SAN FRANCISCO —  M Booth took home top honors at the IN2SABRE Awards last night for its work with Tinder on its #RepresentLove campaign that brought forth interracial emojis. 

IN2SABRE judges praised for work for repositioning Tinder as a driver for social change, noting the campaign's catchphrase "Isn’t it time emoji represented all love?" points to an issue many didn’t even know existed. In addition to the Platinum Best in Show trophy, the campaign garnered wins across three other categories: Best in Integrated Social Media, Best in Technology and Best in Digital Promos/Activations. 

Other big winners for the night included Ketchum who took home seven trophies, followed by ICF Next winning six times. The full list is below, with comments from judges on why these campaigns broke through. 

Best In Show #1
#RepresentLove
Tinder with M Booth

“Didn’t consider a Tinder a driver of social change, until now— ‘isn’t it time emoji represented all love?’ points to an issue many didn’t even know existed.”

 

Best In Show #2
How an unknown startup went against tech favorite: Elon Musk
Thor Trucks with The Bulleit Group

“This was a true excellence of lean marketing and scrappy promotion that had a huge impact on the business by looking at what competitors are doing and what's happening in the market.”

 

Best In Show #3
Prescribed to Death
National Safety Council with Ketchum, Energy BBDO, m ss ng p eces, The Mill, Flare, PHD

“Chilling, powerful visual that confronts America’s opioid epidemic by humanizing the devastating effects of the crisis.” 

Best in Show #4
 Exclusive the Rainbow
Skittles with ICF Next

“Found a way for Skittles to be as high-profile as previous Super Bowl years — without shelling out $5million to run a spot at the game.”

 

Best in Show #5 
Helzberg Diamonds Breaks the Rules of Engagement
Helzberg Diamonds with Carmichael Lynch Relate
“Came up with a new way to talk about diamonds that reflects changing views on partnerships. Solved a problem for consumers.”

 

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

Best in Live Events
Milking My Ladies: Launching the Elvie Pump—Elvie with SourceCode

“Brilliant to launch a breast pump at Fashion Week. The move paid off — more than 5,000 sign-ups to the wait list!”

 

Best in Digital Promo & Activation
#RepresentLove—Tinder with M Booth

“Didn’t consider a Tinder a driver of social change, until now— ‘isn’t it time emoji represented all love?’ points to an issue many didn’t even know existed.”

 

Best in Sponsorships
Taste the Gold: Hershey’s Shares Olympic Gold Platform—The Hershey Company with Ketchum

“The campaign perfectly did exactly what it set out to do —separate Hershey’s from other Olympic sponsors and associate it with winning a gold medal.”

Best in Trade Shows & Awards
Beauty gets ugly: Chainsaws and soldiers at CES—FOREO with GreenRoom PR Agency

“Truly flipped the script on beauty forgoing ‘delicate’ and ’pretty’ for a rougher approach to gain traction at CES which is hard to do.”

 

EARNED MEDIA

Best in Digital/Print Consumer Media (Earned)
Exclusive the Rainbow—Skittles with ICF Next 

“Found a way for Skittles to be as high-profile as previous Super Bowl years — without shelling out $5million to run a spot at the game.”


Best in Digital/Print B2B Media (Earned)
Bringing Life-Altering Med-Tech to National Attention—INSIGHTEC with Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

“Succeeded at a really tough assignment to create a new brand presence and make an impact with Medicare — also eschewed exploitive stories.” 


Best in Broadcast Media (Earned)
Helzberg Diamonds Breaks the Rules of Engagement—Helzberg Diamonds with Carmichael Lynch Relate

“Came up with a new way to talk about diamonds that reflects changing views on partnerships. Solved a problem for consumers.”


Best in Product Reviews (Earned)
Retro Pitch Hits Emotional Touch Point with Reviewers—Nautilus Inc. with The Hoffman Agency

“Playing into the retro trend and to convinced the client to open new distribution and unexpected retail demand for a product based on a PR campaign is ground-breaking.”


Best Earned Media with Influencers + Communities
Influencers Take to the Skies and Go #UPINTHEFINNAIR—Finnair with Zapwater Communications, Inc.

“Fits the definition of the category - scrappy, low-budget with fantastic results and moved the needle with results in the US market.”


Best Persuasive Content

Feel More: Redefining Masculinity by Destigmatizing Masturbation Around the World—TENGA with Burson Cohn & Wolfe

“Takes on toxic masculinity while normalizing masturbation with strong research  and generating sales.” 

 

Best Content Creation for Media Sites (Earned)
JIM, The First Smart Decanter—Jim Beam with ICF Next

“Rides the personal-assistant craze with an AI whiskey decanter that mimics tech roll-outs. I want one!” 

SPONSORED & PAID MEDIA

Best Content Creation for Media Sites (Paid)
Welcome to the Water Revolution—Niagara Conservation with Padilla 

“Drove purchase consideration and leads on toilet sales with the so-called a character who makes the subject entertaining.”


Best Influencer Programs + Endorsements (Paid)
Colgate Saves Water, Builds Business and Slows GHG Emissions—Colgate-Palmolive with BCW

“Colgate focused directly on water waste while brushing teeth — resulting in record-breaking quantitative and qualitative results.” 

