The $425 entry fee includes one category, each additional category is $95.
Experiential Marketing
Categories includes virtual and online events.
1. Live Events
This category includes activities that focus on people attending events, including live shows/concerts, in-store customer experiences, promotional stunts, etc.
2. Online/Virtual Events
This category includes activities that bring people together online to attend virtual events, including conferences, awards, discussions, shows, webinars, live streaming, etc. For events in the Metaverse, see category 44.
3. Digital Promo & Activation
This category includes any online/social media activity that leads to direct sales, prospecting, donations or other calls to action on online or social media platforms.
4. Sponsorships
This category includes both the planning and execution of sponsorship activities and PR support to leverage that sponsorship.
Earned Media
These submissions should be anchored in a single piece of excellent earned coverage. The anchor media can be supported with additional pieces of coverage and/or syndication to show additional reach, scope and impact. Please include the anchor coverage or link to it in the submission. These categories exclude paid content.
5. Digital/Print Media: General, Consumer and Lifestyle Media
This category recognizes exceptional coverage that is earned on digital or traditional media across general, consumer and lifestyle media. Excludes paid content.
6. Digital/Print Media: Business/Trade Media
This category recognizes exceptional trade/business/B2B coverage that is earned on digital or traditional media. Excludes paid content.
7. Broadcast Media
This includes exceptional broadcast coverage—online segments, tv talk shows, radio shows, podcasts, etc—earned on broadcast media.
8. Product Reviews
This includes an exceptional print/digital/broadcast product review featured in any media, including news sites, subject matter sites, blogs, podcasts, etc.
9. Earned Media with Influencers + Communities
This includes earned digital, print or broadcast placements with influencers. Includes YouTube, blogs, subject matter experts, etc. Excludes paid content.
10. Persuasive Content
Includes content intended to persuade and/or change stakeholder thinking, including speeches, opinion pieces, award entries, etc., including employee communications, financial communications, crisis/issues management or public affairs.
11. Content Creation for Media Sites (Earned)
This includes bylines, videos, podcasts, infographics etc, in any news media (print, digital or broadcast), online community (blogs, YouTube, influencers) etc.
Sponsored & Paid Media
These submissions should be anchored in a single piece of paid or sponsored media that should be included within the entry. The lead media can be supported with additional pieces of coverage and/or syndication to show additional reach, scope and impact.
12. Content Creation for Media Sites (Paid)
This includes bylines, videos, podcasts, infographics etc. created and placed—via paid means—in any media (print, digital, broadcast), or online community (blogs, YouTube, influencers, etc).
13. Paid Influencer Programs + Endorsements
This includes securing paid placements, mentions or promotions of a product, brand or company on social media.
14. Product Placement (Entertainment Vehicle)
This includes securing placements, mentions or promotions of a product, brand or company on an entertainment vehicle (film, tv show, online etc).
15. SEO/Content Distribution Program
This includes initiatives designed to optimize search, SEO and/or the distribution and syndication of content, including organic and paid SEO initiatives, paid content distribution/syndicates, and paid social media placements.
16. Digital Marketing/Advertising
This includes any online marketing/advertising, including interactive content/advertising, email marketing, e-commerce, QR codes, etc.
Social Media & Community Management
17. Overall Use of Social Media & Platforms
This category recognizes brands that integrate outreach across social channels and platforms to build, reach and engage stakeholders.
18. Social Video
This category recognizes the best use of social video on platforms such as Youtube, Instagram Live, Facebook video, Tiktok for stakeholder engagement.
19. Social Photos
This category evaluates the best use of photo networks such as instagram, pinterest, snap, tumblr or similar for stakeholder engagement.
20. Social Publishing / Blogs
This category evaluates the best use of online publishing platforms such as blogs, linkedin publishing for thought-leadership or stakeholder engagement.
21. Influencer Marketing
This category recognizes campaigns that utilize social media influencers—paid and/or earned—to help organizations engage with, activate and influence their key stakeholders.
22. Crowdsourcing & Co-creating
This category recognizes the use of online communities to source ideas, content, product iteration or any other initiatives co-created between the community and brand.
Platform-Specific Campaigns
These categories are open to single postings (tweets, videos, etc) or to campaigns that use specific channels or platforms as the exclusive or primary vehicle for stakeholder engagement, including includng community building, crowdsourcing, real-time/crisis response, employee communications, recruitment, content creation/amplification, branding/marketing, etc.
23. Best Use of Facebook
24. Best Use of Instagram
25. Best Use of LinkedIn
26. Best Use of TikTok
27. Best Use of Twitter/X
28. Best Use of YouTube
Owned Media
These categories recognize the use of channels and tools created, developed, maintained or controlled by the client organization.
29. Website
This category recognizes the creation and promotion of corporate and/or brand websites, including microsites, and sites devoted to recruitment, ESG, DE&I and other critical issues.
30. Mobile Apps
This category recognizes the creation and promotion of apps designed to help organizations engage with an connect to external stakeholders including consumers, shareholders, opinion leaders, etc.
