Shortlist 2022

MEDIA OWNER

MEDIA IDEA – LAUNCH

A VOLT from the blue (and red!)

ITV

Client: Virgin Media O2

Here’s how a supercharged magical stream of red and blue light streaking across ITV’s most iconic shows to launch Virgin Media O2’s first ever joint product, burst through awareness targets and drove consideration to almost 50%.

Balmain x 4Studio: Fracture

Channel 4

Agency: Balmain

A unique & epic partnership which marks the first time a luxury fashion brand has partnered with a broadcaster in this way. Resulting in a glamorously gritty drama series, taking storytelling above & beyond fashion.

Black To Front

Channel 4

Client: Over 60 brands and agencies

Black to Front was Channel 4’s most ambitious cultural intervention ever, reinventing an entire TV channel, VOD service and social channels with a day of programming and advertising fronted by only Black talent. The initiative recruited over 60 brands, reached almost 10 million viewers, generated over 300m twitter impressions and kic...

Christmas in the metaverse

ITV

Client: John Lewis

Here’s a magical Christmas tale full of wonder, joy and alien spaceships... of how a single synchronised marketing moment in the metaverse led to 80% of Fortnite gamers seeing John Lewis as a modern brand, helping to establish a new and younger audience.

A Soldier is a Soldier

LADbible Group and Karmarama

Client: Capita, The Army

The future of the British Army depends on recruiting diverse soldiers, yet despite being a Times Top 50 Employer for Women, only 10% of its workforce was female. We were tasked with driving consideration of the Army as a good career prospect for women and did this by changing the image of what a soldier looks like online. Taking a m...

Braille Coverwrap

Mail Metro Media

Client: RNIB

On International Day of Disabled People in December 2021, Metro teamed up with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to deliver the UK’s first ever Braille front cover of a national newspaper. 15,000 copies of the special edition paper were distributed in commuter hubs in London that morning, enabling blind and partially sigh...

Gravy Card

LADbible Group and Mindshare

Client: KFC

Forget turkey. Forget even brussels sprouts. KFC gravy is the one thing people in the UK crave at Christmas. A remarkable 1 million pots of KFC gravy are reported to be sold in the run up to the festive period. It sends people wild. And that's not to mention the countless TikToks, Instagram Reels and Tweets that show people ...

MAKING DERRY GIRLS A SMASH HIT!

Bauer Media

Client: Channel 4 | Derry Girls

With the final series of Derry Girls returning to screens in April, Channel 4 partnered with Bauer Media and OMD to create a campaign that would get people talking and tune in to Season 3 of the show. Together, they revived iconic 90s magazine Smash Hits, creating a one-off standalone edition dedicated to the series!

Ring My Bell and Saturday Night Takeaway

ITV

Client: Ring

With pressure on budgets and a need go beyond conventional media tactics, ITV, MGOMD and Ring created ‘Ring My Bell’: a product placement that got the nation on their feet and dashing to the door – to deliver a tenfold return on Ring’s media investment.

Sky Sports News signs WhatsApp for the UK’s first live news branded integration!

Sky Media & Sky Sports with Mindshare

Client: WhatsApp

It’s 21:48pm…Deadline Day window is nearing closure, the tension and buzz in Sky Studios is palpable as some big transfer news is imminent… Cut from an ad break to the specially-integrated title sequence featuring Sky Sports News’ talent having their breaking news delivered through WhatsApp View Once… Social influencer Harry Pinero is ...

Triumph and error!

ITV and Channel 4

Client: Specsavers

After a two-year absence, MGOMD, ITV and Channel 4, helped breathe new life into the much- loved line “Should have gone to Specsavers”. Our idea led to a wonderful on-screen ‘collision’ of our two channels, helping to grow eye test appointments by 13% in the first week.

Bringing Christmas warmth to the Co-op Community Fridge

ITV

Client: The Co-op

Here’s how ITV invited Britain into a community fridge in Feltham, during a unique LIVE ad break, growing demand for 500 community projects, and increasing Co-op’s long-term ROI.

Cancer Revolutionaries

The Guardian

Client: Cancer Research UK

Cancer Revolutionaries gave a national voice to CRUK’s brilliant science, research and innovation with an innovative “exhibition in a magazine” print format, a moving documentary and targeted podcast ads.

John Lewis: Xmas in the metaverse

ITV

Client: John Lewis

Here’s a media idea full of Christmas joy and alien spaceships... of how a single magical moment brought together viewers at home, shoppers on Oxford Street and Fortnite gamers in the metaverse and helped reposition John Lewis as a modern and relevant brand.

Starling Bank gives you a Seat at the Table

YouTube

Client: Starling Bank

Starling Bank is on a mission to change banking for good and are proud to work with people and businesses that share their values. Both YouTube, and YouTube creator Jack Harries are partners that do this. Together, we collaborated on a content series to elevate the voices of the victims of climate change For the 12-part documentary s...

The Flavour of Film presented by Green & Black's & Everyman

Pearl & Dean

Client: Green & Black's

Green and Black’s pioneered the premium organic chocolate market, but needed to re-establish their reputation for high quality, being organic and a range of delicious flavours. They needed to attract new customers among their discerning, urban target audience. Getting into customers hands, and mouths, was key! In a perfect pairing we...

Backing Business

ITV

Client: NatWest

Natwest & ITV: backing the businesses that will build tomorrow A unique partnership between the nation’s biggest bank and biggest commercial broadcaster to support the UK’s SMEs. Supercharged by the irrepressible energy of Alison Hammond, this idea grew NatWest account openings by 9.4% and generated over 245 advertising enquiries for...

Creating emotional connections

Bauer Media

Client: Disney+

With the television subscriptions market more saturated than ever, Disney+ needed to stand out. They needed to raise awareness, increase subscriptions and drive retention. In order to compete with the established players, they expanded their portfolio to break the stereotype that they were just for children. To amplify this message the...

