Brand Impact Awards 2023: All the winners revealed

We're delighted to reveal the winners of the Brand Impact Awards 2023.

We had a record 232 entries in our 10th year. To mark this milestone, our biggest-ever judging panel was packed with world-class expertise from the agencies and clients behind Best of Show-winning projects over the past decade, a constellation of previous Gold and Silver Award winners, plus other hand-picked branding specialists from across the globe. 

In a new judging process for 2023, every judge had three weeks to review and rate the entries independently – and then small specialist panels of 5-6 came together to debate the final results in their allocated categories.

Around a third of entries made it through to the shortlist stage: a total of 65 projects, from 38 different agencies. Several received multiple awards apiece: in our largest-ever crop of trophies, we're proud to announce 7x Gold Awards, 41x Silver Awards and 30x Bronze Awards, plus our overall Best of Show.

Scroll down or click the links above to jump straight to each award tier. All projects are also featured in a special 90-page winners showcase:

Download the 2023 winners showcase

Decade Awards

To mark 10 years of the Brand Impact Awards in 2023, we also presented two special awards at the winners' drinks reception on 5th October.

Client of the Decade

The BBC

• Client of the Decade: Winner
• 1x Best of Show (2019)
• 5x Gold, 1x Silver, 1x Bronze (2015–2023)
• bbc.co.uk

Marking 10 years of the Brand Impact Awards in 2023, the first of our two special Decade Awards recognises the brands and client-side teams that have performed consistently well at the BIAs.

It was a no-brainer for our panel: one client stood head and shoulders above the others, with its partner agencies picking up eight trophies in total – including five Golds – for a range of different brand projects since 2015.

Congratulations to the BBC: our Client of the Decade, adding yet another trophy to the haul in 2023 with its Silver-winning rebrand of BBC Nordic.

Also in contention were:

• London Symphony Orchestra (Best of Show 2017 with The Partners)
• Mr Lyan (Best of Show 2022 with Magpie Studio)

Read the full story about all our Client of the Decade candidates. They are also featured in our winners showcase.

Small Studio of the Decade

Johnson Banks

• Small Studio of the Decade: Winner
• 2x Best of Show (2015 and 2016)
• 9x Gold, 5x Silver, 3x Bronze (2014–2023)
• johnsonbanks.co.uk

Our second Decade Award, Small Studio of the Decade celebrates smaller independent studios that have consistently punched above their weight at the BIAs alongside larger, better-resourced counterparts.

There's no better example of this phenomenon than Johnson Banks, the small but influential Clapham-based studio founded by Michael Johnson in 1992. Known for defining, then designing, brands that make a difference, Johnson Banks has taken home a staggering 19 BIA trophies over the past decade – including nine Gold-winning projects, two of which were voted Best of Show.

Also in contention were:

• NB Studio (runner-up)
• Magpie Studio
• Studio Sutherl&

Read the full story about all our Small Studio of the Decade candidates. They are also featured in our winners showcase.

Top 16 Agencies

Top-performing agencies over the past decade

As well as celebrating the four small studios above, we've also compiled a ranking of  the 16 top-performing agencies over the past decade.

We awarded five points for a Best of Show trophy, three points for a Gold Award (formerly Winner), and one point for a Silver Award (formerly Highly Commended). Bronze Awards were left out as these did not exist pre-2020.

Here's the list at a glance, with several agencies tied on points:

1. The Partners
2. Johnson Banks
3. Superunion
4. NB Studio
5. R/GA
6. Jack Renwick Studio
=7. Turner Duckworth
=7. hat-trick design
=9. Magpie Studio
=9. COLLINS
=11. Studio Sutherl&
=11. ManvsMachine
=13. For The People
=13. Taxi Studio
=13. Purpose
16. Design Bridge and Partners

Read the full story about all our Top 16 agencies.

Brand Impact Awards 2023: full results

Best of Show

All Gold Award winners were considered for the prestigious Best of Show accolade, and after a panel-wide vote of all 40 judges, three emerged as front-runners. But there could be only one winner...

