Bhava Communications.

After an exciting Olympic year where the United States topped the gold medal charts, we take a look back at some of our big 2016 wins: from standout PR campaigns to creatively designed infographics to the continued growth of Bhava’s reputation and culture. It’s hard to pull out the “top” moment from 2016. Was it unveiling our redesigned website? Or launching several groundbreaking technology companies from stealth? The introduction of Work Lunch Wednesdays to the weekly calendar? Whatever our personal favorite achievement may be, one thing is for sure: Bhava has a lot to be proud of, and PR industry influencers agree.

Read on for a review of some of our award wins and achievement highlights from 2016:

Company Awards

One of the most exciting things for our team is seeing the company continue to grow. 2016 marked the third consecutive year that Bhava was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the United States. We were also named to San Francisco Business Times’ list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area for the first time at number 77 out of 100.

Bhava’s focus on employees and company culture are top priorities. One of our core values is to “put people first,” which we were thrilled to have recognized when we were named a 2016 Top Place to Work in PR. There’s a reason we work as hard as do: we love to show up. Every day we walk into the office knowing we’re surrounded by people who want to learn, teach one another and do the best possible work we can for our portfolio of prestigious clients.

Campaign Awards

At Bhava, we strive to “build category leaders,” working with groundbreaking companies and technologies and sharing them with the world. 2016 provided Bhavans with many opportunities to launch new and innovative technologies throughout the year. Bhava won the PR News Agency Elite award in B2B PR for launching client Hedvig from stealth in the crowded software-defined storage space, and the agency was also a finalist for the same award with our CrowdFlower campaign, “Data Behind Today’s Data Scientists.”

Design Awards

Bhava is built on the ability to tell stories creatively across different mediums, including press releases, blog posts, social media, contributed articles, infographics, slideshows, brochures, web copy and design—you name it. With that in mind, it’s fitting that we kicked off 2016 with an honorable mention for Design in PR Daily Visual and Design Award for our work on CrowdFlower’s Data Behind Today’s Data Scientists infographic. Data science was a hot topic in 2016 and it showed when we also won an Award of Distinction from Communicator Awards for an infographic illustrating the State of Data Science.

In other design news, we took home a Gold MarCom Creative Award for Website Redesign for our complete redesign of the Bhava website. The result is a website we’re proud to say truly reflects our culture, passion and quality of work.

Individual Awards

Collaboration and teamwork are foundational components of Bhava’s culture, and we also recognize the outstanding work of individuals across the agency. In 2016, VP Pamela Njissang was named a Gold Winner of the PR Professional of Year award for her leadership of several well-executed, strategic campaigns, including the “Be Bold” campaign for Qwilt and the Hedvig launch from stealth, as well as her ongoing contributions to the professional development of individual Bhavans and teams.

SVP Joe Franscella was also a winner in 2016, taking home Gold in the Bulldog Reporter Stars of PR Awards as an “Agency Professional of the Year” for his big ideas and big-hearted leadership. Every Bhavan benefits from Joe’s thoughtful approach to developing sophisticated strategies and tactics, and his desire to push the creativity and risk-taking envelope beyond the expected.

We’ve had an awesome year and will be reaching for gold again in 2017!