ITV’s Concert For Ukraine

ITV

Client: A collaboration of 28 brands

Here’s how a chance discussion in a programming meeting led to a huge idea that would see us donate £15.4m to help displaced Ukrainians. From a standing start, and in only 3 weeks, we would produce a record- breaking fundraising concert supported by 28 generous brands and the great British public.

M&S Cooking With The Stars

ITV

Client: M&S Food

Who said too many cooks spoil the broth? Here’s how Mindshare and ITV got celebrity cooks battling it out in the kitchen in an ad-funded programme to showcase the breadth and versatility of M&S food. Mango sales up 309%??? How do you like THOSE apples!

Putting the bite back into the big cat

Pearl & Dean

Client: Jaguar

Jaguar has huge awareness but had brand perception and consideration challenges versus their German competitors, and in particular low female ownership. We created ‘Rebel Cinema’ a long-term integrated and ever-evolving partnership with two premium partners, which continued even during lockdown. Jaguar became the exclusive motor partne...

The Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award

Channel 4

Client: Maltesers, Lloyds, RAF, Starbucks, EA SPORTS, TENA

The Channel 4 Diversity Award offers over £1 million of advertising each year to a brand who best responds to our creative brief to encourage greater representation of diverse communities in advertising. Thanks to our 6 bold and courageous winning brands, it has led to producing world-famous, ground-breaking campaigns and ultimately de...

MEDIA IDEA – LAUNCH

Circular Billboards

the7stars

Client: H&M

‘Fast fashion’ has a huge environmental impact. H&M launched The Circular Design Collection, a new range that’s easy to repair, reuse and recycle. We wanted to bring the ethos of the Circular Design Collection to life, reusing the materials from our all-important, traffic driving out of home activity. What better way to do this t...

HEINEKEN SILVER – THE META BEER THAT DELIVERED IRL SALES

DENTSU RED STAR

Client: HEINEKEN UK

Heineken entered 2022 with a bold ambition; create the biggest category launch in a decade and establish Heineken Silver as THE beer of choice for 18-34s. Less than six months later, we delivered a campaign that went where no UK beer brand has gone before, transcending both physical & virtual worlds in a way that authentically resonate...

Highlife: Changing the narrative of Black Britain and demonstrating Pixel’s values

Essence, OMD UK, Channel 4 and DRUM

Client: Google

Reality shows are the most-watched TV programming in the U.K. But, year after year, the casts look pretty similar. For the launch of Pixel 6, a phone known for progress, Google saw a chance to change that, joining forces with Channel 4 to create ‘Highlife’ to the narrative of Black Britain. Highlife resonated with a massive audien...

Launching the new Cadbury Wispa Gold Hazelnut by selling shares in it

Carat UK

Client: Mondelēz | Cadbury Wispa Gold Hazelnut

It is becoming harder and harder to sell single chocolate bars. With impulse in decline and the proliferation of choice, Cadbury needed to think differently about how to create a desire for the new Wispa Gold Hazelnut. And so, we decided to launch the chocolate bar as if it were a cryptocurrency and did this exclusively on Twitter. ‘A ...

The Great British Bake Off

OMD UK, Talon and Global

Client: Channel 4

We’re always talking about big ideas in media. Well, they don’t come bigger than a 200ft cake slap bang in the middle of Glasgow city centre. Not big enough for you? Let’s add in a dash of weather-triggered dynamic OOH, a dollop of bespoke Instagram cake-face filters, a side helping of radio, plus a sliver of influencer content. We ser...

Turning a smartwatch into the nation's coach

Starcom

Client: Samsung

We teamed up with exercise app Strava to turn advertising into personal ‘coaches’ that inspired runners to beat local community targets as they pounded the streets. We created a true media first – a hyper-targeted, data-driven OOH campaign called 'Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Challenge‘, that accelerated preference and grew market share.

#DesignForEveryone

Wavemaker UK & The&Partnership

Client: RNIB

90% of people with sight loss find information on packaging difficult or impossible to read, and these challenges are both poorly understood and poorly addressed by businesses and the general public. The RNIB exists to improve the lives of blind and partially sighted people for the better. They asked us to help raise public awarenes...

Let’s Not Taco ‘Bout Christmas

Spark Foundry

Client: Taco Bell

Taco Bell had a mammoth challenge: increase brand awareness by 5% with a share of voice of 0.2%. At one of the most cluttered times of the year, how could we get people talking about tacos when everyone was obsessing about turkeys? Whilst any research will tell you Christmas is the ultimate ‘cultural moment’, we weren’t convinced - sur...

Recolour the Rainbow

MediaCom UK, Gay Times, AMV BBDO, Switchboard & Queer Britain

Client: Skittles

Skittles’ most recognised brand asset for the past 40 years has been the rainbow. For the last six years, they have chosen to remove the rainbow from their own packs and advertising to support LGBTQ+ Pride as, during Pride, Skittles don’t want their use of the rainbow to get in the way. Many other brands use the rainbow during pride ...

Ring My Bell

MG OMD

Client: Ring

With pressure on budgets and a need to go beyond conventional media tactics, Ring.com harnessed the power of product placement to create “Ring My Bell”; an editorial segment in ITV’s iconic Saturday Night Takeaway that got the nation dashing to their doorbells and delivering an ROI of 10:1.

Tesco Ramadan

MediaCom UK, The Unmistakables, BBH, DOOH.COM & Kinetic

Client: Tesco Stores

No doubt you are aware of the Tesco Ramadan campaign. It is a brilliant creative idea. And so much more. It was sophisticated mapping and precision planning at its finest finding a handful of sites from 1,700. It was making a difference to the Muslim community but using the power of advertising to represent, educate, and...