 

Best Media Partnership
Challenging Perceptions to Change the Future of Food—Land O'Lakes with Exponent PR, Colle McVoy 

“Started a national conversation about the future of food that stood out at SXSW and beyond.”

 

Best Seo/Content Distribution Program (Paid + Organic)
Fremont Website Takes Holistic Approach to SEO—City of Fremont with The Hoffman Agency

“Doubled website traffic in eight months —increased traffic quality and quantity without any paid bumps.”

 

Best in Digital Marketing/Advertising
Taste is Blind: How Arla Got Consumers to Care About an Upstart Cream Cheese—Arla with Carmichael Lynch Relate

“Smart and agile campaign doubled sales in six months and made significant progress around retail placement.” 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA & COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

Best Use of Integrated Social Media
#RepresentLove—Tinder with M Booth 

“Created a campaign that touches a social nerve and help lift the brand and drove app downloads. And brought to the floor something people don't always think about.”

 

Best Use of Social Networks
Mayochup—Heinz with ICF Next

“Used a Twitter poll and meme to drive product distribution. Resulted in one million votes — the highest engagement in Twitter’s history.”


Best Use of Video Networks
Hilton Declares Affordable Suites for All—Embassy, Homewood and Home2 Suites by Hilton with GSDM and rbb Communications

“Generated more than a $1m in revenue – plus double-digit increase product consideration by making the brands more appealing across several groups.”

Best Use of Photo Networks 
Winner: Celebrating Equal Parts Cocktails, Charity and Creativity for Negroni Week 2018—Campari with M Booth

”Tapped into a trend that showed consumer preference for bitter foods, resulting in a campaign that increased brand consumption.”

 

Best Use of Blogs
Calling in the Experts: Answers for Tough Questions on the Farm—Cenex with Exponent PR

“Smart content partnerships resulted in a huge boost in readership beyond just owned channels.”

 

Best in Crowdsourcing & Co-creating
Champions of Science: The Art of Ending Stigma—Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

"Brings together a community of organizations to drive collaboration around a subject people find difficult to engage with…The creation of a digital gallery was a fresh way to think about user-generated content."

Best in Real-time Engagement
Kit Kat Love Story—Kit Kat with Ketchum

“They moved quickly and managed to keep a long tail. It wasn't a one-off corporate storytelling. Connected consumers back to the brand.”

Best Meme/Viral Campaign
Mayochup—Heinz with ICF Next

"The fact that they were able to essentially create the most engagement on a Twitter poll of all time — made it clear it was meme-worthy. Courage, authenticity, shareability." 

Best Use of Gamification/User-Generated Contests
Outrageous Fans Outrageous Product = Outrageous Launch—Reese's with Ketchum

“Good use of social listening to identify super fans and to create viral moments that resulted in Outrageous becoming a top seller after launch.” 

 

BRAND CONTENT & CREATIVITY

Best in Brand Narratives
Prosocial: Changing the Conversation Around 13 Reasons Why—Netflix with Zeno Group

“They didn't miss a beat and could genuinely declare victory. Especially well-handled in dealing with heavy issues.”


Best in Digital Brand Platform
Alizila—Alibaba Group

“Notable results as sessions on the site has nearly tripled and grown the company’s social media following as well.”

 

Best in Brand Film/Video
Today's All-American Family and Unconscious Bias—HP with Edelman

“Timely message that reinforces the position that HP has taken around being ‘unapologetically bold’ on diversity and inclusion.” 


Best in Brand Animation
Explanimators Video Series—Microsoft with Microsoft Story Labs

“More than two million views for entertaining, short-form videos that make tech trends digestible.” 

 

Best Use of Illustrations + Photography
Creating an Unlikely Water Hero—Scotts Miracle-Gro with Zeno Group 

“More than one million views of the docuseries on social media — and most impressively changed consumer perception of the brand.” 

 

Best in Audio: Podcasts + Music
Two Scientists Walk Into a Bar, a podcast for the scientist (in all of us)—Genentech, a member of the Roche Group with Weber Shandwick

“We listen to this podcast and we’re not even the intended audience — Genentech employees!” 


Best in Identity Branding
Barefoot Wines Creates Parody Music Group, the Slay Team—Barefoot with MWWPR

“Shows an understanding of the target audience while tapping into relevant talent for an entertaining video that resulted in a sales lift — with future plans to do more.” 

 

Best in Social Good + Public Service

Prescribed to Death—National Safety Council with Ketchum, Energy BBDO, m ss ng p eces, The Mill, Flare, PHD

“Chilling, powerful visual that confronts America’s opioid epidemic by humanizing the devastating effects of the crisis.” 

 

ANALYTICS + INSIGHTS

Best Use of Social Media or Analytics for Audience Insights or Influencer Targeting
Conoco Launches “Choose Go”—Phillips 66/Conoco with Carmichael Lynch Relate

“Creative and effective way to target younger drivers who aren’t aware of the brand and not drawn to traditional marketing efforts.” 

