A moment of reflection
Creative Frontiers
In 2023, AKQA was honoured with 62 industry-leading awards, receiving a notable Grand Prix at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Campaign’s Digital Agency Global Network of the Year, Global Most Loved Workplace ranking and its 81st Agency of the Year award.
The recognition is a reflection of the agency’s ability to bridge artistry and resonance for many of the world’s most influential and visionary organisations – testament to the dedication and skill of our people.
Nike's Never Done Evolving featuring Serena Williams was this year’s most awarded creative work, serving as a step towards a future of sports analytics for more human readable data visualisation. Through the mastery of advanced AI and machine learning came a simulated match-up between Serena from her first Grand Slam at the 1999 U.S. Open versus her most recent at the 2017 Australian Open, exhibiting Serena’s determination decade after decade to never stop evolving.
Digital Agency Global Network of the Year
AKQA was named as Campaign's Digital Agency Global Network of the Year, recognising the world’s creative and commercially successful agencies. On conferring the award, judges were impressed by the “excellent business performance, exceptional industry contribution, and extreme creativity of work”. The jury cited that part of the rationale for awarding the honour was the double-digit growth in 2022, the strongest annual employee survey and client satisfaction results yet, plus the breadth of multiple award-winning projects.
AKQA wins its 81st Agency of the Year award
Creativepool honoured AKQA with the People’s Choice Agency of the Year award for demonstrating the highest calibre of creative excellence, unprecedented achievements and breakthrough work over the past year.
This is further to Little Wings – a handmade holiday card crafted in collaboration with Ukrainian artist Mariia Shub and animation director Rodion Shub – being recognised with the highest accolade in the Animation category with the People’s Choice award.
A pride of Cannes Lions
AKQA won 11 Cannes Lions, including the Digital Craft Grand Prix, at the International Festival of Creativity, placing AKQA Group in 9th position in the top ten agency networks. The Digital Craft Jury President described Nike’s Grand Prix-winning Never Done Evolving as the “epitome of digital craft”, showcasing “what digital artistry is today – a combination of creativity, technology and purpose”.
The application of real-time data in Congresso em Foco’s Transparency Card was AKQA’s most awarded work in Cannes this year, winning the festival’s final ever Gold Lion in the Mobile category. The new brand identity in Abebe Bikila’s Neo Icarus was also celebrated, giving rise to AKQA São Paulo as the most successful Brazilian agency at Cannes Lions 2023.
Top Ten Global Most Loved Workplace
Ranking as the 9th Most Loved Workplace in the World by Newsweek, this recognition reflects AKQA’s commitment to helping people develop into the best possible practitioners with freedom to grow and be entrepreneurial. This is in addition to Newsweek naming AKQA the one of the top 20 Most Loved Workplaces in the UK and one of America’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in 2023.
Winner of Most Innovative Design award
Fast Company 2023 Innovation Design Awards honour work and spaces across the design spectrum that push their respective fields forward, judged on originality, scalability, sustainability and the potential to solve humanity’s most pressing needs. Designed in collaboration with industrial design studio Map Project Office and architecture practice Universal Design Studio, IBM’s System Two was recognised as the Most Innovative Design for 2023 in the Large Business category. It was also named as a Finalist for Best Design in North America.
Volvo EX90 was named a Finalist in the Best Automotive Design category, a physical manifestation of Volvo Cars’ Safety in Mind vision, displaying new technologies designed to help protect people on the road.
The EcoFlow House, a once abandoned ski lodge renovated into a self-sustaining and constantly charged comfort, received an honourable mention in the Experimental category, recognising EcoFlow’s prescience to push beyond the expectation of what’s possible.
A winning streak at the Webby’s
Nike’s Never Done Evolving won the Webby Award for Virtual Technical Achievement, alongside Nike’s Runners Helping Runners and Coca-Cola’s Taste the Transformation each winning the Webby People’s Voice Award. AKQA’s work is also recognised with one Honouree and six Nominees. Presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the awards have a judging body of over 2,000 members.
D&AD Awards for excellence in design
Two Wood Pencils were given to Free Fire’s The Real Airdrop, awarded across the Experiential and Media categories. True to the game, airdrops were made available all over Brazil, allowing Free Fire fans to capture virtual rewards dropped by digital planes with users’ geolocation with actual flight data.
Eight Clio Sports awards for best in sports innovation
Two Gold Clios in the Artificial Intelligence and Digital categories were awarded for Nike’s Never Done Evolving, in addition to a Silver and Bronze. Nike’s Never Done Making History, an astonishing large-scale art installation capturing the Tigerbelles’ renowned moment in history, was also recognised with one Gold Clio in the Design category, as well as two Bronze in the Experiential and Out of Home category.