Uswitch? UStayPut

Zenith Media

Client: Uswitch

We created opportunity out of the energy crisis, convincing Uswitch to rebrand as ‘UStayPut’, growing trust and TOMA by levels that would normally require £4m investment, for only £250k

ellesse #Be Bold

MediaCom UK

Client: ellesse

The following entry tells of a world first. A ground-breaking social media campaign for clothing brand ellesse, developed as a standalone social media event that is set to change eCommerce and even spawned its own global dance movement. ellesse – an established brand but with very low awareness - challenged us to create an online mom...

Entertaining the Nation

Hearts & Science

Client: GoCompare

GoCompare’s most recognisable asset, Gio Compario, was beginning to negatively affect brand preference and business results due to his irritation factor and ‘that’ jingle, despite several different campaigns over the years to make him appear more likeable. However, when Wynne Evans (the real man behind Gio) appeared in adverts alongsid...

How Vodafone drove digital poverty up the social agenda by rebranding Boxing Day as Reboxing Day at Christmas.

Carat UK

Client: Vodafone

1.5m households in the UK are digitally disconnected. To close the digital divide, Vodafone created the Everyone.connected initiative asking people to donate old devices. To get people to donate we needed to make people understand the human impact of digital exclusion, get them to care enough and then find the right moment when old dev...

Joyful Focus

Initiative UK

Client: LEGO

The LEGO® Group is one of the most loved brands on the planet. However, LEGO® Adults – the products aimed at grown-up consumers – are not so widely popular, as brand love amongst kids carried the stigma for mainstream adults that it was “no longer for them”. Yet, our research found that adults were turning to hands-on hobbies to alle...

One-step Recipe Shopping with Ocado

Hearts & Science

Client: Ocado

Whilst the pandemic created huge shifts in online shopping, Ocado faced a significant challenge in keeping their new customers and maintaining their growth ambitions. Our solution was borne out of three key trends we believed would persist as the UK came out of lockdown – home cooking, shopping convenience and QR code adoption. ...

Peaky Blinders Season 6: Tommy’s Final Orders

Havas Media

Client: BBC | Peaky Blinders

Peaky Blinders has grown organically from a slow, early start on BBC Two in 2013 to become one of the BBC’s most loved original dramas. Unfortunately for the BBC, the greatest traction with the show, especially from the core audience of 16-34s, had come from its distribution on Netflix, where 16-34s spend 60% of their daily viewing t...

Should've 2.0

MG OMD

Client: Specsavers

In advertising, media is often overshadowed by creative. To stand out, media choices can sometimes over rely on technology or can be excessively complicated. But when creative and media and work in unison, the result can be simply spectacular. Specsavers Should’ve 2.0 is an outstanding example of media working to elevate the message an...

#LoveBeatsLikes

MediaCom UK, GAY TIMES, Channel 4 & Black Ballad

Client: Maltesers

Chocolate sales were up 4% YoY, but Maltesers sales down 19.3%. The brand was losing relevance with women and brand ‘esteem’ had dropped by 25% in 4 years. Whilst we were making tough life moments ‘a little lighter’ passively in our adverts the time was also to actively do so. One of our largest communities of women, ‘mums’, ...

Breaking the Vicious Circle

PHD, Wunderman Thompson, Talon, Ocean Outdoor & Channel 4

Client: HSBC UK

How we created a circular and repetitive media strategy to illustrate the Vicious Circle of financial exclusion experienced by those experiencing homelessness.

Getaway Gurus

MediaCom UK & Reach Solutions

Client: TUI

TUI’s position as market leader has come under threat from Jet2. Having broken the duopoly of TUI and Thomas Cook, Jet2’s regional growth meant they had their sights firmly set on TUI’s number one spot. But with shopping local and community spirit increasingly important post-COVID, especially for TUI’s core 55+ audience, there was a...

Highlife: Changing the narrative of Black Britain and demonstrating Pixel’s values

Essence, OMD UK, Channel 4 and DRUM

Client: Google

How the Co-op used Traditional Media in a Non-Traditional Way at Christmas

Carat UK

Client: The Co-operative Group

For many businesses, Christmas is the time they do the most business and achieve the largest share of their annual sales. As a convenience retailer, Co-op’s market share actually dips below its annual average over the festive period (Summer is the Co-op’s Christmas, revenue-wise), while the big supermarkets dominate. With media budg...

SCOTTISH WIDOWS: NOT DOING PENSIONS BY HALVES

Zenith Media

Client: Scottish Widows

For the first time ever, Scottish Widows were able to calculate that women retire with on average HALF the pension of men. We created a campaign around this that tore through all the International Women’s Day noise to deliver a 53% increase in awareness.

Small Businesses United

MediaCom UK, Sky, ITV & EFL

Client: eBay

Covid was challenging for many small businesses trading on the high street. But Covid hit football too, destroying ticket sales and wiping out sponsorships. So, we brought grassroots football and small local businesses together with an innovative micro-sponsorship programme. Small Businesses United powered by eBay. Our campaign...

BEST USE OF CONTENT – UNDER £250K

Do Not Read This Award Entry

Spark Foundry

Client: TAKIS

TAKIS is a new rolled tortilla chip that is sure to set the UK crisps market, and your mouth, on fire. But with tiny budgets and facing category behemoths like Walkers, we knew disruption would be essential to make any progress in this already crowded market. Taking inspiration from the impending HFSS legislation and the bold nature of...

Hometown Creators

MediaCom UK & GAY TIMES

Client: Reebok

Reebok’s Hometown Legacy campaign changed the lives of three young, LGBTQ+ creatives from across the UK. In partnership with GAY TIMES, we offered three creators – Jude from Edinburgh, Huss from Glasgow and Mishti, a student at the University of Cambridge - a paid internship at the platform. One that brought an exciting opportunity:...

