Ogilvy UK won big at the Account Planning Group Awards last night. The APGs celebrate and promote creative strategy as a vital, diverse, and essential discipline for businesses and brands. The awards are an educational and inspirational resource, showcasing the practical value and power of strategy in creating impactful, business-changing campaigns.
The Stephen King Strategy Agency of the Year Award is given to the agency with the best overall performance and represents the highest accolade for strategic thinking in the industry. Ogilvy UK also won a joint Grand Prix and Golds for Dulux and Mayor of London, plus special prizes for best performance in front of judges (Natalie Chester for Mayor of London), best creative bravery (Mayor of London) and best insight (Dulux).
By highlighting innovative thinking across various sectors, from advertising to consulting, the awards set industry best practice, inspire future strategists, and elevate the quality of strategic work globally.
When books function as expensive wallpaper, Dulux Heritage Editions strategically adopted the codes of classic literature to make its own premium paint suggest cultural sophistication and class. ‘Maaate’ for the Mayor of London was a powerful one-word initiative tackling the issue of misogyny in London. The campaign was a story of strategy crossing the gender divide, avoiding polarisation, and defying the pressure of a media storm to follow a harder, but more effective, strategic path.
David Golding said, “As David Ogilvy famously said ‘we sell…or else’. These awards show that the agency that bears his name still keeps that flame burning, using all the skills and talents available to today’s strategists.”
Amelia Torode, group head of strategy said, “These awards are a huge honour and a real testament to the fresh thinking, intelligence and imagination that’s coming from strategy team at Ogilvy. Strategy is a team sport, but on this occasion, we’re celebrating Natalie and Ryan our star strikers. Kudus to Matt our out-going group head of strategy and Ollie, our head of effectiveness and David Golding for building such a vibrant culture of strategic excellence across Ogilvy.”
APG Awards said, “When we launched the awards, we announced the theme as ‘every flavour of strategy’. We called for entries that reflected the real diversity of creative strategy as it is practised now. We got them. And they are awesome. So for the first time ever, the Grand Prix is awarded jointly to all seven Gold winners… Congratulations to them, to Strategy Agency of the Year, Ogilvy UK, and all the prize winners. You have done us proud.”
APG awards won
Strategy Agency of the Year Award
Ogilvy UK
Joint Grand Prix and Gold (of seven recipients):
Dulux
How Planning Helped Dulux Break Through the Class Ceiling
Author: Ryan Thomson
Agency: Ogilvy UK
Joint Grand Prix and Gold (of seven recipients):
Mayor of London
Planning’s Hard Choice: How one word broke the silence of misogyny
Author: Natalie Chester
Agency: Ogilvy UK
Special Prizes
Prize for Best Performance in Front of the Judges
Natalie Chester
Mayor of London
Agency: Ogilvy UK
Prize for Creative Bravery
Mayor of London
Agency: Ogilvy UK
Prize for Best Insight
Dulux
Agency: Ogilvy UK