Veg NI by Jack Renwick Studio

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• Best of Show: Winner
• Social Impact: Winner
• Gold Award: Not-for-Profit
• jackrenwickstudio.com

Scooping both the Social Impact Award and this year's Best of Show after a closely-fought panel-wide vote with two other Gold-winning projects, Veg NI is a triumph of beautiful design in the face of a very tight budget. This is the second year in a row in which a small studio has taken home the top prize, after Magpie's win in 2022.

A cooperative of growers in Northern Ireland, Veg NI was set up by four farmers to promote their produce in the face of narrowing margins and fierce import competition. They aim to get local produce onto the plates of local people, benefiting them, the industry and the planet, supporting local producers, farmers and growers to build strong, rural, future-proof businesses.

The positioning, messaging and identity centres around the core idea: 'Parful Produce' ('Powerful Produce' in NI dialect). Fresh, in-season, vibrant and packed with flavour, it's had less time to lose valuable nutrients, so is fantastic for our health. By lowering emissions and waste in the supply chain, it also has a positive impact on the planet. And keeping things local means keeping money local, so it's parful for farmers, growers, drivers and grocers, creating employment and fostering vibrant, connected communities.

In Jack Renwick Studio's flexible branding system, the veg literally bursts with goodness – explaining that it's what's inside that makes the difference. This differentiates Veg NI from other fruit and veg initiatives in the sector, which often focus on pure produce shots and dishes of food. The logo puts Northern Ireland at the heart of it all, building ownership and pride in their produce. The vegetables change to reflect the specialism of each farmer, providing a cost-effective, individualised way for them to feel recognised as part of a bigger collective.

With no budget for photoshoots, a low-cost, easily adapted approach was needed to represent the variety of farmed NI produce and its many benefits. The veg imagery is created from a composite of low-cost stock photography, with graphic veg slices holding easily updatable messaging. The $12 characterful Unicase typeface adds a nod to traditional Celtic lettering.

The brand is seen across Northern Ireland through social media, trade shows, farm shops, and stickers on vehicles and crates. Local shops and restaurants are proud to support that they stock, sell and serve NI's Parful Produce.

Squarespace – Make The Next by ManvsMachine

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• Best of Show: Shortlisted
• Gold Award: Technology & Telecoms
• Gold Award: Motion
• Read more about this project at mvsm.com

Coming a very close second in our race for Best of Show, ManvsMachine's stunning campaign for Squarespace was nonetheless well rewarded at this year's BIAs, as the only project to pick up two Golds in two different categories.

Working closely with the client's in-house team, ManvsMachine conceptualised, designed and directed a set of commercials for  Squarespace's latest campaign: 'Make The Next'. The brief was to make the spots feel seamless and personable, whilst delivering a clear, easy-to-understand message for the platform's diverse global audience.

Squarespace provided three loose scripts outlining a range of fictional entrepreneurs with one thing in common: they used the platform to turn their passions into an empire. Blending 2D and 3D animation with live action, ManvsMachine's trio of commercials use striking visual vignettes to illustrate each sentence of the scripts.

The three different creative approaches are woven together with a distinct tactile motion language, which enables type, 3D vignettes and live-action to live and work harmoniously within the overall design system.

Eurovision by Design Bridge and Partners

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• Best of Show: Shortlisted
• Gold Award: Brand Strategy
• Read more about this project at designbridge.com

This is the first year at the BIAs for the newly-formed Design Bridge and Partners, although the senior creative teams at its pre-merger predecessors Superunion (and The Partners before that) are no strangers to our awards, with four Best of Show awards and a significant haul of trophies between them. 

Design Bridge and Partners has had an excellent maiden year in 2023 too, with 14 trophies in total – including two Golds.

Bringing nations together since WWII, Eurovision's unifying nature took on new significance in 2023. This year's identity needed to reflect Ukraine and UK partnering as winner and host due to conflict in Ukraine, Liverpool hosting within the UK, and 37 competing countries creating a week of music. 

