Announcing the 2025 Torchie Awards Finalists

Announcing the 2025 Torchie Awards Finalists

Every year, Braze honors the marketers and brands redefining what’s possible in customer engagement. Whether you’ve launched a killer campaign, driven real impact, or led with creativity and heart, we want to celebrate you. This year, we received over 270 outstanding submissions across 11 categories, and one thing is clear: the Braze community is leading the way. Your creativity, passion, and incredible stories inspired us.

The results were so close in every category that this year, we’re doing something new to bring you into the selection process.

Your Vote Matters: The People's Choice Awards

Get ready to make your voice heard at Forge! For the first time ever, the community will select an additional winner for the People's Choice Award in two of our top categories: Campaign of the Year and Creative Excellence.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing more about the finalists in these two categories, so you can get to know their stories and the impressive work they’ve done.

At Forge, from September 29–September 30, you'll be able to cast your vote for your favorite, whether you're attending in Las Vegas or joining us for Forge Digital. Your vote will honor the teams and campaigns that have truly set a new standard for customer engagement. The People's Choice winners will be announced on the final day of Forge.

Meet the 2025 Torchie Awards Finalists

But first, it’s time to reveal all of the finalists for the 2025 Torchie Awards!

Customer Awards

Bonfire Community Leader of the Year This award recognizes an outstanding community member who is known for helping other Braze users in the Bonfire community. Our finalists are:

• Allan Heo (For Now Marketing)
• Daphné Leblanc (Spark Networks)
• Lior Peleg (HippoCampus Tech LTD)
• Manoj Kumar (Digitas)
• Ted Scott (Cognizant)

Braze for Impact This award recognizes companies that have used Braze to create positive social change within their communities. The finalists are:

• Boys and Girls Club of America
• iFood
• Venmo
• Volo Sports

Campaign of the Year This award recognizes campaigns that show strategic leadership and technical skill to build stronger relationships with customers. This year's finalists are:

• HBO Max: Paris Summer Olympics
• Ibotta: Project Egg
• RappiCard: Legacy
• SoFi: Invest Milestones
• Wendy's: Fresh Picks - March Madness

Collaborative Team of the Year This award celebrates teams that have successfully worked across different departments and disciplines to create best-in-class campaigns. The finalists are:

• Crunchyroll
• HBO Max
• Jump
• REA Group
• Sephora
• SoFi

Creative Excellence This award honors teams that use the Braze platform to create innovative, original messaging, and unique customer experiences. Our finalists for the year are:

• ClassPass: Best of ClassPass
• HBO Max: Pre-finale IAM
• McDonald's: Unbagged
• RappiCard: Rosca
• SoFi: Money Moves

Marketing Leader of the Year This award honors marketing executives who demonstrate excellence in leadership and customer engagement. The finalists for 2025 are:

• Jason Feldman, Senior Director, Customer Experience at BEES US
• Josh Hanson, Associate Director - Growth Marketing at Optus Sport
• Maria Bonello, Subscriber Engagement Director at MGM+, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios
• Melissa Neikirk, Director of Lifecycle at Remitly
• Pedro Solís Cámara, Head of Growth at RappiCard

Rising Marketing Star This award recognizes exceptional new users of the Braze platform who show great promise and use technology to support stronger customer relationships. The finalists are:

• Divyanshu Pandey, Associate, CRM at Chegg
• Ellie Ledwith, Sports Content Deputy Manager  at bet365
• Lindsey Spillman, Senior Specialist, CRM at Wendy's
• Maxim Radoczy, Lifecycle Marketing Lead, Engagement at Canva
• Nicholas Baltovski, Lifecycle Marketing Manager at Venmo

Partner Awards

Partner Campaign of the Year This category recognizes a partner who delivered a groundbreaking campaign with Braze and set new standards in creativity and customer engagement. The finalists are:

• AKQA, for KFC Australia
• Dwarf, for Spenn (Norwegian and Strawberry hotels)
• Publicis Groupe, for McDonald's US
• VML, for Pizza Hut

Service Partner of the Year This award celebrates a service partner who significantly advanced their Braze practice through comprehensive training and innovation to markedly improve business outcomes. Our 2025 finalists are:

• Marketing Decisions
• Merkle
• Stitch
• VML

Technology Partner of the Year This award goes to a technology/ISV partner that has enhanced Braze through key integrations and collaboration, benefiting our team and our customers. The finalists are:

• AWS
• Contentsquare
• Segment
• Snowflake

Transformation Partner of the Year This award honors a partner whose innovative solutions have transformed a single client’s business and drastically enhanced their customer experience capabilities. Our finalists are:

• Deloitte Digital ANZ, for Foxtel
• Ragnarok, for Hand & Stone
• Stitch, for Taco Bell
• TELUS Digital, for White Castle

Ready to see who takes home the Torchie?

Join us at Forge to celebrate all the finalists, learn from the best in the industry, and cast your vote for the People's Choice Award. Whether you're a long-time member of the community or just getting started, Forge is where you’ll gain the insight, inspiration, and support to stand out by using your creativity in new ways.