rangi
Switching Off the Toff with Pīkari Mai
Primary Author:
Augustine Morgan-Guthrie
Supporting Author:
India Davis
Agency:
Colenso BBDO, New Zealand
Müller Rice
The Dumbest APG Paper Ever
Author:
Matthew Hayes
Agency:
VCCP
Nike
How Radical Honesty Reset Nike Running
Primary Author:
Ollie Chakraverty
Supporting Author:
Becca Taylor
Agency:
Wieden + Kennedy, USA
Paddy Power
A Shirt is Not Just for Christmas
Primary Author:
Darius Pasalar
Supporting Author:
Gareth Ellis
Agency:
BBH London
Pot Noodle
From purpose to pleasure – how we brought Pot Noodle back to the sloppy bottom
Primary Author:
Liora Ingram
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
Škoda
Our Lord and Saviour the Škoda Octavia: How We Used Reddit to Resurrect Škoda's Most Overlooked Vehicle
Primary Author:
Joe Crust
Supporting Authors:
Henry Gray, Hamish Cameron and Mike Treharne
Agency:
Leo Burnett
Uber
Trains, Now On… Uber?! How Uber Expanded Into A New Sector By Turning Its Biggest Weakness Into A Five Star Strength
Primary Author:
Matt Sadler
Supporting Authors:
Kieran Bradshaw and Matt Tanter
Agency:
Mother
Very
Back in the Pink: How Culture Powered Very's Big Glow Up
Authors:
Kit Altin, Frances Gibbs and Ben Milligan
Agency:
The Gate London
Xbox
The Everyday Tactician: How getting a football club promoted helped Xbox take a step closer to the future of gaming
Primary Author:
Alex Passingham
Supporting Author:
Mel Arrow
Agency:
McCann London
DP World
Three Degrees of Difference: How DP World started a global movement to change standards for an entire industry
Author:
Karin Robinson
Agency:
Edelman
EE
In a category of births, marriages and deaths, EE is the stuff of life: Leaving a commoditising category behind, by serving new needs, with new ideas, and a totally New EE
Authors:
Olivia Stubbings and Will Moore
Agency:
Saatchi & Saatchi
KFC
Believe in Chicken again: Putting the “cult” into cultural strategy
Primary Authors:
Neasa McGuinness, Bhavin Pabari and Aman Mundra
Supporting Authors:
Kieran Bradshaw and Matt Tanter
Agency:
Mother
Mayor of London
Planning's Hard Choice: How one word broke the silence of misogyny
Author:
Natalie Chester
Agency:
Ogilvy UK
NHS Blood and Transplant
Waiting to Live: Shining a light on children waiting for a transplant
Author:
Bishan Morgan
Agency:
VML UK
O2
Daisy vs Scammers
Primary Author:
Lotte Jones
Supporting Author:
Clare Hutchinson
Agency:
VCCP
Poppy's
A new normal in funeral care
Primary Author:
Craig Mawdsley
Supporting Authors:
Bridget Angear, Joanna Juber and Rebecca Wilson
Agency:
craig+bridget
Procell
Beware of your Battery Changer
Authors:
Neil Godber and Jonny Park
Agency:
VML UK
The V&A
How hyper-personalisation unlocked hyper-creativity for the V&A
Author:
Stuart Williams
Agency:
adam&EveDDB
Uber
Alright our Uber: How Uber looked outside the M25 to be welcomed into the neighbourhood Up North
Primary Author:
Lucy Allen
Supporting Authors:
Kieran Bradshaw and Matt Tanter
Agency:
Mother
Waitrose
Welcome to the Writers’ Room: What planning can learn from high-quality TV development
Authors:
Ophelia Stimpson and Emily Lewis-Keane
Agency:
Saatchi & Saatchi
Campaign Against Living Miserably
Planning for impact: How planners can make a difference on causes that matter
Primary Author:
Jack Gilbert
Supporting Authors:
Will Grundy and Martin Beverley
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
Essity - Libresse/Bodyform
Live Fearless: The Guts Behind the Blood
Primary Author:
Yolanda Davis
Supporting Authors:
Vicki Holgate, Margaux Revol, Summer Taylor and Bea Farmelo
Agency:
AMVBBDO
McDonald's
How embracing small truths helped a big brand deliver a big turnaround.
Primary Author:
Alysha Kishan and Tass Tsitsopoulos
Supporting Author:
Georgia Challis
Agency:
Wieden + Kennedy, USA
Dirt Is Good: Persil/OMO/Surf Excel
The Triumph of Dirt Against The Odds
Primary Author:
Rachael Stets
Supporting Author:
Ayesha Walker
Agency:
MullenLowe UK
Great Western Railway
Finding new potential in the past
Primary Authors:
Kit Owens and Matilda Treloar
Supporting Author:
Sarah Carter
Agency:
adam&eveDDB
