NEW YORK—Pepsico, in partnership with Edelman and Weber Shandwick Worldwide, took home the Platinum SABRE Award for the best public relations program of 2011, for its Pepsi Refresh campaign, which used social media to engage consumers in the company’s corporate social responsibility efforts.
It was also a good night for Burson-Marsteller, which took home the North American Agency of the Year trophy; Kekst and Company, which was named Specialist Agency of the Year in addition to its Strategic Agency of the Year award; and Text 100, which was named the Best Agency to Work For in North America.
Other special award winners included Ruder Finn and Liz Claiborne, who took home a Lifetime Achievement SABRE for a sustained 20-year campaign against domestic violence, Love Is Not Abuse, and the four winners of Individual Achievement SABRE Awards: Christa Carone of Xerox, Ray Day of Ford, Ray Kotcher of Ketchum, and Doug Spong of Carmichael Lynch Spong.
A packed house of close to 900 industry leaders—and Ford chief executive Alan Mulally, who was on hand to present Day with his award in person—was on hand at New York’s Cipriani 42nd Street for the gala dinner.
Ketchum and Weber Shandwick took home the largest haul of SABRE trophies, with eight each. There were five trophies each for Edelman and RF Binder; four for Cohn & Wolfe; and three for GolinHarris. Other multiple winners included Burson-Marsteller, Euro RSCG Worldwide, Fahlgren Mortine, Marina Maher Communications, MSL Group, Porter Novelli, Public Communications, Zeno Group, and Zocalo.
A complete list of Gold and Silver winners can be found here.
A complete list of Bronze and Iron winners can be found here.