This year’s Grand Clio winners came from France, Puerto Rico, Italy, Germany, Singapore, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, while some of the most awarded names included Ogilvy, LePub, Publicis Conseil and campaigns that combine creativity, culture and real social impact.
This year’s edition of the Clio Awards once again demonstrated how the global creative industry is moving away from classic advertising and increasingly focusing on projects that function as part of culture, public conversation and real consumer experience. During the ceremony hosted by actor, writer and producer Keegan-Michael Key, 20 Grand Clio awards were presented to projects that defined the year through creative innovation, strategic thinking and cultural impact.
Among the evening’s most notable projects were campaigns that had already defined the festival season, including Gulf of Mexico (Bar), Vaseline Verified, THREE WORDS and The Final Exam, confirming how today’s biggest industry awards increasingly favor ideas that move beyond traditional media formats.
In the Public Service category, the campaign The Final Exam, created by BBDO Chicago for Change The Ref, stood out in particular. The project won Grand Clio awards in the Branded Entertainment & Content and Culture & Influence categories, while in the Film Craft category the award went to Trails Will Blaze by NOMINT for BBC.
In the Product/Service segment, one of the biggest winners of the evening was Gulf of Mexico (Bar) by LePub Mexico City for Tecate, which received Grand Clio awards in the Branded Entertainment & Content, Creative Disruption, Out of Home and Social Media categories.
The campaign Vaseline Verified, created by Ogilvy Singapore for Vaseline, continued dominating the festival season by winning Grand Clio awards for Creative Strategy, Direct and Use of Influencers. Vaseline was ultimately named Advertiser of the Year, while Ogilvy Singapore received Agency of the Year and the Ogilvy network was named Network of the Year.
Other Grand Clio winners included:
- The Unofficial Sound of F1 by Leo India for Sting in the Audio category
- THREE WORDS by Publicis Conseil for AXA in the Creative Business Transformation and PR categories
- I WOOL SURVIVE by SERVICEPLAN GERMANY for Grindr in the Culture & Influence category
- Vi Guardian Beads by Ogilvy Mumbai for Vi (Vodafone Idea) in the Design category
- Tracking Bad Bunny by DDB Latina Puerto Rico for Bad Bunny in the Digital/Mobile category
- Expedition Impossible by adam&eve\TBWA for Columbia Sportswear in the Experience/Activation category
- The Final Copy of Ilon Specht by MCCANN PARIS for L’Oréal Paris in the Film category
- No Project without Drama by HeimatTBWA\Germany for HORNBACH in the Film Craft category
- Pub Succession by LePub Milan for Heineken in the Direct category
Alongside the main awards, the AI category also attracted significant attention. Ogilvy Health received The Clio Awards & Google AI Specialty Award for its collaboration with EUROFARMA, a project demonstrating how AI is entering the advertising industry not only as a tool for automation, but also as part of the creative and strategic process.
During the ceremony, honorary awards for contributions to culture and creativity were also presented. Musician, producer and songwriter Mark Ronson received an Honorary Clio Award for his influence on contemporary music and popular culture, particularly through projects such as Barbie The Album, A Star Is Born and Suicide Squad. Later in the evening, artist Mickalene Thomas received the same recognition, with her work across painting, photography and installations continuing to redefine questions of identity, gender and representation in contemporary art.
This year’s Clio Awards further confirmed how the global creative scene is increasingly moving toward a model in which the boundaries between advertising, entertainment, culture, technology and social impact are almost completely disappearing. Campaigns winning the industry’s biggest awards are no longer simply communication projects, but platforms that function through communities, media, experiences and cultural conversations that continue long after the campaign itself ends.
