In 2022, Hill+Knowlton Strategies walked away with the well deserved 'Digital Agency of the Year' at the Digital Impact Awards, through their two brilliant and well executed campaigns with Soap & Glory and HSBC.

During the pandemic, Soap & Glory struggled to connect with their younger audience through traditional media, with these generations embracing new media platforms that the brand struggled to connect with in the past, previously relying on traditional product launches and PR activities to raise brand awareness. In attempts to reconnect with their younger audiences, Hope & Glory teamed up with Hill+Knowlton Strategies to build an authentic foundation in these spaces to develop a long-term connection. 

Hope & Glory wanted to take a more relatable approach, so Hill+Knowlton Strategies worked on a social game built in the metaverse, Soap & Glory Land. To do so in an authentic way, they collaborated with young creators and influencers, who knew how to connect with users. The results speak for themselves, with Soap & Glory Land quickly becoming the number one space globally on RecRoom, with 70k+ players in the first month (target of 10k). As well as speaking directly to the brand’s younger audience, Soap & Glory captured the attention of the beauty community in an engaging way at a time when social distancing prevented physical connection – while memorably highlighting product details. The engagement of the online community in the development of the game was crucial for the judges. “We have a winner”, said one judge. 

Hill+Knowlton Strategies further impressed the judges with their campaign with HSBC, which highlighted the company’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion by bringing to life the story of a groundbreaking female rugby commentator. By engaging with an influencer, HSBC was able to ensure employee attention, and build connections between the workforce and the company’s D&I strategy. The video made an impact internally, but also attracted massive audiences outside the business, which helped build HSBC’s brand reputation. Judges found the HSBC campaign to be ‘Wonderful, creative and strategic with compelling results.” Another said it “didn’t shy away from difficult questions which validated the content discussion.” 

These two successful projects helped Hill+Knowlton Strategies to impress judges and corporate stakeholders alike, making it a deserving winner of this year’s ‘Digital agency of the year’ prize.

To read more about the winning projects in the Digital Impact Awards you can do so by viewing the 2022 winners book.

The Digital Impact Awards recognises excellence in digital corporate communications. To find out more and to enter your work, visit the awards website.