Design Bridge and Partners' challenge was to make 'unity' fresh and exciting again for old and new audiences. The answer was right there within Eurovision's logo: hearts are the universal symbol of love, but heartbeats are also the first sound heard inside the womb and the first sign of life – a shared primordial rhythm. 

Further research revealed that, when experiencing live music together, our hearts synchronise. This insight inspired '160 million hearts beating as one' – a concept that embodies unity, and reflects Eurovision's global audience in an accessible, cross-cultural way.

Design Bridge and Partners developed a strategy to leverage the emotions surrounding this year's event and infuse new meaning into Eurovision's iconic symbol. The expression became a sound wave of synchronised hearts, while key players are heroed through through colours inspired by the host flags.

As the host city, Liverpool got its share of playful references too – from the Liverpudlian street-sign-inspired 'Penny Lane' typeface, to copywriting that playfully references Liverpool FC's iconic anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

There were 4.8 billion views of #Eurovision2023 on TikTok, and all 54,000 live show tickets sold out within 90 minutes of release – a first in Eurovision history. With 162 million viewers, the Grand Finale trended #1 on Twitter globally, making it the most-watched Eurovision ever.

Gold Award winners

Brand Impact Awards 2023: Gold Awards

The following three projects received at least one Gold Award trophy at the Brand Impact Awards 2023. 

Download full winners showcase

Aston Martin by Design Bridge and Partners

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• Gold Award: Copywriting (for Intensity.Driven)
• Silver Award: Automotive (for Intensity.Driven)
• Silver Award: Brand Strategy (for Intensity.Driven)
• Silver Award: Motion (for Ferocity.Driven)
• designbridge.com

Despite being a British cultural icon and globally recognised ultra-luxury brand, Aston Martin cars were known more as grand tourers than for their outright performance. Design Bridge and Partners' challenge was to modernise and increase the performative aspect of the brand, capturing the human emotion of the driving experience.

Aston Martin's new brand platform, 'Intensity.Driven', captures both the human emotion of the driving experience and the performative luxury of the sports cars themselves. Data visualisation captures the authentic emotion of driving, while close-ups amplify the sense of power and performance.

Interviews with racing drivers helped the team capture the intensity of the experience – all brought together with an editing style that blends longer dwells with sudden sharp cuts to build and break tension.

Emotive, poetic long-copy is a vital part of the overall brand strategy, and it's in the Copywriting category that Aston Martin takes home its Gold. Every piece of writing is meticulously detailed and exhaustively researched, drawing on insights about the manufacturing process, the history of the marque, and the incredible sensation of racing the car – as narrated by a racing driver with first-hand experience.

In the Motion category, meanwhile, Ferocity.Driven is a fully-CGI brand film that celebrates the cutting-edge performance of the ultra-limited-edition Aston Martin DBS770 Ultimate. It opens with a stylised scarab beetle, ferocity rippling through its engineered form. Smooth liquid spills forth, creating compelling tension between the engineered precision of the liquid and the car's inner aggression.

Norwich Castle by The Click

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• Gold Award: Culture
• Read more about this project at theclickdesign.com

An iconic historical landmark, Norwich Castle proudly dominates the city's skyline. Established by William the Conqueror almost 1,000 years ago, it has since been a fortification, a royal palace, a prison and, more recently, a museum and art gallery.

Mid-way through a major revamp, the castle needed a new brand identity to coincide with the reopening of its refurbished Keep and new visitor spaces. After challenging members of the public to draw a 10-second Post-It sketch of the castle, purely from memory, The Click found that its distinctively cube-shaped structure could be a powerful brand asset.

Accordingly, the agency distilled the logo to its most iconic form: a mark that, despite its uncompromising simplicity, still unmistakably portrays Norwich Castle.

In turn, the geometry of the core brand logo informs a unique nine-column grid that references the number of merlons on each aspect of the castle. Largely formed by squares, the modular design system provides an easy-to-use and coherent format for wider templates and applications – with endless opportunities for striking merchandise and bold production techniques.

