Purpose in practice: DEPT® takes home 2025 Anthem Agency of the Year

Presented by The Webby Awards, the Anthems amplify the voices and ideas that spark change—and we’re proud to stand alongside a community that’s redefining what impact looks like in the digital age.

This year, DEPT® and our clients earned around 28 honours across categories spanning diversity, equity & inclusion, responsible technology, sustainability, and education. From AI-powered language platforms and circular fashion to cultural preservation and playful climate action, each project proves that creativity and technology can do far more than drive performance. They can help build a better tomorrow.

As a Certified B Corp, being recognised at the Anthems is a validation that our growth, our ideas, and our work remains tethered to real-world impact. And we’re only just getting started.

HELLO MONDAY/DEPT® x NVIDIA x American Society for Deaf Children
_{Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging – Best Use of AI: Gold
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging – Education or Literacy Program or Platform: Gold
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging – Partnership or Collaboration: Gold
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging – Education or Literacy Program or Platform: Gold
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging – Best Use of Technology: Gold
Responsible Technology – Best Use of AI: Gold
Responsible Technology – Partnership or Collaboration: Silver}

Signs reimagines how people learn American Sign Language. Built with NVIDIA and the American Society for Deaf Children, the AI-powered platform uses motion tracking and a growing video dataset to teach ASL as naturally as a face-to-face conversation. By pairing accessible design with cutting-edge tech, Signs helps close communication gaps between Deaf and hearing communities—and shows how responsible AI can remove barriers rather than reinforce them.

Karlka Nyiyaparli Aboriginal Corporation x DEPT®
_{Education, Art & Culture – Local Awareness Campaign: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Digital & Innovative Experiences: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Local Community Engagement: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Education or Literacy Platform: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Special Projects: Bronze}

Nyiyaparli Widi is a mobile adventure game co-created with the Nyiyaparli community to help protect an endangered Aboriginal language. Players become junior rangers, exploring the country, collecting cultural items, and learning everyday Nyiyaparli words through quests, challenges, and rewards. By turning language learning into play, the project uses mobile gaming as a powerful ally for intergenerational knowledge transfer and pride in identity.

Trainline x DEPT®
_{Sustainability, Environment, Climate – Social Media Content, Campaign or Channel: Gold
Sustainability, Environment & Climate – Campaign: Brand: Gold
Sustainability, Environment & Climate – Local Awareness Campaign: Silver
Sustainability, Environment & Climate – Short Form Video: Bronze}

Trainline and DEPT® flipped the sustainability narrative on its rear end with “Get Your Bum On Board.” Instead of guilt-driven messaging, the campaign uses humour, bold visuals, and a cheeky rallying cry to reframe low-carbon travel as an easy, everyday choice: just put your bum on a train seat. Rolled out across film and digital, the work drove a measurable lift in ad recall and millions of views—proving climate communication can be both effective and fun.

Government of Barbados x DEPT®
_{Education, Art & Culture – Digital & Innovative Experiences: Gold
Education, Art & Culture – Public Service: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Community Space: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Public Service: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Education or Literacy Platform: Silver
Education, Art & Culture – Education or Literacy Platform: Bronze
Education, Art & Culture – Community Engagement: Bronze}

“Barbados: Reclaiming Heritage Through Play” turns cultural exploration into a game. This AR- and mobile-led experience encourages young audiences to discover artefacts, stories, and sites tied to Barbados’ history in a playful, interactive way. By blending on-the-ground exploration with digital storytelling, the project helps reconnect communities with their heritage, invites tourism that’s rooted in understanding, and makes history feel alive rather than distant.

Reclaiming our Atlantic Destiny (R.O.A.D.) is a long-term effort to digitise, preserve, and re-contextualise one of the world’s largest archives tied to the transatlantic slave trade. Partnering with the Government of Barbados, DEPT® helped develop the brand, digital experience, and platform foundations that make these records discoverable to communities, researchers, and descendants around the globe. The work turns a static archive into a living digital monument—centring truth, memory, and repair in the Caribbean and beyond.

Otrium x DEPT®
_{Sustainability, Environment & Climate – Business Strategy: Silver
Sustainability, Environment & Climate – Innovation: Silver
Responsible Technology – Best Use of Technology: Silver}

Ovatars helps tackle fashion waste by making unsold stock visible again. Otrium partnered with DEPT® to create AI-generated digital models that can wear items which never received full photo shoots—turning basic product shots into rich, on-model imagery at scale.

The solution has reduced traditional shoot costs and improved conversion for overlooked SKUs, showing how AI can unlock circular-economy value while respecting brand aesthetics and shopper experience.

DOGSTUDIO/DEPT®
_{Education, Art & Culture – Best Use of AI: Bronze
Education, Art & Culture – Innovation: Bronze}

Talking Portraits brings static images to life through emotionally aware, generative AI. Using computer vision and natural-language capabilities, DOGSTUDIO/DEPT® created digital portraits that can hold conversations in real time—reacting to questions, context, and tone. It’s an experiment in how emerging technology can deepen our relationship with art and storytelling, transforming viewers into active participants and opening up new possibilities for museums, galleries, and cultural institutions.

Huge thanks to the Anthem Awards jury for recognising this work, to our clients and partners for trusting us with their missions, and to every Depster who poured their creativity, craft, and conviction into these projects. Most importantly, thanks to the communities at the heart of each initiative. Your stories, languages, and futures are why this work matters. Here’s to unlocking even more possibilities together in the year ahead.