31. Digital Publishing
This category recognizes the creation and promotion of blogs, magazines, newsrooms, podcasts, and other digital channels designed to increase engagement between an organization and its key stakeholders.
32. Intranets and Workplace Apps
This category recognizes the creation and promotion of digital tools that help organizations connect with their employees.
33. CSR, ESG and DEI Reporting
This category recognizes the creation and promotion of reports—digital, print or video—designed to inform stakeholders about corporate policies and progress on social responsibility, environmental and social governance, and diversity and inclusion issues.
34. Annual Report
This category recognizes the creation and promotion of reports—digital, print or video—designed primarily for shareholders and the financial community.
35. Documentary Film and Video
This category recognizes one-off documentaries and documentary series, released on to broadcast channels or streaming services or hosted on an organization’s own website or video channels (YouTube, etc.).
Tools and Tactics
36. Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Immersive Technology
This category recognizes brands that are using technology innovations to expand the ways they can engage, communicate with and activate their stakeholders.
37. Best Use of Artificial Intelligence in PR
38. Audio: Podcasts + Music
This category recognizes organizations and brands using podcasts and/or music to tell their story.
39. Gamification/User-Generated Contests
This category includes online and offline games and competitions to engage audiences and/or build communities.
40. Identity Branding
This category includes any brand and identity work, including logos, posters, package design, marketing collateral, etc.
41. Illustrations + Photography
This category recognizes the use of infographics, visual design, photography, typography, etc to communicate a brand’s story to audiences.
42. Meme
The best idea, image, or video that taps into a cultural event or moment to connect with the audience.
43. Real-time Engagement (Crisis and Issues)
This recognizes the use or media—social, digital or traditional—to respond in real-time to crises or to prevent/reduce threats to corporate or brand reputation.
44. Real-time Engagement (Newsjacking)
This recognizes the use or media—social, digital or traditional—to take advantage of breaking news or a cultural moment to amplify or increase engagement with corporate and/or brand messaging.
PR in the Metaverse
The metaverse is about to change the way people interact with each other, and therefore the way in which organizations connect with, engage and influence their key stakeholders. These categories are designed to recognize pioneering communications in the metaverse.
45. Virtual Worlds
This category recognizes the design, creation and promotion of “real estate”, including stores, in the metaverse, including centralized, decentralized and bespoke virtual worlds.
46. Metaverse Events and Experiences
This category recognizes specific events and experiences—including concerts and virtual stories—designed to attract consumers and other stakeholders into the metaverse to engage with each other and with organizations and brands.
47. Gaming in the Metaverse
This category recognizes the design, creation and promotion of gaming experiences in the metaverse, including campaigns that leverage existing gaming platforms in the metaverse such as Fortnite and Minecraft.
Partnerships
48. Media Partnership
This category includes any strategic brand/media partnerships, for example to promote an event, conduct a survey, amplify research, etc.
49. Influencer Partnership
This category recognizes partnerships between organizations and individual influencers based on the strategic appropriateness of the relationship and the mutual effort expended to create messaging that is credible and resonant with the specific audience. (While broad-based influencer campaigns are eligible, the entry should spotlight at most two or three individual influencers who had a major impact on the campaign’s success.).
50. Celebrity Partnership
This category recognizes partnerships between organizations and individual celebrities based on the strategic appropriateness of the relationship and the mutual effort expended to create messaging that is credible and resonant with the specific audience. (While broad-based campaigns are eligible, the entry should spotlight at most two or three individual celebrities who had a major impact on the campaign’s success.).
51. NGO and Charity Partnerships
This category recognizes mutually-beneficial partnerships between brands and NGOs, non-profits, and charities.
52. Brand Partnership
This category recognizes partnerships between brands in order to enhance credibility, amplify messaging, reach a broader or more diverse audience, increase creativity and otherwise improve stakeholder engagement.
Data and Analytics
53. Social Listening
This category recognizes the use of social listening tools and techniques to identify and assess what is being said about a company, individual, or brand on the internet—including criticism and disinformation—and to formulate a response.
54. Data in Campaign Planning and Development
This category recognizes the use of data to develop a campaign strategy, including media/channel planning, audience selection/segmentation and messaging.
55. Behavioral Science
This category recognizes the incorporation of social science—and particularly behavioral science—into campaign strategy.
56. Insight
This category recognizes a specific insight into the audience population and appropriate messaging strategy derived from data.
57. Original/Commissioned Research for PR
This category recognizes original or commissioned research conducted to provide content for public relations or other communications initiatives.
58. Measurement and Post-Campaign Analysis
This category recognizes research, data, or analytics—including surveys, focus grouos, media analysis and more—designed to measure the impact of a campaign.
The Tech Stack Awards
These categories are designed to recognize the ever expanding eco-system of products and services that are designed to help public relations professionals do their jobs more effectively. Entries should focus on new products, or products that have undergone major enhancement and improvements over the past 12 months in order to make them a more essential element of the PR professional’s tech stack.
