As Nato leaders met just a couple miles down the road, the ICCO Global Awards showcased some of the world's best communications and PR campaigns and professionals at an awards ceremony at London’s Savoy on Tuesday night.

One of the night’s big winners was Ketchum, which took home awards in three categories: financial services, health and purpose. FleishmanHillard Fishburn also nabbed three campaign category awards for its work in events, on behalf of not-for-profits and in technology. It also received the ‘Regional network of the year – Americas’ award. The same award’s Asia-Pacific winner was Weber Shandwick, with H+K Strategies taking the EMEA crown.

Francis Ingham, chief executive of ICCO, said, “Some truly outstanding work has been singled out by the ICCO Global Awards this year. Contested by practitioners from six continents, these awards represent the pinnacle of PR effectiveness. The industry is in fantastic shape all around the world, and it’s our privilege to celebrate its work.”

Individual awards were given to ‘Rising star’ Rishitu Amarnani, vice president of integrated media at Current Global, and ‘PR leader of the year’ Barbara Bates, global CEO of Hotwire Global.

The final award was given to Elise Mitchell, who was inducted into the ICCO Hall of Fame for her contributions to the PR industry. Her global work, including a term as president of ICCO, earned her the distinction. She remarked, “It is a tremendous honour to be inducted into the ICCO Hall of Fame, which includes many of the iconic trailblazers in our industry. This distinction recognises the talent, creativity and relentless pursuit of excellence exhibited by the entire Mitchell Communications Group team. Working alongside them, as well as the Dentsu organisation, has been one of the greatest joys of my life, and I want to share this honour with them.

"I am also grateful to ICCO for this recognition. Seeing first-hand the important role ICCO plays globally to help elevate and evolve our profession has been one of the highlights of my career.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

Individual Awards
PR leader of the year: Barbara Bates, global CEO, Hotwire Global

Rising star of the year: Rishitu Amarnani, vice president – integrated media, Current Global

Team Awards

Regional network of the year – Americas: FleishmanHillard

Regional network of the year – Asia-Pacific: Weber Shandwick

Regional network of the year – EMEA: H+K Strategies

Independent consultancy of the year – Americas: WE Communications

Independent consultancy of the year – Asia-Pacific: Rice Communications

Independent consultancy of the year – EMEA: BECG

World’s Best Campaigns
B2B award: Hotwire Global, Leading the world to 5G

Cross culture award: Orta Consulting, New future for Khanty people in Western Siberia

Broadcast award: Markettiers & Apco Worldwide, Papal Visit to UAE

Crisis and issues management award: Genesis BCW, PNB back on track

Digital and new media award: Netprofile, Search For Engineers' Digital Intelligence

Employee communications award: Milk & Honey PR

Event, launch or stunt award: FleishmanHillard Fishburn, Samsung Mobile Couture

Financial services award: Ketchum, #AcceptanceMatters

Health award: Ketchum, Life Lolli

Influencer marketing award: Kurio the Social Media Age(ncy), #SurfaceTheWomen

Lifestyle award: Pro-Vision Communications, Vote For Your Skating Rink

Media relations: DNA Brand Architects, Ilobola Nge Bhubesi

Not-for-profit award: FleishmanHillard Fishburn, Writing a global wrong in LGBT+ Media

Public affairs award: Intelday Solutions, Air Quality Group

Purpose award: Ketchum, We Believe

Strategy and evaluation in a campaign award: Netprofile, Search for Engineer's Digital Intelligence

Technology award: FleishmanHillard Fishburn, Samsung Mobile Couture

Transport and automotive award: Value360 India, No calm before the storm!