KatKin by Sonder & Tell

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• Gold Award: Brand Strategy
• Read more about this project at sonderandtell.com

Having taken shortcuts for too long, the cat food industry was ripe for disruption. With £22m of funding to revolutionise the category, KatKin needed a powerful new brand that could cut through – and a strategy that could expose corporate fat cats and capture cat owners' attention with its 100% meat product.

Sonder & Tell set out to find a deep human insight around which to build KatKin's new brand. The team scoured vet reports and Reddit threads, frequented local cat cafés, and explored out-of category disruptors – from baby products to menstrual brands.

The resulting insight: cat parents are the most hardcore of all pet owners, flying in the face of the sweet, fluffy stereotype. No flinching at love bites, mouse sacrifices or getting eye-level with the litter box. They're fierce. And so is KatKin.

So Sonder & Tell set out to make hardcore love the new standard of cat care. KatKin became a brand that hardcore cat parents can trust to go as hardcore as they do for their cats. Cats' wellbeing is the rallying cry, resulting in an uncompromising creative idea: Love hard. Feed fresh.

Silver Award winners

Brand Impact Awards 2023: Silver Awards

The following 33 projects received at least one Silver Award trophy at the Brand Impact Awards 2023.

Download full winners showcase

The Running Towards by Studio Sutherl& and Tom Sharp

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• Silver Award: Public Sector
• Silver Award: Copywriting
• Silver Award: Typography
• studio-sutherland.co.uk
• thepoetryofitall.com

London Fire Brigade (LFB) had previously talked about its vital work in relation to safety advice and narratives around specific incidents. Studio Sutherl&'s task was engage people on a much more emotional level.

This triple-Silver-winning project encapsulates the bravery and selflessness of people who deliberately head into peril, rather than away from it. Designed to be universal, the core idea of 'running towards' also applies to parents running instinctively towards their children in times of trouble, or members of the public performing incredible acts when disasters happen.

In collaboration with Tom Sharp, The Running Towards became a poetic celebration across large-scale murals and posters at London fire stations. The typography provides pace and drama ti to there writing – mirroring the steady run towards, the zig-zagging around danger, and the leaps of bravery. Inspired by old LFB engines, the bespoke typeface plays with the idea of flames casting shadows.

Snap!Gammon by Studio Sutherl&

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• Silver Award: Self-Branding
• Silver Award: Illustration
• Bronze Award: Typography
• studio-sutherland.co.uk

A self-initiated project to reflect Studio Sutherl&'s love of play, Snap!Gammon – like The Running Towards – has been awarded across multiple Craft disciplines. A children's version of Backgammon, it's the latest instalment in a series of games created by the studio, including chess and playing cards.

Pushing the iconic format of the much-loved game into a new visual field and narrative, Snap!Gammon turns the familiar board into a crocodile's mouth, with the pieces – Egyptian plover birds – moving along the teeth. 

The accompanying story, in a concertina shape to reflect the crocodile's teeth, features each of the characters from the game's origin story: Niall, who travels through Sumeria via Crocodopolis to Egypt; Ereshkigal the Goddess; Sobek the Crocodile God; and Cleopatra. 

Entirely built from triangles and circles, the typography and illustrations reference cuneiform lettering – which, like Backgammon itself, hails from Sumeria. And the dice are dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god – for luck.

The Jockey Club by Thisaway

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• Silver Award: Brand Strategy
• Silver Award: Illustration
• Read more about this project at thisaway.co

With a heritage dating back to 1750, the Jockey Club runs 15 of the country's leading racecourses. To ensure future growth and funding, the brand needed to raise its profile – whilst allowing individual racecourses their own identity.

Thisaway developed a brand hierarchy that elevated flagship events The Grand National, Cheltenham Festival and The Derby licence into full marquee brands, while other courses put their own spin on the masterbrand.