RECOGNISING & COMBATTING LGBTQ+ MARGINALISATION AND FEAR

Zenith Media

Client: Durex

How Durex was the first mainstream brand to gain a deep understanding of LGBTQ+ attitudes to sex , and how they created content to bring this to life. For less than £50k.

Ring My Bell and Saturday Night Takeaway

ITV and MG OMD

Client: Ring

With pressure on budgets and a need go beyond conventional media tactics, ITV and MGOMD created ‘Ring My Bell’: a content-fuelled product placement that got the nation on their feet and dashing to the door – to deliver a tenfold return on Ring’s investment.

Series 2 Late Night Feed: The Return To Work

Channel 4

Client: Mars

Many of us have been there… the dread and chaos of returning to work after having a baby; the guilt, the questionable stains on your clothes, the extreme exhaustion and let’s be real, the leaky boobs. We teamed up with Maltesers & Mediacom to produce an honest, real and hilarious social campaign to explore the uniquely challenging bu...

The Business Relationships People

Goodstuff and The Guardian

Client: Metro Bank

Metro Bank has always steered away from convention and wanted to continue to do so for their Business Account Online (BAO), a new product, launching into a new market, at the height of the pandemic. Our brief to acquire 5,000 business account switchers, as a small spender vs. the big banks, was a gargantuan challenge. A conventional...

Bacardi x Defected

OMD UK, Twitch and Defected

Client: Bacardi

The perfect campaign is much like the perfect cocktail: balance, freshness and results that get you dancing. BACARDí Spiced is about good vibes, great taste, inspiring consumers to do what moves them. As a recently launched brand, we needed to make it famous with a new generation of rum drinkers and music lovers. Traditionally activa...

Backing Business

ITV and Initiative

Client: NatWest

NatWest & ITV: backing the businesses that will build tomorrow An innovative content-driven partnership between the nation’s biggest bank and the biggest commercial broadcaster to support the UK’s SMEs. Supercharged by the irrepressible energy of Alison Hammond, it grew NatWest account openings by 9.4% and generated over 245 advertis...

Dulux Changing Rooms

MediaCom UK, Channel 4, Shine TV & Red C

Client: Dulux

The number of Brits repainting their houses had plummeted in recent years. To hit growth targets Dulux needed to get more than a million households to pick up a paintbrush. Traditional media wouldn’t inspire a decorating revolution – Dulux had to go bolder… Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen in leather trousers bold! Bringing back 90’s dec...

Highlife

OMD UK, Channel 4, Drum, Essence & Optomen

Client: Google Pixel

The Google Pixel phone features the world’s most inclusive camera, more accurately highlighting the nuances of diverse skin tones than its competitors. We spotted an opportunity to showcase this progressive feature by partnering with Channel 4 and their Black to Front season, championing Black talent both in front of and behind the cam...

Highlife: Changing the narrative of Black Britain and demonstrating Pixel’s values

Essence, OMD UK, Channel 4 and DRUM

Client: Google

Joyful Focus

Initiative UK

Client: LEGO

Men. We are with you.

the7stars

Client: Prostate Cancer UK

When the NHS had to divert resources to fight Covid it’s estimated 14,000 men missed a prostate cancer diagnosis. We had to get things back on track. We got families and partners talking about prostate cancer again. With difficult conversations taking place across the country we then gave those with concerns a helping hand. Runn...

Taking second hand clothes out of the closet

Starcom and Channel 4

Client: Vinted

Fashion is about everything “new”, but by creating a seamless product integration with the most fashionable Hollyoaks storylines and stars we were able to kickstart a whole new “pre-loved” fashion retail behaviour and give a huge boost to the Vinted App

Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award

Channel 4

Client: Maltesers, Lloyds, RAF, Starbucks, EA SPORTS and TENA

The Channel 4 Diversity Award offers over £1 million of advertising each year to a brand who best responds to our creative brief ; this is our long term media strategy to encourage greater representation of diverse communities in advertising. Thanks to our 6 bold and courageous winning brands, it has led to producing world-famous, grou...

Don't judge a book by its cover

the7stars

Client: Ancestry

Facing flat category interest and an audience with declining spare time, ‘Bring Your Backstory to Life’ accelerated Ancestry’s business putting the brand on the path to long-term growth. Driven by creative storytelling that communicates meaningful value, coupled with a long-term brand building media strategy we grew Ancestry’s activ...

Give it some

the7stars

Client: Gousto

We set out to position Gousto, with its unrivalled range and personal choice, as more than a delivery brand by tapping into the rich emotion around food culture to build a brand with attitude. “Give It Some” was a rallying call, pep talk and shot of adrenaline in one. Showing consumers across the country what’s possible with Gousto ...

Inclusive Planning: Breaking bias in the media industry

Wavemaker UK

Client: Nationwide Building Society

Over the last two years we’ve been on a journey to completely overhaul Nationwide’s strategic approach to planning, better resonate with diverse audiences, and break the ingrained biases that perpetuate the media industry. In this ongoing strategic process, we have transformed our understanding of diverse communities across the UK, ...

PUSHING FOR EQUALITY, FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING

Zenith Media

Client: Bodyform

We have led – with AMV – a long term comms strategy around women and our right to be open about our bodies. From lobbying social media companies, to running campaigns about being banned, to pioneering partnerships around the v-shape, we have been consistent and dogged. And it has worked

Reclaiming ‘this is not just food…’ for a new age

Mindshare UK

Client: M&S

M&S’s “This is not just…” campaign ran for only three years yet is one of the most iconic lines in advertising. Its legacy was an entrenched position atop grocery market quality rankings, but also a specialism that limited customers to thinking of M&S for special occasions and ready meals. This threatened the business in an age of resu...

