Announcing the 2026 AMA SF Excellence in Marketing Awards Finalists

You might not be launching a Hollywood blockbuster, but as marketers, we’re all chasing attention, credibility, and momentum. Awards aren’t just about the feel-good prestige; they offer shorthand proof that what you did actually worked, and that respected peers took notice.

Today we get to hand that proof to a remarkable group of Bay Area teams. The finalists for the 2026 AMA SF Excellence in Marketing Awards are live, and we’ll name the winners on September 24 aboard the Historic Klamath at Pier 9.

The 2026 Finalists

Best Creative Campaign
Apple, “I’m Not Remarkable” / Designed for Every Student · Uber Eats, “Football is for Food” · Life360, “I Think of You (Dying)”

Most Innovative Marketing Campaign
Electronic Arts, Skate “Drop In” · Google, At the Big Game: “Dream Job,” “Party Blitz,” “50 States, 50 Stories” · OpenAI, ChatGPT debut brand campaign: “Dish,” “Pull Up,” “Trip/Road Trip”

Best Integrated (Multi-tactic) Campaign
Google, At the Big Game · Oakland Roots, 2025 Season Campaign · Uber Eats, “Football is for Food”

Best Experiential or Activation Campaign
Olly, WNBA Valkyries partnership activation · Sephora x Lyft, Delivered to Beauty · Gamma, Tech Week Drone Show

Best B2B Campaign
Cisco, Hunt the Insider: A Splunk ES Premier Mystery · Sofar, Ocean Spotter Configurator

Best Bootstrapped Campaign
San Francisco GAA, Revitalization Campaign · East Bay SPCA, Gala Videos

Best Local Campaign
Oakland Roots, 2025 Season Campaign · PEMCO, For the Love of Prevention

Best Cause Marketing / Community Engagement
East Bay SPCA, Gala Videos · San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Cycle to Zero

Best Inclusive Marketing Campaign
Apple, “I’m Not Remarkable” / Designed for Every Student · Santa Clara County, Mental Health Awareness

World-class marketing happens at every scale in this region, and this year’s list of finalists proves it. You can see the full list, with campaign details, on the finalists page.

Thank You to Our Judges

None of this works without the people who read every submission and argue about it. Six senior marketing leaders make up the 2026 judging panel, and every entry is scored independently.

Between them they cover consumer brand building, semiconductors and AI infrastructure, live sports and entertainment, regulated utility communications, and B2B software. A campaign this clears a panel that varied has genuinely been tested, and that is why an EIMA win carries weight outside the room. Last year’s judges set the same standard, including Kristy LoRusso, National CMO at Kaiser Permanente, Rachel Heit, CMO of the San Francisco Giants, and Jakki Geiger, a three-time CMO and go-to-market advisor.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

An awards program that stays free to enter for members, nonprofits, students, and community nominations only works because partners step up. Our sincere thanks to StackAdapt, Life360 Ads, Purple Brands, Kargo, and Workbox for backing this year’s program. Their support is the reason a two-person nonprofit team can compete on the same stage as a global brand.

A Legacy of Spotting Innovation

The Excellence in Marketing Awards have a rich history that stretches back over 40 years. When we opened the time capsule of past winners, it was a reminder of the Bay Area’s foresight. Long before they were the giants they are today, brands were being recognized right here. Apple was a three-time Marketer of the Year. YouTube took home the “Next Big Thing” award in 2007, right around their acquisition. And back in 2006, brands like Yahoo!, Levi’s, and KQED were recognized for introducing audiences to a niche new format called podcasts.

That podcast award has aged particularly well. Twenty years on, the format the chapter singled out as an experiment is a standard line item in the marketing plan, and AMA SF now produces its own show, Misadventures in Marketing. Spotting a channel two decades before it becomes obvious is exactly the kind of judgment the EIMAs were built to reward.

That legacy of identifying true category creation and market disruption is what makes an EIMA win so legitimate. It’s not about vanity; it’s about velocity. Whether you’re a bootstrapped startup or an established enterprise, industry recognition provides the third-party credibility that opens doors for funding, recruiting, and sales. As Melissa Grimshaw-Vargas, AMA SF board director and EIMA co-chair, put it last year, “If you’re looking for funding or acquisition, industry recognition can give you credibility that opens doors.”

See You in September

Last year, after a 15-year hiatus, the AMA SF team, led by co-chairs Melissa Grimshaw-Vargas and Kristin Young, brought the awards back with a renewed vision, trading the traditional ballroom for an outdoor celebration at Spark Social SF. Netflix earned Marketer of the Year, PayPal took Best in Show, and Oakland-based e.l.f. Beauty took home both Next Big Thing and Cause Marketing.

We’re keeping that spirit this year, and we may have outdone ourselves on the venue. The 2026 Awards Party takes place on Thursday, September 24 aboard the Historic Klamath, a 1924 ferryboat berthed at Pier 9 with the Bay Bridge lit up behind it. Winners will be announced that night, get your tickets here!

Congratulations to every finalist, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you!

About The Author

Rinita Datta is Director of Product Marketing at Splunk (a Cisco company), where she drives product-led growth, developer marketing and community engagement. With a background spanning financial services and technology industries, she has led product strategy, engineered full-stack solutions, built teams, and launched novel programs that enhance customer experiences. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor’s in Electronics Engineering from VNIT, India. Outside work, she’s a rescue dog mom to an adorable Jindo named Chilli, loves mentoring budding marketers and is a huge Marvel nerd.