A new brand purpose – For Racing. For Good – captured The Jockey Club's position as the sport's custodian, and provided a forward-facing thought-leadership stance. Meanwhile, a new customer promise – Getting Hearts Racing – embraced the drama of the sport, and enabled the brand to be more dynamic, expressive, and energetic.

While retaining the brand's heritage and gravitas through its already well-established diamond motif, Thisaway added a contemporary twist with a fresh illustration style, showcasing unique aspects of each racecourse and surrounding landmarks.

Thredd by Design Bridge and Partners

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• Silver Award: Financial Services
• Bronze Award: Brand Strategy
• designbridge.com

At the heart of the digital finance revolution since 2007, Global Processing Services (GPS) was the trusted technology partner for the world's leading fintechs and challenger banks, processing billions of transactions every year for the likes of Revolut, ANNA, and Starling Bank.

Design Bridge and Partners developed a new name and visual identity to match GPS' global reputation. Inspiration came from the history of computing: in 1804, the Jacquard loom revolutionised the weaving industry. Using binary-code patterns on interchangeable punch-cards to automate the weaving process, it directly influenced the first programmable computers.

Paying homage to these origins, GPS became Thredd – part of a brand overhaul that highlights its tailor-made tech solutions. Digitally generated binary-code patterns represent its many partnerships. These can reduce to square glyphs, and the typeface and icon style echo the square grid they're built on.

Woven together, these patterns represent the rich tapestry of partnerships that make up Thredd's business. Thredd itself is represented by a dark-blue vertical thread, the 'common thread' holding together its brightly coloured fintech collaborators.

Team GB by Thisaway

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• Silver Award: Brand Strategy
• Bronze Award: Illustration
• Read more about this project at thisaway.co

As the external face of the British Olympic Association, Team GB needed to grow the profile of its brand ahead of Paris 2024. Engagement was invariably high during the Olympics themselves, but Team GB needed relevance outside of Games time. 

'Believe in Extraordinary' was the existing brand idea, which focused on performance and proved popular with athletes and coaches. But it risked painting elite sports as too elitist – elevating athletes into untouchable superhumans.

Thisaway developed a new strategy to express how Team GB facilitates ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. A new brand idea – 'Everyday Extraordinary' – champions the superhuman endeavours that make athletes special, but also the humanity that grounds them.

With a set of patterns inspired by key athlete attributes, the new brand identity puts a modern twist on the familiar red, white and blue – supported by a uniquely flexible typeface that blends classic British influences with energy and diversity.

The Land of Warriors by Design Bridge and Partners

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• Silver Award: Illustration
• Bronze Award: Entertainment
• designbridge.com

As the top streamed animated fantasy series in China, The Land of Warriors is a flagship show for leading Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video. It has spawned many high-profile brand collaborations, particularly aimed at younger audiences. 

Scenes set in the mystical Starry Forest enjoy particularly high fan engagement. A sacred place where characters retreat to advance their souls, the forest bears witness to their growth – and it's built an identity as a character in its own right.

Design Bridge and Partners worked with Polish artist Pawel Nolbert to recreate the Starry Forest's beautiful botany in his distinctive style. In turn, these artworks informed the look and feel of the overall brand.

In spring 2023, the Starry Forest concept came alive at Joy City shopping centre in Shanghai. Visitors to the Forest Dream Exhibition experienced the mesmerising forest realm through a series of immersive settings and interactive AI installations, raising awareness of the world's endangered plantations.

Graza by Gander

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• Silver Award: Artisan
• Find out more about this project at takeagander.com

Graza came to Gander to help sell incredibly high-quality, single-origin Spanish olive oil in a squeeze bottle: in other words, very fancy oil in a decidedly un-fancy format. Graza's new brand identity reflects this unexpected union, granting people permission to finally have fun with their oil. 

Foregoing the faux heraldry and decorative European flags typically found in this sector in favour of radical honesty and playfulness, Gander helped put the message front and centre that good olive oil should be used every day, in every way. Demystifying the olive oil shopping experience, Graza wins shoppers' trust by sharing everything they need to know to pick a better olive oil.

