Here is the 2025 shortlist for the APG Creative Strategy Awards

Of course you will jump straight to the link to see which papers have been chosen to go through to the final judging stage.  

If you get time, hop back here for a bit of context. 

There are 28 in all. 5 are Long Term Thinking cases and 23 are Creative Strategy cases from the last 3 years.  

It was the hardest ever year to be shortlisted as we had a whopping 150 entries. If your paper was not shortlisted; no shame! We didn’t read a bad case. In fact, every single one had something interesting and memorable to offer.

The winning entries are fantastic. 

We asked for every flavour of strategy and there are plenty of brilliant examples. There are also some excellent ‘classic’ cases, a number where the scale of difficulty and ingenuity of strategic thinking are really notable, some riveting stories from outside the UK and one or two that make you smile and be really happy to be a strategist. It’s a church as a broad as our community.

Graphic and performative praise is easy. And no-one likes that much. But I do need to publicly acknowledge our 14 shortlisting judges.

They read an astonishing number of papers. 

Most entries were read and marked and closely discussed by 11 or 12 of them. 

Chair, Kit Altin was an object lesson in how to run a jury of competitors and make them feel like a bonded team with the same goal: Choose the best thinking regardless of who wrote it, where it came from and what the industry thinks. 

The process could not have been fairer, more considered or more agonised. They were so determined to get it right and listen to all points of view on a paper. So spending two long, hot afternoons with them all was a joy. Honestly, what a lovely bunch of people.

As you may be getting the hint, APG awards are unusual and demanding! 

And the shortlisted authors now have their next challenge.

At the start of July, they will give a 5 minute presentation of their thinking to the final judges who will have 15/20 minutes to question them in a spirit of generous, thoughtful enquiry. 

They will then be marked again and the final ‘gongs’ apportioned on the basis of both stages. 

The announcement, presentation and ceremony are in September

So all that remains from me is to thank the planners and strategists who toiled over their papers and produced an amazing body of thinking. Papers which are high-quality thinking but did not make the shortlist will be published on WARC.

Here’s to you. All of you.

Sarah Newman

APG Director