Best of Show Goes to Dentsu Digital Inc.’s “SATO 2531 – Think Name Project”; Klick Health Named Agency of the Year, VML Network of the Year, WPP Holding Company of the Year
Zombie Studio Named Production Company of the Year, Café Joyeux is Brand of the Year; 2025 Grand Awards Go to Dentsu Digital Inc., Klick Health, McCann XBC, MullenLowe MENA, Serviceplan Group, and VML
New York Festivals Advertising Awards (NYFA) announced the 2025 award-winners.
With Executive Jury President Javier Campopiano at the helm, the 2025 Executive Jury brought together globally respected creative and executive leaders to review this year’s entries. This distinguished panel carefully evaluated the shortlisted entries, determined by NYFA’s Shortlist Jury, and selected the final award winners. Through thoughtful deliberation, they honored the most innovative and impactful work across each category.
The Executive Jury awarded cutting-edge work with the prestigious Best of Show Award, eight Grand Awards, 57 Gold Tower Awards, 68 Silver Towers, and 114 Bronze Towers. View all the winning campaigns in the 2025 NYF Advertising Awards winners’ showcase: HERE.
Each year, New York Festivals honors one campaign that stands apart from the rest, earning the title of Best of Show. This esteemed honor is reserved for the single campaign that sets a new benchmark for creative excellence in the industry.
The 2025 Best of Show Award – Dentsu Digital Inc. Japan
Dentsu Digital Inc. was awarded the 2025 Best of Show Award for “Sato 2531” for Think Name Project.
The campaign sought to advance gender equality by addressing the identity loss and career setbacks many women face due to Japan’s law requiring married couples to share the same surname. Asuniwa, a leading gender equality organization, partnered with Professor Yoshida of Tohuko University to conduct an original study revealing that, under the current law, where 95% of women adopt their husband’s surname, surname diversity could vanish by the year 2531. If unchanged, nearly everyone in Japan could be named “Sato.”
In addition, the campaign sparked global attention: featured by over 1,500 media outlets in 102 countries, presented at a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare press conference, and submitted to UN Women. Forty organizations joined the movement by temporarily adopting the surname “Sato.” The UN has since urged Japan to revise the law within two years. The public momentum helped elect a Prime Minister who supports the change.
“We imagined a future where everyone ends up with the surname “Sato”…so we rebranded companies and sports teams across Japan to reflect that. We even wanted to change the Onitsuka Tiger to ‘Sato Tiger’—and turn car brands like Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Suzuki into ‘Sato’ too. Only Nissan would survive!”— Kei Ishizuka, Creative Director / Copywriter, Shiho Kurihara, Art Director, Dentsu Digital Japan.
For 2025, NYF’s Executive Jury honored eight groundbreaking campaigns for their exceptional innovation and creative execution. These ground-breaking campaigns earned the highest scores in their categories and were awarded the distinguished New York Festivals Grand Award.
The 2025 Grand Awards
BRANDED CONTENT/ENTERTAINMENT: McCann XBC “From Fan to Featured” – Mastercar
COLLABORATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS: Dentsu Digital Inc. “SATO 2531” – Think Name Project
FILM CRAFT: Klick Health “47” – Café Joyeux
NYF CRISTAL VILLAGE AWARD: MullenLowe MENA “The Art Of Stains” – OMO (Dirt is Good)
OUTDOOR: VML “Thanks for Coke-Creating” – Coca-Cola
PUBLIC RELATIONS: Dentsu Digital Inc. “SATO 2531” – Think Name Project
PURPOSE: Dentsu Digital Inc. “SATO 2531” – Think Name Project
SOCIAL MEDIA & INFLUENCER: Serviceplan Germany “Rainbow Wool” – Schäferei Stücke
2025 Industry Awards
The New York Festivals Industry Awards honor companies whose multi-award-winning campaigns exemplify innovation, creativity, and effectiveness. This prestigious recognition celebrates holding companies, networks, and agencies whose cutting-edge work has not only engaged and inspired audiences but also built lasting brand affinity.
The 2025 Industry Award recipients are determined by the number of top-scoring entries that earn trophies, based on results from the New York Festivals 2025 Executive Jury. These outstanding companies have set new benchmarks for excellence and left a lasting mark on the global advertising and communications landscape.