Little educational moments throughout the brand experience help explain the benefits of this age-old elixir in a more casual way. The 'Graz-o-pedia' is your source for explaining all things olive-oil-related, while fun illustrated facts keep things light and accessible.

Byron Burgers by Taxi Studio and Reed Words

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• Silver Award: Bars & Restaurants
• Find out more about this project at taxistudio.co.uk and reedwords.com

UK burger pioneer Byron needed a new design system that was flexible, simple and coherent, without diluting the brand's eclecticism, eccentricity, and verve.

The solution: a brand world as delicious as Byron's burgers. Reflecting the flair and creativity poured into the food and the wider dining experience, Taxi Studio developed a new creative platform: 'burger artistry'.

A new strapline, 'Poetry in a bun', nods both to Byron's artistic flair and to Lord Byron – who became the foundational idea for the brand rejuvenation. Channeling the flamboyant Romantic poet's wit, whimsy and mischief, Taxi collaborated with copywriting agency Reed Words to produce a playful, rhyming tone of voice.

Led by George, the dry-witted, poetic pickle, Byron's existing characters were reimagined as 'The Byronistas' – a diverse suite of mascots assigned to different menu categories. A new colour palette highlights different flavour profiles, aiding digital navigation and providing a more vibrant visual experience for customers.

Woven by Magpie Studio

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• Silver Award: Bars & Restaurants
• Find out more about this project at magpie-studio.com

Despite an exceptional reputation, the restaurant at luxury hotel Coworth Park has always been considered a table to reserve during your stay, rather than a dining destination in its own right. Magpie's rebrand matches the artistry of the kitchen, elevating the profile of head chef Adam Smith.

A new name – Woven – evokes Smith's care and craft, weaving together exceptional ingredients, textures and flavours into menus that blend strands of memory and personal experience.

From here evolved a highly textural, expressive identity, layered with humble personal stories. From Nan's roast dinners, to a chippy tea at the seaside, to a ceremonial plate of jammy dodgers, these nostalgic, unpretentious references set a playful tone for each course.

With sculptural signage that collides materials, expressive collages on the menus, and evocative storytelling at the table, Magpie's new identity captures the spirit of Adam Smith's food philosophy, revealing itself slowly throughout experience.

Vineyard Theatre by NB Studio

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• Silver Award: Brand Strategy
• Find out more about this project at nbstudio.co.uk

An Off-Broadway theatre in New York, Vineyard Theatre prides itself on upending expectations and making theatre firsts. But it wasn't getting the recognition it deserved. NB's challenge was to design a brand identity that reflected a groundbreaking approach to theatre whilst placing the Vineyard name firmly in the limelight.

Vineyard's new brand strategy focuses on makers, inviting daring artists and diverse audiences – playmakers, changemakers and dreammakers – to be part of a collective experience. In turn, this positions the theatre as the place where daring art is cultivated.

Visually, this is expressed through an ever-changing wordmark: 'Vineyard' remains constant, but 'Theatre' is reinvented for every show. And every piece of type designed by a native New Yorker. Together, the two elements create a dynamic identity that celebrates a fearless approach – just like a Vineyard show, the logo is never the same twice.

Picnic by big fish

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• Silver Award: Illustration
• Find out more about this project at bigfish.co.uk

As a brand aimed at families, Picnic has an Instagram feed filled with excited kids waiting at their windows for their vans to arrive. As animal lovers themselves, the big fish team approached this brief with a deep understanding of how important our pets are as part of the family.

To hero the four-legged friends at the heart of the brand, the agency created an illustrated array of characters to sit across Picnic's huge range. Just like in real life, each cat and dog is different – unlike traditional pet food, where a photo of the same animal is typically used across the whole range.

Colourful and characterful, the illustrations give a humorous, light-hearted twist to the packaging: the dog holding the beef sticks is a lumberjack; the dental chews feature a dentist; there are cat and dog farmers and fishermen. And the litter bag cat is sat on the toilet reading the daily paper.

BBC Nordic by weareseventeen

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