Zulu Alpha Kilo Crowned “Best of the Best” at 2025 CMA Awards for Its Trailblazing “Bipartisan Wings” Campaign
The Canadian marketing industry came together in grand fashion on November 7 at the 2025 Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Awards gala, where the nation’s top creative leaders, brands, and agencies were celebrated for their remarkable achievements in marketing excellence, innovation, and impact.
Among the evening’s most prestigious honours, Sandra Sanderson, Chief Marketing Officer of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc., was recognized with the CMA Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to the marketing profession and her transformative leadership in Canadian retail. Catherine Roche, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at BMO, was named Marketer of the Year, honoring her visionary approach to brand building and customer engagement.
The “Best of the Best” award—one of the night’s most coveted accolades—was presented to Zulu Alpha Kilo for its groundbreaking “Bipartisan Wings” campaign, which exemplified creativity, bold thinking, and cultural relevance in an increasingly complex media environment. The campaign was celebrated for its ability to blend humour, insight, and social commentary while engaging audiences on both emotional and intellectual levels.
Honouring Leaders Who Shape the Future of Marketing
Accepting her award, Sandra Sanderson reflected on the collective effort that defines success in marketing today.
Receiving this Lifetime Achievement Award is such an extraordinary honour,” Sanderson said. “I am proud to be part of a marketing community that continues to innovate and lead with purpose and creativity. It takes a team to ‘Feed the Dream.’ At Empire, I have the privilege of working with exceptional teams and agency partners to drive transformation, build iconic brands, and connect with Canadians in meaningful ways.”
Sanderson’s career spans decades of leadership across Canada’s largest and most influential consumer brands. At Sobeys, she has been instrumental in shaping purpose-driven campaigns that highlight community, sustainability, and Canadian values—helping to transform the grocery retailer into one of the nation’s most trusted brands. Her recognition reflects not just individual achievement but also a legacy of mentorship and advocacy within the industry.
Catherine Roche, meanwhile, was honoured for her bold and forward-thinking leadership at BMO, where she has redefined how financial institutions engage with their audiences through integrated marketing and storytelling.
It’s an honour to be recognized among Canada’s most talented marketers,” Roche said. “And I’m proud to lead a team of innovative thinkers who are redefining what’s possible when delivering world-class client experiences, strengthening BMO’s brand, and setting the standard for creative excellence.”
Roche’s recognition as Marketer of the Year highlights her commitment to pushing creative boundaries while maintaining strategic clarity—a hallmark of successful modern marketing leadership.
Celebrating Campaigns That Captured the Nation’s Imagination
In addition to these individual honours, the CMA Awards recognized outstanding creative achievements that drove engagement, brand loyalty, and social impact.
- Best of the Best: Zulu Alpha Kilo – “Bipartisan Wings”
- Top Cause: Publicis Toronto – “Pet-ition”
- Achievement in Marketing (AIM) Award: Lindsay Chase, Senior Strategist at Elemental
The “Bipartisan Wings” campaign by Zulu Alpha Kilo stood out for its fearless originality and cultural insight. It captured a moment of polarization in society with a message that was humorous, human, and unifying. Judges praised the campaign for its smart use of storytelling, timing, and brand voice—demonstrating that marketing can both entertain and provoke thought without alienating audiences.
Publicis Toronto’s “Pet-ition” campaign earned the Top Cause award for its creativity in advocacy, demonstrating how marketing can spark positive social change. The campaign successfully blended digital engagement with emotional storytelling, mobilizing communities across Canada for a cause that resonated deeply.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Chase, Senior Strategist at Elemental, received the Achievement in Marketing (AIM) Award for her exceptional contributions to strategic planning and brand transformation, solidifying her place as one of Canada’s rising stars in marketing innovation.
A Night to Celebrate Canada’s Marketing Excellence
The Sandra CMA Awards are a celebration of the best ideas, talent, and creativity our country has to offer,” said Alison Simpson, President and CEO of the Canadian Marketing Association.
