Transform Awards North America announces 2025 winners
On another enthralling night at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, the Transform Awards North America celebrated the continent’s very best rebranding and brand development projects. This year’s projects – from healthcare to placemaking to FMCG – once again exemplified the transformational power of rebranding and brand design.
While all of this year’s shortlisted entries underlined the quality of brand design across North America, the undoubted star of the show was Yum! Brands and ROWE. Along with scooping up a remarkable six Golds and one Silver, the project was a worthy winner of the Transform Awards’ most prestigious trophy: the ‘Grand Prix.’ Judges lauded ROWE’s brand design for Saucy, a new KFC spin-off restaurant, on behalf of Yum! Brands. Described as possessing the “potential to grow into a major brand in its own right,” Saucy has set the bar high for many years to come.
Other big winners on the night included Bank of America and Lippincott. Taking home the ‘Best Overall Visual Identity’ trophy, along with a further two Golds in ‘Best Brand Evolution (Corporate)’ and ‘Best Visual Identity from the Financial Services Sector,’ represented an excellent night for the entry.
Elsewhere, Landor ran riot in the Special Recognition categories, with David Sheehan, Luis Juarez and Saul Osuna respectively taking home the ‘Brand Strategist of the Year,’ ‘Creative Director of the Year,’ and ‘Young Contender of the Year’ awards.
The full list of winners is as follows:
CONTENT
Best Use of a Visual Property
Gold – Ladybird and Nimblebot
Gold – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Silver – TOI and Living Group
Silver – Viiota and Starfish Co.
Bronze – Prime Data Centers and Starfish Co.
Best Brand Architecture Solution
Gold – Cargill Animation Nutrition & Health and Vivaldi
Silver – LS Power and Prophecy
Bronze – CRISIL and Starfish Co.
Best Use of Copy Style or Tone of Voice
Gold – Endura and Reed Words
Silver – Fairfax County and Monigle
Silver – Microsoft and Koto – 50th Anniversary: Change needs makers
Silver – Schneider Electric and Creative Business Company
Bronze – Axinn and Living Group
Bronze – Rize Credit Union and London : Los Angeles
Bronze – West Monroe and Monigle
Best Brand Experience
Gold – PUMA and SGK
Gold – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Silver – Google and Work & Co
Silver – Microsoft and Sterling Brands – Pride: Radical Joy
Bronze – Microsoft and Koto – 50th Anniversary: Change needs makers
Bronze – Microsoft and O0 – Voter Registration: Be part of something bigger
Best Wayfinding or Signage
Gold – Planting Fields Foundation and Wiedemann Lampe
Bronze – ING and Teneo
Bronze – New York University and Via Collective, Incorporated
Bronze – Sidewalk RED and Fathom Studio
Best Place Brand
Gold – Downtown Denver Partnership and DNCO
Silver – Fairfax County and Monigle
PROCESS
Best Internal Communications During a Brand Development Project
Gold – New York Golf Club with Landor and The Preferred Lie
Silver – Adams & Reese and Starfish Co.
Best Implementation of a Brand Development Project
Gold – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Silver – New York Golf Club with Landor and The Preferred Lie
Silver – Sizzler and Tavern Agency
Bronze – Axinn and Living Group
Bronze – Flexcon and MetaDesign
Highly commended – Ara Partners and Bladonmore
STRATEGY
Best Creative Strategy (Business)
Gold – Fairfax County and Monigle
Silver – Schneider Electric and Creative Business Company
Silver – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Bronze – Axinn and Living Group
Bronze – Confluent Health and Brandpie
Best Creative Strategy (Consumer)
Gold – Lobos 1707 and Landor
Silver – Vanity Fair Lingerie and M+C Saatchi Consulting
Bronze – Plano, by Pure Fishing, Inc. and BOLTGROUP
Bronze – Ugly Stik, by Pure Fishing, Inc. and BOLTGROUP
Best Creative Strategy (Corporate)
Gold – CopperPoint Insurance Companies and Dappersmith
Silver – HMH
Bronze – Baxter International and Starfish Co.
Best Brand Evolution (Business)
Gold – BrainCheck and MetaDesign
Silver – Confluent Health and Brandpie
Silver – Flexcon and MetaDesign
Silver – Resmed and Monigle
Bronze – Onpoint and Fazer
Best Brand Evolution (Consumer)
Gold – Feast and Joe Smith
Silver – Cuisinart and MetaDesign
Silver – General Mills, Inc.
Bronze – Orangetheory Fitness and DesignStudio
Bronze – The New York Historical and Lippincott
Best Brand Evolution (Corporate)
Gold – Bank of America and Lippincott
Gold – Belden and Joe Smith
Silver – Lincoln Financial and Lippincott
Silver – Recycled Materials Association and maslansky + partners
Bronze – Bluetooth and Tenet Partners
Bronze – LS Power and Prophecy
Best Strategic or Creative Development of a New Brand
Gold – BRE Hotels & Resorts and Brand Bureau
Gold – North City and DNCO
Silver – Elimini and Lippincott
Silver – New York Golf Club with Landor and The Preferred Lie
Bronze – Access and Fazer
Bronze – Concacaf & Utag, for Concacaf Kick-Off
Bronze – Prime Data Centers and Starfish Co.