Tesco Christmases with I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here

MediaCom UK, ITV, BBH, Something Else, Fremantle

Client: Tesco Stores

Christmas… a tricky and crucial time for grocers and to the UK’s ‘Superbowl’ for communications, when shoppers pay attention to the ads and advertisers up their game creatively. Winning the share-of-voice battle isn’t enough. At Christmas, the objective is simple for Tesco – generate buzz and talkability… year after year, after year...

Yellow is the New Black

Goodstuff

Client: eve Sleep

In a post IPO world for eve in 2017, there was little to separate them from other online boxed mattress competitors and we faced an inevitable race to the bottom in a discounting death spiral, so our strategy needed to increase preference, protect price, and profitability. Realising the national sleepless epidemic, we orchestrated a...

#Be Bold

MediaCom UK & TikTok

Client: ellesse

CFlight

Thinkbox, Channel 4, ITV and Sky

CFlight is the world’s first cross-broadcaster total TV reach & frequency ad campaign measurement solution. Its genesis was eye-wateringly complicated, requiring technical, mathematical and collaborative innovation by competing broadcasters. But it gave advertisers the proof of broadcaster VOD’s value they were demanding.

Circular Billboards

the7stars

Client: H&M

Mediahub ARC giving brands an unfair share of attention

Mediahub UK

Client: Mediahub

The loss of third-party cookies, privacy regulation, and erosion of trust in the standard currencies of measurement have thrown our industry into flux. Viewability has gone some way to address that by measuring whether an ad had a chance to be seen. But as an arbitrary metric, it is merely an opportunity for the browser to load the ad ...

The Good Fire

Yonder Media and Above + Beyond

Client: Shelter

Tapping into the trend for playing YouTube fireplace videos on TV, we created a totally new and effortless way to raise money for charity. The Good Fire is a YouTube crackling fireplace video where all advertising revenue goes directly to Shelter. A virtual fire, delivering real heat to those that need it most.

Unboxing a feeling

the7stars and Spotify

Client: Gousto

Music and cooking are intrinsically linked. Every month, over 110,000 new cooking-related playlists are created on Spotify. And streaming of cooking playlists has increased by 141% over the last 2 years. So we decided to elevate the experience Gousto had to offer. Working with Spotify we created a cadence index that aligned to G...

Xmas in the metaverse

ITV and MG OMD

Client: John Lewis

Innovation doesn’t come much hotter than the metaverse right now, so when John Lewis crashed their Christmas spaceship into the lives of Fortnite gamers, Oxford St shoppers and viewers at home, younger and more modern audiences started to take notice...

#DesignForEveryone

Wavemaker UK & The&Partnership

Client: RNIB

Channel 4 Black To Front

Channel 4 & Allies

Circular Billboards

the7stars

Client: H&M

Derry Girls

OMD UK, Bauer, Spotify & TikTok

Client: Channel 4

The good, the bad, the ugly of advertising all makes us feel stuff. Pride, jubilation, indifference. But the best campaigns are pure magic. They transport us to different times and places, offering immersive, emotional experiences. And so to Derry Girls series 3. A 90s cult classic. We created a campaign so authentic you could liter...

MAKING DERRY GIRLS A SMASH HIT!

Bauer Media

Client: Channel 4

Ring My Bell

MG OMD

Client: Ring

With pressure on budgets and a need go beyond conventional media tactics, Ring.com harnessed the power of product placement to create “Ring My Bell”; an editorial segment in ITV’s iconic Saturday Night Takeaway that got the nation dashing to their doorbells and delivering an ROI of 10:1.

Should've 2.0

MG OMD

Client: Specsavers

Thinking outside of the box - The Schuh Sneaker Hunt

PHD Manchester

Client: Schuh

During lockdown, Schuh acquired new, younger shoppers. To convert them into physical customers on the high street, we created an AR game – the Schuh Sneaker Hunt. A month-long, augmented reality mobile game (similar to Pokemon Go) that ran in Schuh’s key UK cities. It was simple. Find a Schuh box. Open it. Win what’s inside when you vi...

ADDING A NEW SPICE TO THE COLONEL’S SECRET RECIPE

Bauer Media

Client: KFC

With customer loyalty in the quick-service-restaurant market down and further hit by COVID, KFC needed a radio partner who could share its persona and collaborate on increasing KFC visits and turning cravings into purchases. Bauer and Mindshare recognised that the KISS audience and KFC were a match made in chicken heaven. KISS is th...

BE A BETTER PHONE FRIEND

Zenith Media

Client: Three

Using the power of audio to deliver a 14% drop in rejection of Three Mobile, by helping the nation listen better.

Creating emotional connections

Bauer Media

Client: Disney+

Joyful Focus

Initiative UK

Client: LEGO

Making Ads Less Visible: The World’s biggest Audio Described Ad Break

Channel 4

Client: Airbnb, BT, Experian, Gillette, Oral B and Virgin Media

As an industry we’re obsessed with words like Engagement, Cut Through, Noticeability & Visibility; so why on earth did we want to make ads less visible we hear you ask? Together with the RNIB we signed 6 brands to take part in the World’s Largest Audio Described Ad Break to raise awareness of AD to the visually impaired community ...

Radio for recruitment

MG OMD

Client: NHS England

During the pandemic, the NHS were valued more than ever before, however, the obvious strain and pressure on those employed was clear for all to see. Our challenge was compounded as we needed to recruit more NHS workforce with 44% less budget. We needed to land our message impactfully. By layering contextual relevance and personalisatio...

Samsung's 22 nights of nightography

Starcom

Client: Samsung

An audio partnership on an unprecednted scale that drove brilliant brand and business results for Samsung's flagship launch

Unboxing a feeling

the7stars and Spotify

Client: Gousto

SMALL COLLABORATION (UNDER £250K)

Childline - We All Feel It

OMD UK, OMG Unite & Versus

Client: NSPCC

Boys don’t cry. Man up, bruv! Don’t be a such a girl… With prevailing attitudes like these, it’s no surprise boys don’t seek help with mental health issues and 3 out of 4 suicides in the UK are among the male population. Men of colour are disproportionately affected. Beyond raising awareness, few campaigns have successfully cut t...

