Shaping the Industry at 58th Annual Jersey Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ava Bongiovanni
Email: ava@rizco.com
Photographed by: Steve Wagner
Toni Rothchild of Kean University receives Best of Student Excellence, while ICF and PSEG earn Best of Show during an evening recognizing creative excellence across New Jersey.
CEDAR GROVE, N.J., September 18, 2026 — The NJ Ad Club hosted its 58th Annual Jersey Awards at The Grove in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, on September 16, celebrating the people and ideas driving the region’s advertising and creative industries forward.
Bringing together over 200 agencies, brands, designers, marketers, public relations professionals, media companies, production partners, students, and emerging talent, this year’s event centered on a message reflecting a rapidly changing industry:
People First. AI Forward. Creativity Always.
“The theme of this year’s event was intentionally more than a tagline,” said Debra Rizzi, 2026 Jersey Awards Chair. “Our industry is moving at an extraordinary pace, and AI is changing how all of us work. 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.
The evening culminated with ICF and PSEG receiving the Best of Show for “We are Jersey Ready,” a campaign that also earned top recognition in the Video category.
Awards spanned the breadth of the modern communications industry. Among the evening’s Best in Category recipients 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 the New Jersey 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 also recognized the next generation of creative talent through its 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.”
The event was emceed by Cheldin Barlatt Rumer, CEO and Executive Producer of THIS IS IT NETWORK™, who also helped bring the evening’s theme to life with an energetic presentation focused on people, creativity, and the future of the industry.
The 58th Annual Jersey Awards were made possible through the contributions of the NJ Ad Club Awards Committee, volunteer leadership, and event sponsors, including OUTFRONT Media, StackAdapt, Rizco, O2 Advertising, Mirrored Memories NJ, Beard & Bowler, Coyne PR, Pooky, Allied Printing, Beasley Media Group, Nexxen, Neenah, ROI-NJ, SKC, THIS IS IT NETWORK™, and Loca Loka.
“When you look around the room at the Jersey Awards, at the work, the conversations, the smiles and the energy, you realize that creativity is not becoming less human,” added Rizzi. “The opportunity in front of us is to use technology to make what people create even more powerful.”
As the industry continues to evolve, the 58th Annual Jersey Awards offered both a celebration of what has been accomplished and a look toward what comes next.
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ABOUT THE NJ AD CLUB
The NJ Ad Club brings together professionals from across advertising, marketing, communications, media, design, and related creative industries. Through education, networking, professional development, and recognition programs such as the annual Jersey Awards, the organization works to strengthen connections within the industry, celebrate creative excellence, and support the next generation of talent. Visit njadclub.org.