Golin won international agency of the year and saw its CEO Fred Cook win agency professional of the year.
The awards recognise the best and brightest in the global PR industry, through 21 awards across two categories (people & agencies, and campaigns). New for 2016 are three prizes; the event activation, creative and impact awards.
Golin's big night was completed by a further campaign award bringing its total awards to three, and won a high commendation in a further category. Ketchum won four awards and received several high commendations, while both MSLGroup and Ogilvy PR won two awards.
Other names to emerge victorious from the stellar shortlist were brand of the year Travelzoo and Aaron Sherinian of the UN Foundation, who was named in-house professional of the year.
The judging panel for the awards was chaired by HSBC's HR chief and former head of comms Pierre Goad, who also addressed PRWeek's PR360 conference on the issue of PR talent on Wednesday.
People & Agencies - Winners
- Global Agency of the Year: Weber Shandwick
- International Agency of the Year: Golin
- In-House Team of the Year: PepsiCo Global Communications Team
- Brand of the Year: Travelzoo
- Professional of the Year – Agency: Fred Cook, Golin
- Professional of the Year – In-House: Aaron Sherinian, chief comms and marketing officer, United Nations Foundation
- Citizenship: #LikeAGirl - Unstoppable by Always, Procter & Gamble (agency: MSLGroup)
Highly commended
- Global Agency of the Year: Ketchum
- International Agency of the Year: TogoRun
- In-House Team of the Year: Arcadis and Shell Global Commercial
- Brand of the Year: #LikeAGirl - Unstoppable by Always, Procter & Gamble (agency: MSLGroup)
- Professional of the Year – Agency: Aedhmar Hynes, Text100 Global Communications
- Citizenship: Girls4Tech by MasterCard and Opportunity for All by Starbucks
Campaigns - Winners
- Issues and Crisis: Nigeria’s New Leaders – Buhari and the APC by APC & Government of Nigeria (agency: BTP Advisers)
- Corporate Social Responsibility: The Digitrucks Project: Closing the Digital Divide in Africa by Arrow Electronics (agency: Westmeath Global Communications)
- Employee Communications: Millicom 25 by Millicom (agency: Green Cave People)
- PR Breakthrough: Countdown to Force Friday by Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media
- Public Sector: G7 #WelcomeDahoam by Bavarian State Chancellery (agency: Ketchum Pleon)
- Corporate Branding: So Much More by Johnson & Johnson (agency: Allidura Consumer)
- Consumer Launch: Selfie-Nomics by MasterCard (agency: Ketchum)
- Product Brand Development: #LikeAGirl - Unstoppable by Always, Procter & Gamble (agency: MSLGroup)
- Non-profit Campaign: The Marathon Walker by Water for Africa (agency: Ogilvy Public Relations Paris)
- Partnership Award: Selfie-Nomics by MasterCard (agency: Ketchum)
- Healthcare: The Facts About Fasting During Ramadan by Merck Sharp & Dohme (agency: GCI Health)
- Event Activation: Growing the Pope’s Flock: How One Hashtag United the Church by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (agency: Golin)
- Creative Award: Great Chinese Names for Great Britain by VisitBritain (agency: Ogilvy PR Beijing)
- Impact Award: Bees with Backpacks - The Launch of the Global Initiative for Honey Bee Health by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Highly commended
- Issues and Crisis: Securing a Historic Debt Restructuring Deal for Ukraine by Ukraine's Ministry of Finance (agency: APCO Worldwide)
- Corporate Social Responsibility: Age Shameless. Quality of Life is Ageless by Pfizer (agency: Ketchum)
- Employee Communications: Project Miru by Canon (agency: MSLGroup)
- PR Breakthrough: Growing the Pope’s Flock: How one Hashtag United the Church by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (agency: Golin) and imlovinit24: Creating 24 Moments of Joy in 24 Cities in 24 Hours by McDonald's Corporation (agency: Ruder Finn)
- Public Sector: Galvanizing the Globe: The United Nations Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda by United Nations Foundation (agency: FleishmanHillard)
- Corporate Branding: Immortalizing Happiness: MetLife Infinity App in Hong Kong & Macau, China by MetLife Hong Kong (agency: The Hoffman Agency)
- Consumer Launch: Countdown to Force Friday by Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media
- Product Brand Development: Ford Focus RS by Ford (agency: Hill+Knowlton Strategies)
- Non-profit Campaign: 4,000 Voices, 1 Message by World Hepatitis Alliance and World Health Organization (agency: Ketchum)
- Healthcare: High 5 for World Arthritis Day by European League Against Rheumatism (agency: Ketchum)
- Event Activation: 4,000 Voices, 1 Message by World Hepatitis Alliance and World Health Organization (agency: Ketchum)
- Creative Award: The Global Goals Communications Campaign: 2015, A Year of Opportunity by UN Foundation and World's Best Driving Road by Avis (agency: Atomic)
- Impact Award: Selfie-Nomics by MasterCard (agency: Ketchum)
The shortlist for the awards was announced in March. The awards are part of PR360, PRWeek's Global Festival of PR.
