Awards and Credibility: Why Recognition Matters, Even When You Don’t Win
Awards season can be an exciting, nerve-racking and rewarding time for PR teams and their clients. This year, our client Cumbuca was named a finalist for PayTech Start-up of the Year at the PayTech Awards. Another one of our clients, Antavo AI Loyalty Cloud, also celebrated three wins at the Retail Systems Awards 2026, including recognition for two Antavo-powered loyalty programmes. Canela Media’s Club Canela won Entertainment & Leisure Technology of the Year, while Flying Tiger Copenhagen Club received Mobile Innovation of the Year.
At YourStory PR, we also won Bronze at the 2026 AI Comms Awards. Although the awards recognised different areas of work, they reinforced the same takeaway that a trophy creates a moment of visibility, but lasting credibility comes from the results and stories behind it.
Being shortlisted is already a valuable endorsement
An awards win signals that an organisation’s work has been reviewed and recognised by independent industry experts. This external validation can strengthen media engagement, support commercial conversations and build confidence among customers, partners and other stakeholders.
For Antavo, the Retail Systems Awards provided credible recognition of the measurable impact its technology is delivering for customers. Canela Media’s Club Canela rewards members for watching content and has generated more than 50 million minutes watched, a 25% increase in daily watch time and an 87% win-back rate among inactive registered profiles.
Meanwhile, Flying Tiger Copenhagen Club was launched in just six weeks, and its members demonstrate a 50% greater visit frequency than non-members. The programme also reached a staggering 500,000 members across six markets within six months, expanding to eight markets within 15 months. These results are what give the awards real meaning, especially as external validation can often strengthen conversations with the media, investor engagement, recruitment and partnerships.
Awards can reinforce a company’s wider narrative
For PR and communications professionals, the entry process can be a useful strategic exercise. It forces teams to delve deeper into the thinking behind a client’s approach, the results achieved and the wider significance of the work. This process often uncovers strong messages and evidence that can be used well beyond the awards submission itself.
A credible finalist or winner story can become part of an organisation’s broader communications narrative. It can help demonstrate innovation, market relevance, resilience, growth or leadership. The award then becomes part of a wider story about the business, in turn persuading audiences by what the recognition represents.
AI awards now carry a higher standard
YourStory PR’s Bronze Award at the 2026 AI Comms Awards was a proud moment for our team, and also reflected a wider shift in the industry. The awards recognise excellence in AI-led communications and attracted entries from across the globe, spanning reputation management, internal communications, ESG storytelling, stakeholder engagement and content creation. The breadth of these categories reflects how quickly artificial intelligence has become an operational tool that is changing how organisations communicate and build trust. On a day-to-day basis, PR teams are now expected to explain how AI delivers tangible value, how outcomes are measured and how risks are managed responsibly.
Winning recognition in this area goes beyond demonstrating technical innovation and shows measurable value, transparency and responsible application. At YourStory PR, the Bronze Award is an endorsement of our work and a reminder of the standards we must continue to uphold to maintain that credibility.
Credibility is built after awards night
Whilst winning a trophy may offer the strongest headline and an immediate moment of visibility, credibility is ultimately built over time for organisations. The awards process as a whole should be viewed as an opportunity to identify strong work, articulate impact and build a more compelling evidence base. A trophy is not the only recognition that matters, despite it being the most visible outcome.