The 2025 New York Festivals Advertising Awards have announced the winners, recognizing work from across the global advertising industry. This year’s judging was led by Executive Jury President Javier Campopiano, with a panel comprising senior creative and executive leaders from around the world.
The jury awarded one Best of Show, along with eight Grand Awards, 57 Gold Towers, 68 Silver Towers, and 114 Bronze Towers.
Each year, the Best of Show is presented to a single campaign that the jury considers a standout for its creativity and impact, representing a benchmark for the year’s work.
The 2025 Best of Show Award – Dentsu Digital Japan
Dentsu Digital 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.”
The campaign also 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,” said Kei Ishizuka, Creative Director / Copywriter, Shiho Kurihara, Art Director, Dentsu Digital Japan.
“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!”
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.
Other highlights from Asia
India
Two Bronze were awarded to FCB Kinnect for their work on the “Flipkart ‘Sa Sa Le Le” campaign.
Hong Kong
Publicis Groupe was awarded Silver for “Make Your Next Move, Make Your Mark” while also winning “For Every Legendary One.”
Cheil’s Silver went to “Safe Sketch”, which also won three Bronze.
Thailand
Wolf BKK’s work on the KFC campaign “Uncle KFC’s Rice Bowl” took home two Gold and a Silver, while BBDO Bangkok has also won Gold for “Minimising Your Frustration”.
South Korea
Innocean’s “Night Fishing” continued its winning streak, taking home a Silver and Bronze. The agency also picked up two Bronze’s for “Life-Saving Bathhouse”.
Cheil Worldwide Seoul was awarded Silver for “Lifeguard Snack”.
Philippines
MullenLowe TREYNA won gold for the “#Stripesfitcheck” campaign, while Leo Manila won Silver for its work on “Night Classroom”.
Singapore
VML Singapore was awarded a Silver and Bronze for “Reclaim Her Name”.
China
BBDO China’s “The Harbin Rack Hack” earned both Gold and Silver, while The Nine Shanghai’s “Magnificent” received Silver, while Heaven&Hell’s “Taotao’s Story” was awarded Bronze.
The 2025 Grand Awards
BRANDED CONTENT/ENTERTAINMENT: McCann XBC “From Fan to Featured” – Mastercard
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 “SATO 2531” – Think Name Project
PURPOSE: Dentsu Digital “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.
The 2025 Industry Award recipients are determined by the number of top-scoring entries that earn trophies, based on results from the 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 has been named Agency of the Year at the 2025 New York Festivals Advertising Awards—the first health-focused agency to receive the distinction. The recognition highlights the agency’s strong performance across multiple categories and the high scores its campaigns received from the Executive Jury.
Among its awarded work, Klick’s stop-motion film “47” for Café Joyeux earned a Grand Award. Created in collaboration with members of the Down syndrome community, the film was recognized for its craftsmanship and emotional resonance. In total, the agency took home eight Gold Towers, among other honors.
“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.”
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,” said Debbi Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer, VML.
“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.”
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.
Production Company of the Year – Zombie Studio
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 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,” said Paulo Garcia, Director & Co-Founder, Zombie Studio.
“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.”
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.
For more information on the 2025 New York Festivals Advertising Awards and to explore the winners’ showcase, visit here.
