EASA announces the winners of the 2026 Best Practice Awards in memory of Lucas Boudet
20 October 2026
AUTOCONTROL takes Gold for its influencer marketing compliance ecosystem, with outstanding initiatives from the UK, Greece, the Netherlands and France also recognised
Warsaw, 16 October 2026 – The European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) has announced the winners of its 2026 Best Practice Awards, celebrating outstanding initiatives from advertising self-regulatory organisations (SROs) across Europe.
This year’s Awards hold particular significance as they are presented in memory of EASA former Director general Lucas Boudet, who passed away on 1 September 2024, recognising his vision, dedication and lasting contribution to advertising self-regulation and the EASA community.
The independent jury reviewed nine entries from European SROs, assessing projects against their relevance to EASA’s mission, achievement of objectives, management and execution, use of resources, results and impact, innovation and best-practice value, and transferability.
Gold Award: AUTOCONTROL, Spain
The 2026 Gold Award was presented to AUTOCONTROL for “From AdEthics to Market Transformation: The Successful Building of Spain’s Influencer Marketing Compliance Ecosystem.”
Building on EASA’s AdEthics framework, AUTOCONTROL developed a market-wide ecosystem bringing together education, certification, monitoring, stakeholder engagement and enforceable self-regulation. More than 6,000 influencers were certified during its first year, supported by more than 40 corporate partners.
The jury highlighted the initiative’s scale and its ambition to go beyond certification by creating a sustainable compliance ecosystem capable of embedding responsible influencer marketing across the market. It also recognised the project as a model with the potential to inspire SROs elsewhere.
Silver Award: ASA, United Kingdom
The Silver Award went to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for “The ASA’s Pulse Reports.”
The initiative uses AI-assisted analysis alongside human oversight to analyse advertising at scale. Two Pulse Reports covered nearly 6,000 alcohol advertisements and 7.7 million consumer advertisements, providing evidence beyond complaints data and helping the ASA identify patterns, prioritise risks and support targeted and proportionate action.
Joint Bronze Awards: SEE, Greece and SRC, The Netherlands
The jury awarded two Bronze Awards.
SEE (Greece) was recognised for “From Awareness to Action: Building an Education Ecosystem for Responsible Advertising.” The initiative combines tailored workshops, influencer training and certification, and continuous online learning. More than 80 workshops and nearly 400 hours of training reached around 1,350 professionals, while 453 creators were certified.
SRC (Netherlands) received Bronze for “Straight from the Source: Bringing Influencer Rules into Creator Culture.” Its creator-first approach used familiar voices, humour and social-media content to make influencer disclosure rules more accessible. The campaign reached 1.46 million people and was associated with a 136% increase in first-time certifications during the measured period.
Social Impact Award: ASA, United Kingdom
The Social Impact Award went to the ASA for “Depiction of Older People in Advertising.”
The research explored how older people are portrayed in advertising and when such portrayals might contribute to harm, stereotyping or serious offence. Combining complaints analysis, stakeholder engagement and direct interviews with older people, the project brought evidence and lived experience into the regulatory process and will contribute to complaint assessment, regulatory thinking and industry guidance.
Collaboration Award: ARPP, France
The Collaboration Award was presented to ARPP for “From Athletes to Responsible Influencers: Co-designing Self-Regulation for Sport Marketing.”
Developed with INSEP, Sport 1.5 and a group of 25 athletes, the initiative adapted influencer responsibility standards to the realities of sport marketing, translating advertising, transparency and ethical requirements into practical guidance for elite sportspeople and their commercial partnerships. The jury particularly recognised the genuine co-design process underpinning the initiative.
Celebrating innovation across Europe
The 2026 Best Practice Awards demonstrate the breadth of innovation taking place within European advertising self-regulation, from artificial intelligence and research to education, inclusion, collaboration and influencer marketing. The winning projects share a common objective: strengthening trust through responsible advertising.
The Awards form part of EASA’s longstanding Best Practice programme, which recognises self-regulatory organisations for excellence in applying and developing effective advertising self-regulation. The 2026 edition included Gold, Silver and Bronze distinctions alongside dedicated Social Impact and Collaboration awards.
