Weber Shandwick Honored For Digital and Creative Excellence at The Holmes Global PR Summit 2016
Weber Shandwick was selected by The Holmes Report as 2016 Global Digital Agency of the Year during the annual Global SABRE Awards ceremony in Miami. Prime, a Weber Shandwick Company, was also named 2016 Global Creative Agency of the Year. Three of The Holmes Report’s top 40 campaigns of the year were driven by Weber Shandwick and Prime in partnership with clients, and all three were ranked in the top 15.
The Holmes Report credited the firm’s “inarguable leadership position in the PR industry” to its commitment to and investment in content, creative and digital capabilities. Given the agency’s depth in expertise and expansive global network, The Holmes Report has described Weber Shandwick as “perhaps the most complete agency” in the world.
Global Agency of the Year award honorees are selected by The Holmes Report editors based on the result of an extensive research process involving more than 400 submissions and face-to-face meetings with PR firms across North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific.
Top 40 Global Campaigns
Weber Shandwick and its clients were also proud to be recognized with three Global SABRE Awards for breakthrough work, including Prime and Hemnet’s campaign for “House of Clicks” (ranked #5 best of the year), Nestlé Purina Petcare’s wearable technology campaign for “Follow Felix” (#2), and the public advocacy campaign for the documentary film “Daughters of Mother India” (#15).
The winning campaigns in The Holmes Report’s Top 40 Campaigns of the Year were selected from the 300 best campaigns identified at SABRE Awards competitions in North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. More than 5,000 campaigns were entered across these regional competitions in 2016.
Driving Innovative Conversation at #Provoke16
The Global SABRE Awards ceremony was part of the fifth annual Holmes Global PR Summit, a 3-day conference which brings together communications experts from around the globe to address critical issues facing the industry. This year’s summit — titled #PRovoke16 — was designed to provoke PR practitioners and their clients with new thinking on the transforming landscape of communications and marketing.
Weber Shandwick hosted a session, “Artificial Creativity?,” featuring Columbia University Professor Hod Lipson and Weber Shandwick Executive Vice President,Creative Technology Strategy, Patrick Chaupham in a discussion on the intersection of creativity and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Data from Weber
Shandwick’s newly released research, AI Ready or Not: Artificial Intelligence Here We Come, was examined throughout the discussion, including overall themes on consumer and marketer readiness for AI. The conversation focused on the impact of AI on creative and strategic fields, and the opportunities AI presents to communicators. Read more about the session in The Holmes Report’s coverage of the event, and watch the archived livestream video here.
Recognition from Around the World
In addition to Global Digital Agency of the Year and Global Creative Agency of the Year, The Holmes Report has recognized Weber Shandwick for excellence across regions in 2016. Weber Shandwick was named Digital Consultancy of the Year, Nordic Consultancy of the Year, and Iberian Consultancy of the Year at the EMEA SABRE Awards, as well as South East Asia Consultancy of the Year at the APAC SABRE Awards. Weber Shandwick CEO Andy Polansky was also recognized with an Individual Achievement Award at the North America SABRE Awards earlier this year.
These distinctions are among several industry honors awarded to Weber Shandwick in 2016, including being named Global Agency of the Year by PRWeek, PR Agency of the Year by the German Stevie Awards, Communications Agency of the Year by the TOP Mega Brazil Awards, and a U.K.Business Superbrand Award for the 10th year in a row. Weber Shandwick was also the most awarded PR firm at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2016, winning in categories across Cyber, Health & Wellness, PR and Media.