Strategy that Moves Culture Deserves a Spotlight
February 18th, 2026
You cracked the insight. You fought for the idea. You made the work matter. Now take 30 minutes and compile your entry for the 2026 HMC Strategic Excellence Awards Powered by Collage Group – now in our 20 year. Need some help? Take some advice from last year’s Grand Prix winner, BeautifulBeast CEO and Creative Chairman Aldo Quevedo:
- Treat creativity and strategy as equal partners. The strongest Planning Award cases don’t position creativity as a decoration on top of a smart insight. They show how creative thinking is the strategy.
2. Start with a clear business problem, ground it in a sharp cultural insight, and demonstrate how the creative idea unlocked growth.
3. Be disciplined in how you tell the story, honest about the challenges, and precise about results. The most compelling cases show that when creativity is valued on par with strategy, it becomes a powerful driver of business impact.
Let’s see what you’ve got.