In true 2020 fashion, strategy decided to call out the Agency of the Year finalists a little different this year.

Since the show will go on without an actual in-person show, this year’s nominees will only have a few days to wait before the Gold, Silver and Bronze trophy-takers are named next week.

For the next three days, we will announce the shortlists across the six AOY categories. Today, we reveal and celebrate the top-scoring shops in the Design and PR competitions.

Design Agency of the Year recognizes shops for their visual work – from packaging to visual identity to brand platforms to websites – which is evaluated based on its impact, creativity, craft, technical prowess and innovation.

PR Agency of the Year, on the other hand, recognizes the smart strategic communications work coming out of Canada’s top public relations shops. The work was judged on the strategy, creative execution and impact of each PR execution.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s shortlist announcements for the Digital and Media categories, with Friday bringing you finalists in the Small AOY and main AOY competitions. Winners in each category will be rolled out daily, beginning on Monday.

Design AOY shortlist

DDB
No Fixed Address
OneMethod
Rethink
Sid Lee
Taxi
Zulu Alpha Kilo

PR AOY shortlist

Craft
Edelman
Narrative
Paradigm
Pomp & Circumstance
The Colony Project