Best Development of a New Brand Within an Existing Brand Portfolio
Gold – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Silver – Planters and Smith Design
Silver – Microsoft and Koto – Copilot Flagship Identity
Bronze – Concacaf and WildPigs
Best Naming Strategy (New Name)
Gold – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Silver – Johnson & Johnson MedTech and Landor
Bronze – Candescent and Landor
Bronze – Coinstar and HLK
Best Naming Strategy (Rename)
Gold – Onvida Health and Monigle
Silver – Precision AQ and DeSantis Breindel
TYPE
Best Corporate Rebrand Following a Merger or Acquisition
Gold – Cohesity and tmp
Silver – Certerra and Design By Structure
Silver – Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock and Agenda
Bronze – BDT & MSD and Fifty Thousand Feet
Bronze – CopperPoint Insurance Companies and Dappersmith
Best Brand Development Project to Reflect a Change of Mission, Values or Positioning
Gold – Ara Partners and Bladonmore
Silver – Bluetooth and Tenet Partners
Silver – ZACH Theater and Northbound
Bronze – Ascot and Prophecy
Best Brand Consolidation
Gold – The Baldwin Group
Silver – CRISIL and Starfish Co.
Best Digital Transformation
Gold – Practising Law Institute and Work & Co
Silver – Ara Partners and Bladonmore
Bronze – LS Power and Prophecy
Best Employer Brand
Silver – Pariveda Solutions and Sustena, a Pariveda Company
AUDIO
Best Audio Brand
Gold – Amica with why do birds and Mother
Silver – General Mills / Pillsbury and Made Music Studio
Silver – Maybelline New York and Sixième Son USA
Bronze – Northwell Health with Audio UX and Proper Villains
Bronze – Uber and amp
Highly commended – Docusign and amp
Best Sonic Brand Activation
Gold – Maybelline New York and Sixième Son USA
Silver – Marantz and Sonicbrand
Bronze – TD and Sixième Son Canada
Best Sonic Brand Evolution
Gold – BACARDÍ and RESISTER
Silver – Sound of Shell Team
Bronze – Mastercard and amp
WRAPPED
Best Use of Packaging (Print and Card)
Gold – ANSA Coatings and Brandology Amsterdam
Silver – S.M. Jaleel and Brandology Amsterdam
Best Use of Packaging (Other)
Gold – PepsiCo – Gatorade Rookie Bottles
Silver – PepsiCo – Gatorade AI Bottles
Bronze – Jameson RTD Pernod Ricard and JDO Global
Best Use of Packaging (Limited Edition)
Gold – ANGOSTURA MIZKAN and JDO Global
Gold – PepsiCo – Pepsi Gladiator II
Silver – PepsiCo – Doritos Feira Preta
Bronze – Dove Unilever and JDO Global
SECTOR
Best Visual Identity by a Charity, NGO or Not-For-Profit
Gold – Humane World for Animals and Lippincott
Silver – American Library Association and Landor
Bronze – Britt and Fiasco
Bronze – ZACH Theater and Northbound
Best Visual Identity from the Education Sector
Gold – Pearson and Landor
Silver – HMH
Bronze – Practising Law Institute and Work & Co
Best Visual Identity from the Energy, Engineering and Utilities Sector
Gold – Greenlane and Lippincott
Bronze – Enerflex and DeSantis Breindel
Bronze – LS Power and Prophecy
Best Visual Identity from the Financial Services Sector
Gold – Bank of America and Lippincott
Silver – Lincoln Financial and Lippincott
Silver – Rize Credit Union and London : Los Angeles
Bronze – Carter Bank
Best Visual Identity from the FMCG Sector
Gold – General Mills, Inc.
Silver – Colgate-Palmolive
Bronze – PepsiCo – Gatorade Hydration Booster
Best Visual Identity from the Food and Beverage Sector
Gold – Yum! Brands and ROWE
Silver – Lobos 1707 and Landor
Bronze – Pernod Ricard and WMH&I
Best Visual Identity from the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Sector
Gold – BrainCheck and MetaDesign
Gold – Viiota and Starfish Co.
Silver – Onvida Health and Monigle
Bronze – Confluent Health and Brandpie
Bronze – Onpoint and Fazer
Best Visual Identity from the Hospitality Sector
Gold – BRE Hotels & Resorts and Brand Bureau
Silver – Sizzler and Tavern Agency
Bronze – Becca and Prophecy
Best Visual Identity from the Industrial and Agricultural Sector
Silver – Flexcon and MetaDesign
Bronze – Bayer Crop Science and HLK
Best Visual Identity from the Professional Services (Advisors and Consultants)
Gold – West Monroe and Monigle
Silver – Prosek and Prophecy
Bronze – CRISIL and Starfish Co.
Best Visual Identity from the Professional Services (Legal and Accountancy)
Gold – Axinn and Living Group
Silver – Adams & Reese and Starfish Co.
Bronze – Practising Law Institute and Work & Co
Best Visual Identity from the Retail Sector
Gold – Feast and Joe Smith
Silver – Cuisinart and MetaDesign
Bronze – Ferrous Lighting and Fazer
Best Visual Identity from the Sports and Leisure Sector
Gold – Orangetheory Fitness and DesignStudio
Gold – Superfeet and MLTI NYC
Silver – New York Golf Club with Landor and The Preferred Lie
Bronze – Shakespeare, by Pure Fishing, Inc. and BOLTGROUP
Best Visual Identity from a Startup
Gold – TOI and Living Group
Silver – SendVia and Agenda
Best Visual Identity from the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Sector
Gold – GameStop and WMH&I
Silver – Cicero and Agenda
Silver – Prime Data Centers and Starfish Co.
Bronze – Bluetooth and Tenet Partners
Best Visual Identity from the Travel and Tourism Sector
Gold – Visit Greater Palm Springs (VGPS) and Starfish Co.
Silver – Travly and Fazer
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Brand Strategist of the Year
David Sheehan – Landor
Creative Director of the Year
Luis Juarez – Landor
Young Contender of the Year
Saul Osuna – Landor
GRAND ACCOLADE
Best Overall Visual Identity
Winner – Bank of America and Lippincott
Grand Prix
Winner – Yum! Brands and ROWE
