The Best of the IBA Awards are best-of-competition prizes awarded to the organizations that submit the best body of work to the competition, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients. The winners of these prizes will receive the Grand Stevie® Award trophy.

These awards cannot be applied for directly. The first four award winners listed below will be determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs, with a Gold Stevie win counting for 3 points, a Silver Stevie counting for 2 points, and a Bronze Stevie counting for 1.5. Points cannot be counted more than once in calculating Best of the IBA winners (i.e., points won by an agency in its client’s name cannot be counted a second time in the agency’s name).

Best of the IBA winners will also be awarded the exclusive right to use a unique Grand Stevie Award winner logo.

The awards for consideration are:

ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR: Will be presented to the organization with the most award points earned in the competition

MOST HONORED MARKETING AGENCY: Will be presented to the marketing agency that garnered the most award points, in its own name or in the names of one or more clients

MOST HONORED PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY: Will be presented to the PR agency that garnered the most award points, in its own name or in the names of one or more clients

MOST HONORED AWARDS AGENCY: Will be presented to the awards preparation agency that earned the most points for nominations prepared and/or submitted on behalf of their clients

HIGHEST-RATED NOMINATION OF THE YEAR: Will be presented to the organization that submitted the highest-scoring nomination in the entire competition, regardless of category

HIGHEST-RATED NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE NOMINATION OF THE YEAR: Will be presented to the organization that submitted the highest-scoring new product or service nomination in the New Product & Product Management Awards categories

2026 Grand Stevie Award Winners

Organization of the Year

Cathay Financial Holding, including Cathay Life and Cathay United Bank, wins this year’s top honor with 76.5 award points, earned on the basis of 13 Gold, nine Silver, and 13 Bronze Stevie wins. Cathay Financial is a major financial holding company offering a range of financial products and services through its subsidiaries, including insurance, banking, and investment services. Cathay Financial is known for its strong presence in Taiwan and its expanding reach in the Asia Pacific region. This is the second year in a row Cathay Financial Holding has won this Grand Stevie Award.

Most Honored Marketing Agency

Above The Line Company Limited, Hong Kong wins this top honor on the basis of nine Gold, three Silver, and two Bronze Stevie Awards (36 points) for nominations submitted on behalf of clients the Development Bureau of the HKSAR Government and the Construction Industry Council.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency

LLYC, Madrid, Spain, with 28.5 points, is the Most Honored Public Relations Agency of the Year for the fifth time in the IBAs, this year with seven Gold, three Silver, and one Bronze Stevie Awards. LLYC is a global public relations, digital marketing, and corporate affairs consulting firm headquartered in Madrid, Spain, with extensive operations across Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

Most Honored Awards Agency

Purpol Marketing, Chippenham, Wiltshire, United Kingdom earned 39 points, the most among award agencies, for nominations prepared on behalf of themselves and clients CeCe Digital, Cherishers 811 CIC, SME Today, and W B Griffiths And Son Ltd. This marks the fifth Grand Stevie win for the firm, but the first in The International Business Awards.

Highest-rated Nomination of the Year

There is a three-way tie this year for the highest-rated nomination of the year, all scoring 9.71 out of a possible 10. The winners are:

Brasilprev Seguros E Previdência SA, São Paulo, Brazil for their nomination “Accessibility as a Strategy for Excellence In Serving Deaf Customers,” which won the Gold Stevie for Achievement In Customer Satisfaction. This is the first-ever Grand Stevie win, in any Stevie Awards competition, for Brazil.

Grundfos Holding A/S, Bjerringbro, Denmark for their nomination “Stay or ALPHA GO,” winner of the Gold Stevie Award for Achievement in Agricultural / Industrial / Building Marketing. This marks Denmark’s first-ever Grand Stevie Award win.

MilliporeSigma, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA for their nomination “One Community at a Time,” Gold Stevie winner for Achievement In Corporate Social Responsibility. MilliporeSigma is the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Highest-rated New Product or Service Nomination of the Year

This year’s honor goes to Beyaz Kağıt San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Adana, Türkiye, for the nomination entitled “Asperox Sparx Hand Dishwashing Liquid,” which won the Gold Stevie for New Product or Service Introduction of the Year. One judge acclaimed the nomination, “The company identified a genuine consumer frustration and turned it into a simple, practical, and easy-to-understand solution with Asperox Sparx. The combination of strong product performance, innovative packaging, and a well-integrated communication strategy made the launch stand out.”