 

Best Use of Original/Commissioned Research for PR
Clean is the Beginning—Clorox with Ketchum 

“Makes connections between clean spaces and decreasing stress, backing that up with research. Also avoided gender stereotypes.”


Best in Measurement, Post-Campaign Analysis
Development of the Hypatia Gravity Score to Measure  Media Impact—Hypatia with Lippe Taylor 

“Measures the impact of earned media for a brand with a smart 4-step process.” 


Best in Marketing Technology
W2O's Search Magic 8-Ball: Using Search Analytics to Map Intent and Drive PESO Activation—W2O

“Delivers on its promise of contextual insights by quantifying different types of ‘intent’ when people go to search.”

 

AGENCY SPOTLIGHT
Best Agency Marketing
Creating Cultures of Empowerment: Have Her Back—Golin 

“Great connecting to a larger movement and putting energy into addressing that issue at their agency. The outcome will benefit them for years to come.”

Best Agency Disruption - Tools & Tactics
Meet Q: AI Powered Community Management—Weber Shandwick

Best Agency Blog, Editorial, Communications Platform
W2O Integrated Thought Leadership—W2O

Best Live Event - Agency
W2O – Joining Forces with SXSW Interactive 2018 to Provide Client Value—W2O

SPECIAL CAMPAIGNS
Corporate/B2b
Teaching Chefs to Go Whole Hog for Prosciutto di Parma—Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma with Padilla

“Exceeded goals with stats that show it was effective in persuading chefs to use the whole leg.” 

Consumer
Exclusive the Rainbow—Skittles with ICF Next

“Amazing campaign with zero media spend - highlights the power of earned media. Big risk, zigging when everyone else was zagging and paying off in sales.”


Healthcare
Champions of Science: The Art of Ending Stigma—Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

“Powerful and moving use of art to help illustrate mental illness.” 

 

Financial Sector
Mental Health & The Finance Advice Relationship—Bridgehouse Asset Managers

“Bridgehouse took a stand by addressing the mental issues around financial health — and realizing its limits and calling on outside resources.” 


Social Good/Non-profit
More Powerful Together: Shining a New Light on the HeForShe Movement and Gender Equality—United Nations HeForShe Movement with FleishmanHillard New York

“Managed to rekindle, and reignite momentum around HeForShe by focusing on gaining the support of men.” 


Government/Public Affairs/Lobbying
The Patients Are Waiting: How HARPA Will Change Lives Now—Suzanne Wright Foundation with Ketchum

Technology
#RepresentLove—Tinder with M Booth

“A complete program - started with an important observation on something that was missing in our culture. Rather than just talk about it, they did something about it — and influenced a standards body."

Employee Engagement
Opportunities & Challenges Animation Series—Merck with Gagen MacDonald

Crisis Management 
From “S.O.S” to “Bienvenidos”: Puerto Rico Asks Media To #CoverTheProgress—Discover Puerto Rico with Ketchum

Lean Marketing
How an unknown startup went against tech favorite: Elon Musk—Thor Trucks with The Bulleit Group 

“This was a true excellence of lean marketing and scrappy promotion that had a huge impact on the business by looking at what competitors are doing and what's happening in the market.”


Micro Marketing
The Hot-Cheetos Turkey—Reynolds with ICF Next

“Made oven bags cool for Millennials by jumping on the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos trend — without a formal partnership — for the a turkey that went viral, all for $5,000. Amazing.”  

Best New Company Launch
How an unknown startup went against tech favorite: Elon Musk—Thor Trucks with The Bulleit Group

“Told a compelling launch story on a limited budget by using Tesla to propel Thor Trucks to the front of the narrative.” 


Best New Product Launch
The Day IHOP Flipped the Script—IHOP with PR Agency: DeVries Global/Creative: Droga5 /Media Buying: Initiative/ Social Media: MRM/McCann /POP: Barkley US

“It worked. Everyone was talking about it and IHOP gained recognition for its burgers that was sustained beyond the initial stunt.” 

 

INNOVATION EXCELLENCE
Most Innovative Project - University/College Level 
W2O’s Center for Social Commerce—W2O

“Has built an incredible pipeline of talent for W2O.” 

Most Innovative Agency Initiative
Creating Cultures of Empowerment: Have Her Back—Golin

“Golin up-leveled a great issue with strong creativity. This is an investment that Golin is already seeing benefits from — from talent and clients.”  

 

Most Innovative Marketing/Communications Professional - Agency
Adam Ritchie, Principal—Adam Ritchie Brand Direction

“Created a new content distribution vehicle, offered a complete sensory experience, used technology to solve a problem technology created, and changed consumer behavior.”

 

Most Innovative Marketing/Communications Professional -Brand
Catherine Hernandez Blades, Chief Brand and Communications Officer at Aflac 

“My Special Aflac Duck was dubbed “the smartest toy of all,” one of the “most innovative and breakthrough technologies,” and “a tech toy that is more meaningful than all other tech combined.”

 

Most Innovative Business Leader 

Rose Marcario, CEO Patagonia

“We need to keep pushing hard to make it easier to vote and to celebrate voting as the central and most powerful expression of American citizenship.”