The Festival of Media North America Awards has officially opened for entries, once again inviting agencies, brands and media owners to set the benchmark for media excellence across North America.
Launched in 2017, the Festival of Media North America Awards is the youngest of the Festival of Media’s regional programmes, yet it has grown significantly year after year. The awards recognise, benchmark and celebrate the very best media work from across the United States and Canada, providing a platform for the industry’s most innovative campaigns and talented teams.
This year marks an exciting new chapter for the programme with the introduction of the prestigious Advertiser of the Year Grand Prix. Open to brands that have demonstrated outstanding media excellence, the award will recognise the advertiser that has made the greatest impact over the past year. The question for 2026 is simple: which brand will become the first-ever winner of the Advertiser of the Year title in Festival of Media North America Awards history?
The 2025 programme saw a dominant performance from PHD, which swept the top honours. PHD was named Agency Network of the Year, while PHD USA claimed Agency of the Year. Their campaign Just Joking was also awarded Campaign of the Year, cementing PHD’s position as the standout performer of the competition.
Following extensive consultation with industry leaders, this year’s awards programme also introduces three new categories designed to reflect the evolving media landscape: Best B2B Campaign, Best Use of AI, and Best Viral or Widely Shared Campaign. These additions recognise the growing importance of business-to-business marketing, the transformative role of artificial intelligence, and the power of campaigns that capture widespread public attention and engagement.
Building on the success of Festival of Media’s awards programmes worldwide, the North America Awards will also feature the AI-powered FOM Entry Navigator. This pioneering platform is designed to streamline the entry process, allowing entrants to upload campaign information, ask questions and receive tailored recommendations on the most relevant categories for their work.
The technology has already delivered impressive results. During this year’s Festival of Media Global Awards, more than 60% of category recommendations generated by the platform resulted in shortlisted entries, helping entrants maximise their chances of success.
As the final Festival of Media awards programme of the year, the North America Awards offer brands and agencies one last opportunity to gain recognition for outstanding work and demonstrate leadership in one of the world’s most competitive media markets. Whether you are aiming to secure a category win, claim one of the coveted Grand Prix awards, or make history as the inaugural Advertiser of the Year, now is the time to put your work in front of the industry’s leading judges.
Entries are now open.
Enter now: https://www.festivalofmedia.com/north-america-awards/
For marketing enquiries, please contact:
Izzy Branson-Hammond[Text Wrapping Break]izzy.branson-hammond@festivalofmedia.com
