With a new marketing agency, PR practice or digital communications firm seemingly opening up shop by the minute, sometimes even the top performing communications organizations can get lost in the shuffle.
That's why PR News celebrates the cream of the agency crop each year with its Agency Elite Awards. The Agency Elite Awards benchmark the communications and marketing firms that, over the last year, truly stood out for their creativity, strategic expertise and achievement of successful outcomes for clients.
The Agency Elite awards denote excellence in PR agencies’ key practice areas, from community relations, thought leadership and social media to integrated communications, branding and business to business messaging.
This year's Agency Elite Awards winners will be announced at PR News' Platinum and Agency Elite Awards luncheon Sept. 21 at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. ESPN's Hannah Storm will be hosting the event. Additionally, in an exclusive fireside chat, Storm will discuss visual storytelling strategies employed by her production company Brainstormin' Productions. She'll also speak to her work as a pioneer in the field of sports broadcasting for women at television networks including ESPN, CBS News, CNN Sports and NBC Sports.
Full list of the 2018 Agency Elite Awards finalists in each category below:
Agency "Awe" Professional Award
- Binna Kim, Vested
- Kriselle Laran, Zeno Group
- Matthew Mors, MIX Public Relations
- Christopher Rizzo, Spectrum
Agency Team of the Year
- Gilbert Digital
- iMiller Public Relations
- Sage Communications PR Team
- Press Kitchen
- Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board Marketing Team
Best Training/Education Program
- Boston University's PRLab
- SHIFT Communications - Marketing Tech Immersion Program Helps PR Teams Embrace Data-Driven Communications
- WE Communications
Branding
- GOLD PR | Social Media - Invisalign 'Made to Move' Teen Influencer Campaign
- JPA Health Communications - AMIA: Discovering health insights. Accelerating healthcare transformation.
- MWWPR - Building Fan Frenzy with a Magical Shopkins
- RF|Binder - Repositioning an Established Brand to Reflect a New Corporate Vision
Business to Business
- 5w Public Relations - Beyond Ad Trade: Elevating The Trade Desk As a Key Player in the Media and Tech Ecosystem
- Arketi Group - Mobile Labs’ New Website Drives Lead Generation Growth
- Brownstein Group - Creating a Sustainable Brand
- Brownstein Group - Western Union’s Speedpay: Experience That Pays
- Racepoint Global - Imagine the Future, Dassault Systemes 3DEXPERIENCE® Forum
Cause/CSR
- EGAMI GROUP - P&G + MBIB “THE TALK” – Creating a National Movement to End Racial Bias
- MWWPR - Men’s Wearhouse Collects 320,000 Donations to Suit Up Americans for Success
- Weber Shandwick - M&M'S Red Nose Day 2017
Community Relations
- Chandler Chicco Agency, a Syneos Health Company - Our Way Forward
- Cone Communications - Eastern Bank “Join Us For Good” Launch
- DDC Public Affairs - Destination North Texas
- PRLinks Communications - Liberty WiFi Tour
Consumer Marketing
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box Office
- MWWPR - Atkins Nutritionals: Exposing The Hidden Sugar Effect
- MWWPR - Increase Awareness of a Destination That Has More to Offer Than Meets the Eye
- O'Malley Hansen Communications - Ninja® Intelli-Sense™ Kitchen System Launch
- Pac/West Communications and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife - Take a Friend Hunting
- Taylor Strategy - Ted Danson + Smirnoff Made in America Day
Content Marketing
- Arketi Group - Content Marketing Drives 8x ROI for Snapfulfil
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box Office
- Rockefeller & Co. and Vested - Rockefeller Insights
Digital/Social Media
- C-4 Analytics - Mobile Canvas Ads Gaining More Views
- DDC Public Affairs - Destination North Texas
- DEVENEY - Windsor Court Social Media Snapchat Campaign
- GOLD PR | Social Media - Invisalign 'Made to Move' Teen Influencer Campaign
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box Office
- King Media - AGC Recruitment Campaign
- LA County Department of Public Health - Division of HIV & STD/ Entercom – GetPrEPLA
- NJI Media - U. S. Steel
- Spectrum - What’s Your Sore Spot? – Sparking a Global Movement to Bring Hidradenitis Suppurativa Out of the Shadows of Shame and Confusion
- Taylor Strategy - Ted Danson + Smirnoff Made in America Day
Financial Communications
- EM - Reopening Russian companies and capital market to the world
- Porter Novelli - Zelle Gets Money Moving
Integrated Communications
- Bhava Communications - PagerDuty: Mining Minds Reveals the Chasm Between Consumer Expectations and Digital Experiences
- Burson-Marsteller - Bank of America Uncovers Travel Aspirations
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box
- King Media - AGC Recruitment Campaign
- Paragon Public Relations LLC - OpenDoor Trading Launches First Woman-Owned Bond Trading Platform
- R&R Partners - Vegas: Alter Your Reality
- REQ - Think Next. Now.
