Six Creative Award Shortlists

We’re going to try and play it cool about this. We’re not going to succeed. In the space of a week, we have picked up six award shortlists across two of the industry’s creative ceremonies. Creativepool Annual and the UK Agency Awards 2026. Six. In a week. We’ve re-read that sentence a few times ourselves.

It’s what we dream about, not the trophies, but the moment strategy, craft and client trust all land at once and someone else notices. So here’s a proper shout-out to the work and the people behind it.

UK Agency Awards 2026

🐾 Best Not-for-Profit (Small) Animal Aid, for “Hounds of the Underground”. A campaign built to get racing dogs like Molly off the track and onto the sofa where they belong. Raising awareness of the Gov.org petition to ban the sport across the UK.

💧 Best Marketing Campaign (Small) Liquid I.V., “Hydration for the Nation”. The campaign that made hydration genuinely, properly funny, connecting with consumers at cultural moments at contextual times.

🔍 Best PPC (Small) Roundhouse Design. A campaign backed by a search and paid media strategy to show off their handmade kitchens, driving growth.

Creativepool Annual

🐾 Effectiveness Animal Aid, for “Hounds of the Underground“. A campaign built to get racing dogs like Molly off the track and onto the sofa where they belong. Raising awareness of the Gov.org petition to ban the sport across the UK.

💧 OOH & Copywriting Liquid I.V., “Hydration for the Nation“. The campaign that made hydration genuinely, properly funny, connecting with consumers at cultural moments at contextual times.

Why it matters

Shortlists are nice. But what they really mark is a lot of people caring more than they strictly needed to.

It’s the strategist who went back for a fourth version of the idea because the third wasn’t quite honest enough. The creative team who kept pushing a line past “good enough” long after most people would’ve called it done. The account leads who protected the work through every round of feedback, so it landed the way it was meant to. That’s the bit that doesn’t show up on an awards page but is all over these campaigns if you know where to look.

It’s also, just as much, about clients who back that kind of thinking, who ask the sharper question, and trust us with stories that matter to them. Recognition like this only happens when both sides show up properly. So this isn’t really about the trophies. It’s a nice, visible reminder that the effort was worth it and that we’ve got a team and a client list who genuinely care about doing the work well, not just doing it.

To everyone at Catch A Fire who put strategy, craft and a fair few late nights into these campaigns, thank you. Six shortlists in eight days isn’t luck. It’s a habit. And to our client partners: Animal Aid, Liquid I.V., Roundhouse Design and everyone else, thank you for trusting us with stories worth telling.

🤞Fingers crossed for the next round. We’ll let you know how we get on, probably before we’ve finished celebrating this one.