ANA Unveils Winners of the 2026 ANA In-House Excellence Awards

The Kitchen North America Won Best in Show; Led All Winners with Eight Awards

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. - June 23, 2026 - The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) today announced the winners of the 2026 ANA In-House Excellence Awards, honoring in-house agencies who are driving growth by aligning creativity with strategy. The awards span categories such as Branded Content, Experiential, In-House GEM Award, Significant Results, Agency of the Year, Leader of the Year, and more. The awards were presented during the 2026 ANA In-House Agency Conference on June 22-24 in Huntington Beach, California.

The In-House Excellence Awards recognize the creativity, innovation, and business impact of in-house marketing teams. As the industry's premier awards program for in-house agencies, the competition honors outstanding work across a wide range of disciplines, with winners selected by a distinguished panel of industry experts.

2026 Award Winners include:

Top Honor: Best in Show
The Best in Show Award went to "Kegchup" created by The Kitchen North America. By transforming Heinz ketchup into a beer-style keg, the campaign cleverly hijacked Super Bowl culture, turning a traditionally overlooked condiment into the centerpiece of game-day conversation and delivering outsized impact on a modest budget.

Campaign results included:

• More than 1 billion earned impressions without a paid Super Bowl ad.
• A 5,600% year-over-year increase in Heinz Super Bowl conversation.
• 23,000 fans signed up to order KegChup, crashing the pre-sale website.

Major Wins

• The Kitchen North America led the competition with 8 awards, with the most Category Grand Prize awards at 6.
• draftLine earned 6 awards, with 2 Category Grand Prize wins.
• Fidelity Investments, PepsiCo, and The Cooler at Experian and MikeTeevee received 3 awards each.
• In-house teams at C2 (Creative Center), VOLT, Whirlpool Corporation, Target, and Brand Studio won 2 awards each.

Special Honors

In-House Agency of the Year
This specialty honor go to teams that not only exemplifies excellence in the areas of creativity, strategy, and effectiveness, but represents what it means to be the "best in-house agency." To be considered, teams share details on their culture, business impact, and notable accomplishments achieved over the past year.

The 2026 recipient: The Target Creative team at Target

In-House Leader of the Year
This honor recognizes a leading individual in an in-house agency who consistently demonstrates excellence in creative and strategic thinking, management of multi-disciplined teams, and thought leadership in their respective industry.
The 2026 recipient: Kelly Warkentien, Vice President and Creative Director of The Agency at Wolverine Worldwide.

ANA GEM Award
The ANA GEM Award will honor the top creative and impactful work that exemplifies the best in class accurate and authentic portrayal of women and/or girls in marketing and advertising communications. The honors were awarded to:

• Category Grand Prize: Purdue Brand Studio for "Sunnie x Purdue University"
• Category Winner: CARE for "CARE, Always There"
• Category Winner: Fidelity Investments for "Voice of the Advisor"

Judging Process
The 2026 In-House Excellence Awards followed a rigorous three-round evaluation:

• Main Round: Jury of 400 agency and client-side leaders who selected the Category Grand Prize and Category winners.
• Grand Jury: A panel of 18 C-suite marketing leaders chose the Best in Show.

Grand Jury Members Included:

• Warren Chase, Vice President, Managing Director Copper Giants, Liberty Mutual Insurance
• Jessica Cipolla-Tario, Vice President, Global Creative Services, Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Rick Corteville, Executive Lead, Global Media COE, Lenovo
• Maeve Dohogne, Director, Edward Jones Agency, Edward Jones
• Eric Harris, Vice President, Brand and Creative, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley
• Bonnie Isaac, Head of Creative and Agency, Guardian Life Insurance
• Alicia Jones, Senior Director, Brand & Digital Marketing, Hilti
• Lucas Knipp, Creative Director, Purpose Built Brands
• Matt Krueger, Chief Marketing Officer, GoNetspeed
• Liz Maglione, Vice President, Account & Project Management/Integrated Marketing Communications, Mattel
• Charissa Messer, Executive Director, Enterprise Creative Solutions, Bank of America
• Todd Miller, CCO/ECD, In-House Agency Builder
• Pat Petschel, Vice President Global Creative and Digital Marketing, Stanley Black & Decker
• Mickey Ramirez, Vice President, Creative Studio, Advocate Health
• Aleka Sansom, Executive Creative Director, Vanguard
• Marilyn Simeon, Director, NNI Agency Operations and Management, Novo Nordisk
• Peter Viento, Director, Head of Creative, Citi
• Julie Wisnicki, Head of Creative Studio, Global Marketing, Dexcom

The complete list of winners in the 2026 In-House Excellence Awards competition, and additional program details can be accessed at anainhouseawards.org.
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ABOUT THE 2026 IN-HOUSE EXCELLENCE AWARDS

As part of the ANA's mission to set the agenda for growth, the ANA In-House Excellence Awards celebrate the agility, innovation, and impact of in-house marketing teams that are driving brand growth from within. Recognizing outstanding work across brand strategy, creative development, media, digital, and integrated marketing, the program honors teams that combine strategic rigor, operational efficiency, and creative excellence to deliver measurable business results. As in-house agencies continue to play an increasingly vital role in modern marketing organizations, the ANA In-House Excellence Awards spotlight the leaders and teams setting the standard for internal marketing excellence and advancing the ANA's mission of driving growth for marketers.

ABOUT THE ANA

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is the definitive voice of the marketing industry. Since 1910, we have set and advanced the agenda for marketing transformation, connecting over 1,600 member companies to an influential global network, insights and resources that drive growth. Our members represent 20,000 brands and $400 billion in annual marketing investment. Through industry-leading research, the CMO Growth Council, and our proprietary Growth Agenda and Practices, the ANA empowers marketers to shape the future of marketing and create lasting impact for their organizations and the industry.