59. Communication, Collaboration and Productivity Tools
60. Social Media and Social Listening Tools
61. Campaign Measurement Tools
62. Internal Communications Tools
63. PR Software and Services
Campaign Awards
While the Innovation SABREs primarily recognize specific campaign elements or the use of specific channels and platforms in an over-arching campaign, there are a number of ways in which broad-based campaigns are innovative and even ground-breaking in ways that do not fit comfortably into categories used in the campaign-focused SABRE competitions.
64. Platform Creation
This category recognizes a single compelling insight or idea that created a platform for a major campaign or initiative that helped an organization strengthen its relationships with key stakeholders or achieve other critical strategic objectives.
65. Content Marketing Campaign
This category recognizes a campaign that employed a wide range of innovative content in several of the categories described above in order to create maximum and sustained impact over the duration of the campaign.
66. Storytelling
This category recognizes a campaign that used storytelling techniques to create a compelling brand or company narrative in order to engage, influence, activate or build relationships with stakeholder groups.
67. Data-Driven Campaign
This category recognizes the innovative and effective use of data throughout all stages of a campaign.
68. Boldest Campaign
This category recognizes a campaign that took major risks in order to maximize impact and effectiveness.
69. Most Disruptive Campaign
This category recognizes a campaign that changed or broke the rules in its category or industry sector in order to maximize impact or effectiveness.
70. Combating Disinformation
This category recognizes a campaign that defuses or otherwise negates misinformation or disinformation about the client organization.
71. Corporate Values in Action
This category includes both the creation, launch, refinement or relaunch of an organization’s values, or a campaign that is rooted in and exemplifies those values.
72. Start-Up Marketing Campaign
This category is designed to recognize work with start-ups and early-stage companies, and includes initiatives designed to secure financing, attract employees, and introduce the company to customers.
73. Emerging Sector Campaign
This category is designed for campaigns conduced in emerging and disruptive industry sectors. Examples would include several areas of fintech and healthtech, crypto, and the cannabis and CBD oil business. Campaigns should be demonstrated that the client organization is a pioneer or innovator within its sector.
74. Pro-Bono Campaign
This category recognizes a campaign conducted as part of an agency’s pro-bono work and commitment to public service.
75. Micro-Budget Campaign
This category recognizes a campaign conducted for a client with a budget of less than $10,000.
76. This Year’s Issue: The Election
Any campaign related to the 2024 election, including campaigns promoting voting and participation, or raising the profile of critical political and social issues during the 2024 campaign.
Agency Awards
These categories are designed to recognized agencies that have demonstrated a commitment to various important aspects of creativity and innovation.
77. Disruptive Agency of the Year
This category recognizes an agency that has disrupted either the PR industry or its clients’ businesses through consistent innovation and risk-taking.
78. Data-Driven Agency of the Year
This category recognizes an agency that has embedded data and analytics in every aspect of its work, from campaign planning to campaign evaluation.
79. Purpose-Driven PR Agency of the Year
This category recognizes a public relations agency that is driven by purpose is both its internal policies and practices and its work for clients.
80. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative
This category looks to recognize agencies that are addressing the industry's diversity, equity and inclusion challenges with innovative and effective initiatives.
81. Agency Thought Leadership
This category recognizes agencies that produce groundbreaking research, insightful analysis or other fresh thinking that challenges conventions and positions the agency as a change agent.
82. Agency of the Future
This category is designed to recognize an agency that is shifting expectations of what a public relations agency and be or do. This can include the development of new techniques and tools; the incorporation of data and analytics; activities that enhance creativity and pioneer new forms of content; a radical commitment to ethics, values and purpose; a commitment to progressive workplace practices; or the development of new approaches to the workplace.
Individual Awards
These awards are designed to recognize individuals—either agency professionals or members of in-house communications teams—who are driving change and innovation within their organization or for their clients.
83. Creative Professional of the Year
This category recognizes creative directors (in-house and agency) and others who have made a significant contribution to the creative output of their organizations or agencies.
84. Data Professional of the Year
This category recognizes professionals (in-house and agency) who have had a significant impact on the way their organization or agency uses data in campaign planning, execution and/or evaluation.
85. DE&I Professional of the Year
This category recognizes professionals (in-house and agency) who have had a significant impact on the way their department or agency approaches diversity, equity and inclusion and has had a significant impact on DE&I performance.
86. Innovator of the Year: Agency
This category spotlights professionals on the agency side who empower and enable reputation and communication excellence and innovation for their clients.
87. Innovator of the Year: Brand
This category spotlights PR, communications and marketing professionals on the brand-side who empower and enable reputation and communication excellence and innovation within their organizations.
And finally…
We know the public relations industry is evolving on a daily basis, and we are not so arrogant that we believe we can keep up with all the new tools, techniques, channels, and critical issues that change brings. So we have added this category so that you can enter work so innovative it doesn’t fit any of our pre-set notions.
88. Write your own category
Please attach a brief explanation of the proposed new category with your entry, which should detail a campaign or approach not recognized by any of our existing categories.