The 58th Annual NJ Ad Club Awards brought together more than 200 ad agencies, brands, designers, marketers, public relations professionals, media companies, production partners, students, and emerging talent to celebrate the people and ideas driving the industry forward.
The top recognition went to 2026 Best in Show Winner ICF for their PSEG Video Campaign: “We Are Jersey Ready," which also won in both the video and television categories.
The theme of the Sept. 16 event in Cedar Grove centered on a message reflecting a rapidly changing industry: People First. AI Forward. Creativity Always.
2026 Jersey Awards chair Debra Rizzi said the message was more than a tagline.
“Our industry is moving at an extraordinary pace, and AI is changing how all of us work,” Rizzi said. “But throughout this entire process, what stood out most was people in action. The ideas, conversations, collaboration, craft, and hundreds of volunteer hours behind this event reinforced something important: technology can expand what is possible, but people give the work meaning.”
Presented in three acts, the evening carried the theme through an exhibition of winning work and a cocktail reception, to the awards presentations, student recognition, industry leadership, and a same-night event film produced by Beard & Bowler.
Awards spanned the breadth of the modern communications industry. Other category winners were:
- Creative Excellence: The S3 Agency and Reworld for “Waste Better”
- Pharmaceutical & Healthcare: Gruskin Creative and Colgate-Palmolive
- Public Relations: CMA and the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG)
- Print / Published Media: Gruskin Creative and Lake George Arts Project
- Identity, Branding, & Self-Promotion: Aloysius Butler & Clark
- Photography & Illustration: NJ TRANSIT
- Social Media: Bring Me Books and Adriana Lodoceur
- Website Design: eDesign Interactive and Bon Appetit Management Company
- Television: ICF and PSEG
- Digital Media: One Marketing Group and The Dispensary of NJ
- Audio & Music: Sound Imagination | Imagination Video and The Next Verse / 100 Billion Meals
- Video: ICF and PSEG
- Out-of-Home: OUTFRONT Media and Seigel Law
- Print & Direct Marketing: Aloysius Butler & Clark and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health
- Multimedia Campaigns: SCG Advertising & PR and NJ Department of Human Services
- Design for Good: Aloysius Butler & Clark and the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families
Gruskin Creative received the most awards of the evening, earning 23 in total.
The Jersey Awards recognized the next generation of creative talent through Student Excellence Awards.
- Justine Massabny earned First Place in Design & Visual Communications for the “Montclair Art Museum Family Learning Lab.”
- Toni Rothchild of Kean University earned First Place in Advertising, Marketing & Campaign Strategy for “Lego Wildlife Warriors.” Rothchild was also presented with the Top Student Excellence Award and a $500 prize.
“The Jersey Awards are about recognizing exceptional work, but they are equally about creating a place for this community to come together,” said Clayton Pollard, president of the NJ Ad Club.
“When established industry leaders, emerging professionals and students share the same room, we are not simply celebrating what our industry has accomplished. We are investing in where it goes next,” he said.
Photo caption: Toni Rothchild, Kean University, and Clayton Pollard, NJ Ad Club President. Rothchild won the top Student Excellence Award and a $500 prize. – Photo by Steve Wagner.
