Portfolio
Impact Awards: a global recognition experience
When Cognizant set out to elevate how the company celebrated excellence, they had a vision: create a recognition program worthy of their people — meaningful, memorable, global.
What started as a blank page became one of the company’s most visible, unifying cultural moments:
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The approach
Lead the development, storytelling, communications, and experience design for the program — shaping everything from concept to execution.
What was built:
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A value-aligned recognition framework honoring individuals, teams, and leaders
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A full messaging platform, including leadership scripts and nominee spotlights
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Story-driven award categories and criteria
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A global engagement strategy to bring employees into the experience
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Creative direction for video storytelling, nominee features, and event branding
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End-to-end production support for live shows broadcast across continents
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Toolkits, templates, and messaging that scaled year over year.
Every detail was designed to celebrate employees in a way that felt authentic, elevated, and worthy of their impact.
The challenge
Cognizant needed a recognition program that:
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Spanned the entire enterprise, not just individual teams
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Reflected the company’s values and leadership priorities
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Created real excitement, pride, and visibility for employees
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Delivered a show-stopping experience that could scale globally
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Felt human — not corporate, transactional, or routine
There was no existing enterprise-wide framework.
No template.
No playbook.
The Impact Awards had to be built from the ground up.
The global experience
The Impact Awards quickly became a signature moment employees looked forward to.
2024 Highlights
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Live broadcasts from 3 countries
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12 watch parties hosted around the world
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Thousands of employees celebrating simultaneously
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A new recognition brand employees could see themselves in
2025 Highlights
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Expanded to 5 countries
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More than 20 global watch parties
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Increased reach, participation, and leadership involvement
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Stronger cultural alignment and enterprise-wide visibility
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What the Impact Awards achieved :
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A unified, enterprise-wide recognition platform
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A stronger culture of appreciation
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Higher visibility for employee achievements
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More connected global teams
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A signature event employees talked about long after the show ended
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A blueprint for how recognition should feel across the company
In its second year alone, the Impact Awards evolved into a global experience seen, shared, and felt across time zones.
This wasn’t just an event.
It became part of the company’s cultural DNA.