Agency of the Year – Klick Health
Klick Health was honored with the prestigious title of Agency of the Year, the first health agency to earn this distinction, a benchmark that reflects the power of their innovative and purpose-driven creativity. The agency’s creative work stood out across multiple categories, earning top scores from the NYF Executive Jury. Among their award-winning campaigns, the Grand Award-winning film “47” for Café Joyeux, a hand-crafted stop-motion film created with and for the Down syndrome community, exemplifies the heart and impact of their storytelling. Klick Health’s impressive performance included eight Gold trophies among their many honors.
“We are proud to be named New York Festivals Advertising Awards Agency of the Year. To be the first health-focused agency ever to receive this distinction and join the ranks of the greatest consumer agencies of all time is a huge honor and milestone. On behalf of our entire team, thank you to the festival, its esteemed jury, and the entire industry for recognizing our work and acknowledging the important role health plays in the world,” said Klick Health Chief Creative Officer Rich Levy.
Agency Network of the Year – VML
VML has been named the 2025 Network of the Year in recognition of its outstanding creative achievements on a global scale. This distinguished honor is awarded to the agency network that earns the highest combined score across all mediums, reflecting a consistent standard of excellence and top-performing work from agencies throughout its network.
“Congratulations to all the New York Festivals winners, and a huge thank you to the global jury for their invaluable time and efforts. Being named Network of the Year is a tremendous honor for VML, and it wouldn’t be possible without the partnership and commitment from our exceptional clients like Ford Motor Company, Tennessee Tourism, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and The Coca-Cola Company. This remarkable work from around the world truly showcases the power of our human-first approach, demonstrating how putting people at the center of our solutions drives groundbreaking creativity and real impact.”—Debbi Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer, VML
Holding Company of the Year – WPP
For the third consecutive year, WPP has been named Holding Company of the Year. This prestigious honor recognizes the holding company with the highest combined score across all mediums, based on the cumulative points earned by its global network of agencies. The award reflects WPP’s continued commitment to creative excellence and its ability to deliver impactful, award-winning work across the industry.
Production Company of the Year – Zombie Studio
Zombie Studio, the global creative company with locations in New York, São Paulo, and Lisbon, was honored with the distinguished New York Festivals Production Company of the Year Award. Known for their expertise in animation and visual storytelling, the studio was recognized for their exceptional stop-motion film created for Klick Health and the Down syndrome community. The film’s surreal, whimsical visuals were perfectly balanced with a deeply emotional narrative about finding joy in the everyday.
Zombie’s standout creative contribution played a key role in Klick Health’s remarkable awards performance, which included the 2025 Grand Award.
The New York Festivals Production Company of the Year Award celebrates excellence in filmmaking and is awarded based on total points earned—regardless of whether the entries were submitted by the production company, an agency, or a third party.
“Zombie just got named Production Company of the Year at the New York Festivals — and we’re honestly over the moon.
This festival has been around forever, so seeing our name up there feels pretty wild. It’s a huge nod to the crazy-talented team we have, and to everyone who believes in the kind of work we love to do.
Big shoutout to Klick and Café Joyeux for jumping into this adventure with us. What a ride.” — Paulo Garcia, Director & Co-Founder, Zombie Studio
Brand of the Year – Café Joyeux
Over 8 million people in the U.S. have intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), and 80% of them are unemployed. That’s exactly why Café Joyeux was founded to create meaningful jobs and promote true workplace inclusion.
Launched in 2017 in France, Café Joyeux trains and employs individuals with mental and cognitive disabilities. Today, the brand has grown to over 25 locations and continues to challenge inequality while championing dignity through employment.
All entries into the 2025 NYF Advertising Awards competition were judged by 350+ members of NYF’s Shortlist Jury, 2025 Executive Jury, and specialty Executive Juries, including Film Craft, Design, PR, and Future Now. These renowned panels, made up of prominent creative global minds, collectively selected the World’s Best Advertising®
Celebrate this year’s Best of Show, Grand Award winners, Industry Honors, and get an exclusive peek behind the scenes at the judging process.
Stay tuned for the NYFAI global competition winners. This cutting-edge initiative, made possible through our exciting partnership with LTX Studio, pushes the boundaries of storytelling through the power of AI.
For more information on the 2025 New York Festivals Advertising Awards and to explore the winners’ showcase visit HERE.