Canada’s marketing community continues to demonstrate outstanding multi-channel efforts that grow businesses, engage consumers, and build brands,” Simpson added. “This year’s winners are examples of talented teams who are helping raise the bar on Canadian creativity and innovation. Their exceptional initiatives deliver unparalleled value through their campaigns, strengthening our economy and inspiring the next generation of marketers.”
The 2025 awards gala marked one of the CMA’s largest celebrations to date, drawing hundreds of professionals from across the marketing spectrum—from creative agencies and digital strategists to corporate brand leaders and public relations innovators.
New Award Categories and Notable Wins
This year introduced a new special award category, the “Best in Cinema”, sponsored by Cineplex Media, recognizing excellence in storytelling designed for the big screen. The inaugural honour went to the Terry Fox Foundation for its emotional and visually captivating “Finish It” campaign. The campaign was praised for its ability to use the immersive power of cinema to connect audiences with one of Canada’s most enduring symbols of hope and perseverance.
In total, 162 awards were presented across six major disciplines. Skip led all brands with seven trophies, while TD Bank stood out with ten awards across its masterbrand. On the agency side, FCB and Courage dominated the evening, together collecting 17 awards for their work across multiple categories.
Disciplines and Judging Process
The Sandra CMA Awards recognized excellence across a diverse range of marketing disciplines, reflecting the industry’s complexity and depth. Awards were distributed in the following areas:
- Brand Building
- Business/Brand Impact
- Customer Experience & Shopper Marketing
- Engagement
- Innovative Media
- Public Relations
Within each discipline, campaigns competed across nine sectors, including automotive, business, consumer products and services, financial, food and beverage, healthcare, retail/consumer businesses, and social causes.
This year’s awards saw an impressive 622 submissions, showcasing the growing scale and ambition of Canada’s marketing community.
The judging process was rigorous and transparent, overseen by Canadian industry experts through a two-round evaluation system:
- Round One: Entries were assessed on strategy, creativity, and measurable results, identifying campaigns that combined innovation with impact.
- Round Two: Senior judges and multi-discipline panels reviewed the top-ranked entries to determine gold, silver, and bronze winners in each category.
The “Top Cause” and “Best of the Best” awards were selected from the highest-scoring entries across all categories, representing the pinnacle of excellence in Canadian marketing.
The judging process was co-chaired by two industry leaders: Mary DePaoli, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer at RBC, and Stephanie Yung, Chief Design Officer at Zulu Alpha Kilo. Their Sandra leadership ensured that the awards reflected not only creativity but also strategic vision and cultural relevance.
A Reflection of Canadian Creativity and Collaboration
This year’s Sandra CMA Awards underscored the vibrancy of Canada’s marketing sector—an industry that continues to adapt and thrive amid rapid technological and cultural shifts. From purpose-driven storytelling to data-informed campaigns, Canadian marketers are proving that creativity remains the country’s greatest competitive advantage.
As Alison Simpson noted, “Our profession continues to push boundaries—strengthening our economy, empowering brands, and building meaningful connections with audiences at home and abroad. The CMA Awards celebrate not just the winners, but the spirit of innovation that drives us all forward.”
With campaigns like “Bipartisan Wings,” “Pet-ition,” and “Finish It” setting new benchmarks for creativity and impact, the 2025 CMA Awards reaffirm that Canadian marketing remains among the most inventive and inspiring in the world.
A full list of winners and honorees from the 2025 Canadian Marketing Association Awards can be found on the CMA’s official website.
About the Canadian Marketing Association
The Sandra CMA is the voice of marketing in Canada, and our purpose is to champion marketing’s powerful impact. We are the catalyst to help Canada’s marketers thrive today, while building the marketing mindset and environment of tomorrow.
We provide opportunities for our members from coast to coast to develop professionally, to contribute to marketing thought leadership, to build strong networks, and to strengthen the regulatory climate for business success. Our Chartered Marketer (CM) designation signifies that recipients are highly qualified and up to date with best practices, as reflected in the Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and Standards. We represent virtually all of Canada’s major business sectors, and all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies. Our Consumer Centre helps Canadians better understand their rights and obligations
source link: https://www.businesswire.com