Cresta Awards 2026: Independent agency Try takes both Grand Prix for IKEA
In a remarkable twist on recent years, the Cresta Awards 2026 jury has voted for just two Grand Prix. Both go to Oslo-based agency Try for its work on the IKEA ‘Made for Life’ campaign.
The claim made in the ‘Made for Life’ case study film that ‘Soft emotional storytelling can yield stronger results than traditional retail advertising’ was one that clearly resonated with the hearts and minds of Cresta’s jury. The two Grand Prix were also backed up by four Gold awards for the campaign.
“It’s a remarkable decision by our jury, to be so strong for this campaign as the stand out one,” says Cresta CEO Lewis Blackwell. “Our jurors all review and vote the work independently, no groupthink or guidance, and this campaign really emerged as the unchallenged top work. We aggregate all the votes and in the end it became clear there was no question as to which work would take the Grand Prix and stand alone at that level.”
However, there was intense competition across other awards levels, with various trends emerging.
At the Cresta Gold level, the strongest performance came from Plan.Net, part of the Serviceplan Group, which won six Gold awards. Three went to ‘Sheep Happens’ for German supermarket giant Penny, reinforcing a big year for retail advertising, a sector that often struggles for recognition in creative awards. The other three Golds for Plan.Net went to the ‘Non-Disclosure Austria’ campaign for client Tourism Austria.
AMV BBDO, so often a major win at Cresta Awards, retained a strong presence with four Gold awards. These were all for the ‘Duobell’ innovation developed with Skoda, a bike-bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones.
Dentsu Creative Canada, with ‘Game on Ball’ for True Hockey, and Horizon FCB Dubai with its AI-assisted ‘WingSentry’ work for the Behavioural Ecology and Conservation Group, each took three Gold awards.
BigTime Creative Shop in Riyadh and BBDO Chicago both won two Golds, while single Golds went to BBDO Puerto Rico, Dentsu Creative Portugal, Impact BBDO Dubai, KO Music, Riff Raff Films and TBWA Italia.
In total 140 entries achieved award standard.
Cresta is the Creative Standards organisation. Since 1993 it has benchmarked global creative excellence, recognising ideas that inspire progress and shape the future of communications. Its annual online festival attracts entries from more than 70 countries, covering the full spectrum of skills, from the latest in digital and technology-based communications to traditional advertising and design.
Cresta’s independent jury of leading international industry figures votes individually online, ensuring a fair process free from groupthink. Winners are awarded the distinctive sustainable Cresta trophy, introduced in 2019, and gain international publicity, respected ranking points, and visibility through leading industry platforms including Lürzer’s Archive.