NEW YORK—For the second straight year, Edelman was the biggest winner at the North American SABRE Awards dinner this evening, taking home seven Gold and Diamond SABRE Awards for its work with clients and earning the Platinum SABRE Award for the best public relations campaign of the year for its work with retailer REI.

The REI B#OptOutside campaign—the company closed all of its 143 stores on Black Friday, opting instead to pay employees to get outside with family and friends—beat out four other strong campaigns for best in show, including:

  • BeRembered.com, in which Aurora Casket Company and K2 Digital used digital marketing techniques and a brilliant strategic insight to help drive $9 million in new revenue;
  • The People’s Launch, which saw McDonald’s and Golin use social data and analytics and crowdsourcing techniques to introduce all-day breakfast;
  • The Sisterhood of Motherhood, with MSLGroup helping Abbott’s Similac bring together infant formula feeding advocates and “breast is best” lactivists to create a movement for motherhood;
  • Wrangling Multimedia Content for the Western Lifestyle, in which French/West/Vaughan and Wrangler responded to the end of a traditional media deal by creating its own Wrangler Network, which has attracted 2.5 million unique viewers to the sport.

“Once again this year, the judges were attracted to a campaign that was about actions more than words,” says SABRE jury chairman Paul Holmes. “The REI #OptOutside initiative was a purpose-driven decision that enhanced employee morale and sent a powerful message to the marketplace.” Selim Bingol, CCO at Duke Energy, summarized the judges’ response to the campaign: “Great concept, execution and results.”

Other agencies receiving multiple Gold and Diamond Awards included Golin (four); Weber Shandwick (three, plus one for its ReveiveHealth subsidiary); M Booth, Coyne, Ketchum, and Porter Novelli (three each); 360 PR, MSLGroup, MullenLowe and Zeno Group (two each).

Burson-Marsteller and Hill+Knowlton both took home one Gold SABRE and one Silver SABRE for public relations management.

The full winners list can be found here.