Everyday Superheroes

MG OMD

Client: NHS Blood & Transplant

Emerging from the villainous backdrop of the pandemic, NHSBT faced slashed budgets and blood stock shortages. Lives were at risk without more people donating blood. To show the nation you don’t need superpowers to make the world better, we used superhero messengers. Working with Marvel, the superstars of Dr Strange urged prospective do...

Let’s Not Taco ‘Bout Christmas

Spark Foundry and Jungle Creations

Client: Taco Bell

Making Ads Less Visible: The World’s biggest Audio Described Ad Break

Channel 4, Essence, PHD, P&G One, and MG OMD

Client: Airbnb, BT, Experian, Gillet & Oral B and Virgin Media

As an industry we’re obsessed with words like Engagement, Cut Through, Noticeability & Visibility; so why on earth did we want to make ads less visible we hear you ask?! Together with the RNIB we signed 6 brands to take part in the World’s Largest Audio Described Ad Break to raise awareness of AD to the visually impaired community ...

Ring My Bell

MG OMD and ITV

Client: Ring

Skittles Recolour the Rainbow

MediaCom UK, Gay Times, AMV BBDO, Switchboard and Queer Britain

Client: Skittles

The Invisible Opponent

the7stars, AMV BBDO and Seven Stones

Client: Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)

There is a stigma around issues like anxiety and depression that make them feel like weaknesses. Things to be hidden and dealt with in private. The truth is that mental health issues are indiscriminate. Talking about them, breaking the stigma, actually takes courage. Confronting them takes strength. We had to flip the narrative ...

Unboxing a feeling

the7stars and Spotify

Client: Gousto

Channel 4 Black To Front

Channel 4 and Allies

Black to Front was Channel 4’s most ambitious cultural intervention ever, reinventing an entire TV channel, VOD service and social channels with a day of programming and advertising fronted by ONLY Black talent. The initiative recruited over 60 brands, reached almost 10 million viewers, generated over 300m twitter impressions and kic...

Derry Girls

OMD UK, Bauer, Spotify & TikTok

Client: Channel 4

Dulux Changing Rooms

MediaCom UK, Channel 4, Shine TV and Red C

Client: AkzoNobel | Dulux

ITV’s Concert For Ukraine

ITV

Client: Livewire Pictures

Here’s a story of extraordinary collaboration... when 28 brands, agents, global media artists and the NEC got together at the drop of a hat, to make a difference to millions of displaced Ukrainian families through ‘Concert For Ukraine’: a live event produced in just 3 weeks that raised £15.4m of desperately needed financial aid. We'r...

Men. We are with you.

the7stars and Sky

Client: Prostate Cancer UK

Taking second hand clothes out of the closet

Starcom and Channel 4

Client: Vinted

BEST USE OF DATA FOR AUDIENCE BUYING

Joyful Focus

Initiative UK

Client: LEGO

ONE Campaign Addressable: The Power of ONE

Sky Media

Client: Multiple

In a world of rapid growth in viewing across multiple screens, measuring TV’s effectiveness is essential, but extremely challenging. Until now, campaigns have been booked in silos across multiple platforms, so we haven’t had a holistic view to measure cross-platform campaign performance. To combat these challenges, One Campaign Addre...

Powering programmatic performance

MG OMD

Client: John Lewis & Partners

Our client, John Lewis & Partners, is heavily focused on performance and specifically maximising revenue at an efficient level of investment. With the retail sector more competitive than ever, it can be extremely difficult to drive differentiation and cut through the competition to achieve this goal, particularly when using the ...

Real People, Real Stories Phase Three – Identifying the Rural Areas with Men Most At-Risk of Suicide

Goodstuff

Client: Samaritans

Goodstuff and 59A unified 13,383,965 unique data points across 20 years, to identify the complex signals around suicide more precisely, which helped to motivate men in rural areas, who are at risk of suicide, to seek help. Men are less likely to reach out for support in rural areas compared to urban areas. So, to find the rural area...

Seller Scouter' - how Purplebricks used data-led planning and buying to achieve local trust, one postcode at a time

UM London

Client: Purplebricks

Purplebricks is the UK’s biggest estate agent. Mass TV has delivered awareness of the no-commission proposition, but not local relevance or trust. We needed to make the largest estate agent in the UK win people’s trust locally: town by town, street by street. To make Purplebricks as locally relevant as it was nationally we had to ident...

Tesco Ramadan

MediaCom UK, Kinetic, BBH, The Unmistakables, DOOH.COM

Client: Tesco Stores

Democratising Econometrics

mSix&Partners

Client: Electronic Arts, Strike, discovery+ and TalkTalk

For many years, Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) using econometrics has been the preserve of larger brands with large research budgets. Typically, an MMM project costs over £50k and can reach £100k or more. This has restricted access to MMM and meant that larger brands have to rely on infrequent MMM reporting and small to medium sized bra...

Eco-Effectiveness

Wavemaker UK

Client: BMW UK

BMW is a brand that cares deeply about sustainability. In 2021, BMW UK had twin priorities: drive greater effectiveness from their media plan, and increasingly contribute to their global ambition to have the most sustainable supply chain in the industry (which includes Media and Marketing). In response, we created the Eco-Effectiven...

Imodium 'Compass Connect' - How we used real time econometrics to support sufferers to better manage their condition

UM London

Client: Johnson & Johnson | Imodium

This has been a particularly challenging time for the Anti Diarrhoea (AD) category. Lockdowns have resulted in millions suddenly changing their food consumption habits, travel plans & finding other ways to manage their conditions. Being at home where conditions are more manageable, ultimately caused a fall in sales for Imodium. As COVI...