- Stanton Communications, Inc. - Making Stats Sexy: Building a Pipeline of Statisticians for the Future
Marketing Communications
- MassRobotics and Mower - Creating the Hub of Robotics
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box Office
- The Moak Group - China Eastern Airlines: North America Media Takeover 2017-2018
- Pac/West - Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife - Take a Friend Hunting
Marketing to Women
- 5w Public Relations - It’s a 10 Haircare: Stopping traffic in NYC with National Love Your Hair Day
- Brownstein Group - Wonder Ball: Bringing Back A Little Wonder to Millennial Moms and Their Kids
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box Office
- Pac/West - Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife - Take a Friend Hunting
Media Relations
- Berk Communications - Relaunching Frank Zaccanelli
- Burson-Marsteller - 2018 Bank of America Better Money Habits Millennial Report
- Diffusion PR - Canary takes CES by Storm with New Product & Features
- EGAMI GROUP - P&G + MBIB “THE TALK” – Creating a National Movement to End “The Talk” and Racial Bias
- FleishmanHillard - Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
- GdB Pitch - Life in Full Bloom
- MIX Public Relations - A Hands-On Security Approach: Malwarebytes 2017 Campaign Analysis
- Spectrum - Step Forward With Me
- Taylor Strategy - Ted Danson + Smirnoff Made in America Day
Multicultural Marketing
- Boden - McDonald’s $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu Launch - “¡Síganme los Buenos!” (Good Guys, Follow my Lead!) Campaign
- d expósito & Partners - Cada paso del camino (Every Step of the Way): An AARP Documentary on Latino Family Caregiving
- EGAMI GROUP - P&G + MBIB “THE TALK” – Creating a National Movement to End “The Talk” and Racial Bias
- H+M Communications - With Zumba Fitness to Captivate Trendsetting Hispanic Females, Despicable Me 3 Dances to the Top of the Global Box Office
- MWWPR - Tel Aviv Pride International Ambassador 2017
Nonprofit/Association
- American Academy of Ophthalmology - The Great American Solar Eclipse: How to View it Safely
- Berk Communications - Recreating a Defunct Campaign During a Neighborhood Rebranding Effort
- Heron Agency - American Writers Museum
- Hope-Beckham Inc. - Bill Foege Global Health Awards
- JPA Health Communications - Healthcare Ready: Addressing Patients’ Health During Natural Disasters
- MIX Public Relations - ACM Turing Award
- MWWPR - San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus’ Lavender Pen Tour
- TogoRun - Pure Earth Highlights Global Impact of Pollution to Public Health Problem and Economics
Product Launch
- 5w Public Relations - Revolutionizing the Culinary Standard With All-Clad Prep & Cook Launch
- 10Fold Communications - Creating Awareness Around the New Category of Network Verification
- BMLPR + Finlandia - Commemorative Cheeseware
- BMLPR & Villa Italian Kitchen - Pumpkin Spice Pizza
- Diffusion PR - Electron Wheel #RidestoCES with the Google Assistant to launch the Gen2 Wheel
- GCI Health - Bringing the FreeStyle® Libre Revolution to the U.S.: Transforming the Lives of People Living with Diabetes by Liberating Them from the Pain and Hassles of Routine Fingersticks
- Racepoint Global - Huawei Mate 10 Series Launch
- Vested for HomeFundMe by CMG Financial - HomeFundMe Launch
- Weber Shandwick - M&M'S Caramel
Promotion of Firm (marketing, advertising, PR)
- Bospar - Practice what we preach
- DEVENEY - Email Marketing Campaign 2017
- Ruder Finn
Public Affairs
- Davies
- DDC Public Affairs - Destination North Texas
- JPA Health Communications - Children’s Hospital Association’s 2017 Speak Now For Kids Family Advocacy Day (FAD)
- Stiff - Pension for Life for Veterans Affairs Canada
- Truscott Rossman - Good Jobs for Michigan - Ensuring the Great Lakes State has the Economic Development Tools to Compete
Publicity
- Berk Communications - Establishing a Celebrity-Driven Entertainment Brand: D'USSÉ
- BMLPR & Highland Titles - Gifting of Souvenir Plots to Scotland, CT
- BMLPR & Villa Italian Kitchen - Pizza-Kini
- Davies - One 805: Kicking Ash
- Hope-Beckham Inc. - 2017 Rotary International Convention in Atlanta
- PMK*BNC - Pepsi Generations
Thought Leadership
- Arketi Group - NCR Silver executive
- Berk Communications - Relaunching Frank Zaccanelli
- ENGIE - The Energy Revolution
- MIX Public Relations - Cisco Connected Car/Transportation BIG IDEAS