The Kavli Prize is one of the world’s most prestigious science awards, recognizing scientists whose discoveries transform our understanding of the big, the small and the most complex in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. Awarded every two years in each of the three fields, each prize includes a $1 million award and celebrates research that challenges assumptions, inspires new ideas and deepens our understanding of how the world works. The Kavli Foundation partnered with Spitfire to lead communications for the 2026 Kavli Prize announcement. The Kavli Prize is a partnership among The Kavli Foundation, The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
We had two goals: Strengthen awareness of the Prize among scientists and expand visibility of the Prize among science-interested publics with the goal of building more interest in basic science research. This necessitated messaging that could both respect the nuances of the scientific discoveries and inspire wonder and excitement.
In partnership with the Norwegian Academy and The Kavli Foundation, Spitfire designed and implemented a global communications campaign across earned, owned and paid media with a particular focus on U.S. and global, non-European markets (Americas, Asia). We developed the campaign strategy and social and traditional media materials for the U.S. market; coordinated embargoed outreach; and crafted tailored pitches for international, national and local outlets tied to each laureate’s story.
To extend the campaign’s reach beyond traditional media, we created affiliate communications toolkits for more than 115 partner organizations — including universities, employers, scientific disciplinary societies, national academies and funders. This gave them ready-to-use graphics, messaging, sample social media posts and background materials that made it easy for them to amplify the announcement across their own channels.
To amplify the Academy’s work in creating video content, our team also led content development and paid growth strategies for the Kavli Prize social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, BlueSky and YouTube), while coordinating paid partnerships with trusted science publications and organizations, including Physics World, ResearchGate, Materials Research Society, and Science/AAAS. Together, these efforts turned the announcement into a coordinated global campaign that celebrated scientific achievement, highlighted the impact of the laureates’ discoveries and expanded global awareness of the Prize.
The team increased media coverage from 117 stories in 2024 (the last Prize cycle) to 134 stories in 2026. We doubled the amount of countries reporting about the stories from 13 to 25. The estimated reach more than tripled, growing from 391 million in 2024 to 1.27 billion in 2026 through coverage in outlets including Forbes, Yahoo, Infobae, El País Argentina, and Globe and Mail.
Within three weeks, our digital engagement efforts generated more than 2.5 million views, 64,000 unique visitors and 25,000 engagements across social channels. The Kavli Prize YouTube channel also saw strong performance, attracting over 8,500 channel views. Paid media efforts further amplified these results. A sponsored “Physics World” podcast attracted thousands of listeners, and a YouTube Brand Lift study that proved we increased brand awareness twofold over a control group. Further, high-performing graphic and video content drove significant audience growth, resulting in nearly 16,000 new Facebook followers, 2,600 new Instagram followers and nearly 300 new LinkedIn followers, all while maintaining an exceptionally low cost per follower.