Taking Econometrics into uncharted territory

the7stars

Client: Warner Music Group

the7stars zero based the industry's established approach to econometrics in order to deliver a credible attribution solution to Warner Music Group. Data Engineering and Machine Learning were combined with an innovative network of econometric models to attribute incremental effectiveness outcomes back to paid media across 1,000+ camp...

From 'Deck the Halls' to Diwali

Starcom

Client: Ferrero Rocher

What began as a hypothesis from one planner became a full fledged research project to uncover a game-changing insight that brought a massive commercial advantage to this gorgeously iconic brand

ITV Bespoke Partnerships

ITV, System1 Group and Neuro-Insight

Client: -

ITV Bespoke Partnerships: Building memorable advertising We used the latest biometric and neuroscience techniques to prove that using ITV assets in TV creative grabs attention and importantly is remembered – a key determinant of future consumer decision making – contributing to 30% partnership revenue growth.

Joyful Focus

Initiative UK

Client: LEGO

MediaCom Cultural Consultants

MediaCom UK

Our industry is not as diverse as it should be. When understanding authentic representation of diverse audiences, who determines the ‘insights’, the narratives, and the ideas is absolutely critical to driving cultural relevance in campaigns because too often, those making the decisions on cultural relevance are not those with lived exp...

Mirror On The Industry:The UK’s most comprehensive diversity study of its kind to empower the industry with facts not feelings.

Channel 4

Client: Tapestry & Versiti

Channel 4 is proud to be one of the UK’s most recognised and authoritative voices on diversity and inclusion. We have a legal commitment to champion diversity and inclusion both on and off screen so that we create change through entertainment, and we have made it our mission to reflect the same standards in the ad industry. There’s ...

RECOGNISING & COMBATTING LGBTQ+ MARGINALISATION AND FEAR

Zenith Media

Client: Durex

How Durex was the first mainstream brand to gain a deep understanding of LGBTQ+ attitudes to sex , and how they created content to bring this to life. For less than £50k.

Taking the Trepidation out of Tampons

LADbible Group and Starcom

Client: Tampax

1 in 2 people in the UK experience periods. But widespread misinformation around periods was having a devastating effect on the physical and mental wellbeing of young women. So, we helped the UK’s No.1 tampon brand, Tampax, dispel myths around period care to help 18–24-year-olds girls make more informed decisions when it comes to ta...

MEDIA LEADER OF THE YEAR

Karen Stacey

CEO, Digital Cinema Media

After five years of record-breaking growth, the pandemic impacted the cinema industry harder and quicker than any other medium.Screens closed for 16 months and Digital Cinema Media (DCM) went from £100m to £0 almost overnight. The journey from complete closure to rebuilding a company, team, and industry reputation over the last 12 mont...

Kate Rowlinson

CEO, MediaCom UK

Kate Rowlinson has had an impressive year as MediaCom CEO, leading her 1400 - strong team through challenging times. Kate has embodied MediaCom’s long-standing mantra “People First … Better Results” with a passionate concern for driving greater diversity, inclusion and sustainability in the business (and beyond), while under her leader...

Laura Fenton

CEO, OMD UK

Over the last year and under Laura’s leadership, OMD UK added £81m of net new business billings, winning the biggest private sector pitch of the year in Compare the Market alongside Beyond Meat and Clarks, competitively retained Channel 4, Mercedes and Bosch, extended the Barclays contract for a further 5 years, broke £550m billings fo...

Matthew Dearden

CEO, Alight Media

Matthew is co-founder and Chief Executive of Alight Media, the fastest-growing out-of-home media owner in the UK. In just three years Alight Media has moved from a start-up to one of the UK’s top five in a highly competitive marketplace.Matthew leads a company that now helps advertisers engage more than half of all working adults every...

Natalie Bell

CEO, MG OMD

Natalie Bell has taken MG OMD to new heights after a stellar year

Natalie Cummins

CEO, Zenith Media

Natalie Cummins has been CEO of Zenith for her fourth full year in 2022. This year, she has taken the agency to a stronger position than ever, topping the COMvergence new business table, winning Media Leader of the Year in the 2022 Campaign Media Awards, grown revenue 8%, scored 8/9 in Campaign School Reports and won more net new busin...

Rachel Forde

CEO, UM

Rachel’s approach can best be described as: ‘people first, the rest will follow’. This mantra is a leadership style for our times and was recognised in the Financial Times’ Leading Lights list. In 3 years Rachel has transformed the fortunes of UM. According to RECMA, UM is the fastest growing agency in that period. In the last 12 month...

Sue Fennessy

CEO & Founder, WeAre8

WeAre8 Founder and CEO, Sue Fennessy, is a serial tech entrepreneur with a clear vision of the future of digital media. Systemic change is critical and digital advertising needs to be reimagined if we are to deliver brands safe and more effective ad delivery. In parallel, Sue’s approach to the reimagined social feed - a curated ‘8 minu...

RISING STAR

Claudia Hall

Senior Creation Manager, The Story Lab

With four promotions in four years, and repeatedly awarded the highest available performance score of ‘exceptional’, I have proven myself as an award-winning, boundary-pushing, creative thinker with a proven track record of commercial impact, disproportionate to my length of career so far. Selected in 2021 for the Game Changing Talents...

Frances Roche

Paid Social Director, Merkle

Frances Roche joined the media industry in 2016 as a Paid Social Executive after completing her degree in History, where she specialised in analysing behavioural changes in periods of change. Realising her love for analytical thinking and working out what and why people engage with things, she was attracted to the complex digital media...

Georgia Frost

Business Development Director, MG OMD

In 2016, Advertising Week Europe hosted its first ever #MECLiveHire, using 15 minute speed interviews to hire apprentices as a way to diversify the industry for those without a degree. Aged 19, I was one of just twelve hires that day. I started my career in the client teams, progressing quickly, before pivoting into a role of Bus...

James Clark

Digital Associate Director, OMD UK

James personally leads OMD's diversity network and has instigated systematic changes to the agency's hiring process at a junior level. In his day job, James has generated record levels of revenue for OMD clients, in work which is now used as a case study by Amazon. James' achievements have seen him place on Media Week's 30 Under 30 lis...

Jamie Rumball

Senior Client Marketer, Bloomberg

As Senior Client Marketer for Bloomberg Media Europe, Jamie Rumball is responsible for overseeing commercial briefs, creative ideation, and collaboration to fulfil client partnership objectives. Leveraging Bloomberg's wide-ranging capabilities, Jamie is an industry Rising Star who develops unique and insight-rich commercial solutions e...

Meg Ledger

Business Director, OPEN Media

OPEN Media are a small independent out of home media owner based in Liverpool and London. The sales team is very small, consisting of only 5 members of staff - 4 based in London and 1 in Liverpool, who is responsible for regional sales. Meg Ledger is the Business Director. OPEN Media has grown rapidly since 2016, including 16 team me...

Yasmeen Frasso

Biddable Account Director, Total Media

Within just 3 years, and only 8 months at Total Media, Yas was quickly promoted to Biddable Account Director leading on several accounts, including Paysafe which she has grown to become the agency’s largest search account. As well as achieving business firsts for big brands such as MG Motors, she proactively explores ways to maximise r...

House Beautiful UK

Hearst UK

House Beautiful inspires house-proud consumers who spend £40bn each year in the UK transforming their homes. But as a print heritage brand revenues had been gradually dipping. Something needed to change! Increasingly consumers are looking to trusted sources to help them achieve their dream home. But they also want to convert this in...

Ozone – Powering the Premium Web

Ozone

Ozone powers the premium web, a safe haven for brands across the open internet. Built by four of the UK’s leading publishers, Ozone was designed to address the persistent problems that have plagued digital advertising over the past few years by offering premium solutions to each of its primary stakeholders. For advertisers and their...

Planet V

ITV

In only 18 months, Planet V has become the UK’s second largest self-serve programmatic video platform. Free to every customer, it provides full flexibility and transparency across ITV digital inventory. Over 90% of ITV Hub is now booked through Planet V, with an astonishing 11bn impressions delivered in 2021.

The Independent

The Independent has been at the front line of journalism since 1986, with its purpose to challenge and debate way ahead of its time. In today’s increasingly fragmented world, communities value real facts and frank opinions delivered first-hand from a non-biased news brand that they can trust. Armed with information and inspiration, Ind...

Hearst Solutions UK

Hearst UK

This award celebrates those who have done the most, come the furthest and delivered the best results, as a TEAM. Afterall, it is humans that make the difference. It is the people who produce the positivity and the power! So, we’re highlighting our BEACONS OF POSITIVITY, those who embody what it means to be at Hearst UK, and what it mea...

LAD360

LADbible Group

LAD360 have smashed it in the last 12 months. We’ve created outstanding campaigns, hit revenue targets out of the park and built four new bespoke business offerings for our clients. In short, we’ve provided enhanced insight and authentic connection with that most cherished of audiences: Gen Z. We’ve been shortlisted and nominated fo...

Ozone

Four years into Ozone’s journey and our incredible commercial success can be summed up in two words, Simply Premium. With a focus on the impact of our customer-facing teams – be they in advertiser, agency or publisher sales – this entry demonstrates how an exceptional twelve months for Ozone is shaping a more sustainable future for dig...

ITV

Across 2021, our Commercial team delivered the single biggest revenue in ITV’s 67-year history. Our record-breaking year was built on the most directional piece of customer research we’ve ever commissioned. Last summer, AAR Group spoke in depth with 40 senior media customers. Each 1-hour interview focused on a simple question. What c...

Mail Metro Media

Over the last 12 months, Mail Metro Media has remained committed to its People, Clients and Future strategy. We launched industry-leading research (in real life!) at our first live showcase events in London and Manchester, supported more industry initiatives than ever before and delivered a staggering amount of standout partnerships ...

Pearl & Dean

At Pearl & Dean we monetise cinema audiences for leading independent cinemas, multiplexes and, innovative formats like Luna Cinema and institutions such as the BFI. Most media owner revenues were negatively impacted during the pandemic. But with cinemas closed for over a year, it was tough. Even when cinemas re-opened there was a combi...

MG OMD

Another standout year for MG OMD.

OMD UK

In November 2021 OMD UK won Compare the Market, the biggest private sector pitch of the year, converting £82m of fresh billings. The Marketing Director attributed our win to “The OMD Way”, which gave us the edge over our formidable rivals. She cited our fresh perspective, impressive strategic thinking and an understanding of what can d...

PHD UK

In the past 12 months we have strived to improve the work we do, the services we offer and – ultimately – the commercial performance of the agency.But not at any cost. It’s been about doing better things whilst also doing the RIGHT thing, by our people, by our clients and for the industry at large.

Starcom

When we were shortlisted for this award in 2021, we ended our entry by predicting that ‘the best is yet to come’. Our achievements since show we were true to our word – the past 12 months have been much more than a consolidation of our success, it’s been a continued trajectory of growth and differentiation.

the7stars

the7stars returned from the pandemic with renewed energy and sense of purpose. We’ve doubled down on what’s always driven us as an independent: Freedom. Our Freedom Philosophy means freeing people to be themselves, work in unrestricted ways, and take a different approach to best serve our clients. The results have been immediate. We...

UM London

The UM story in the last 12 months has been one of accelerating MomentUM achieved through our futureproof philosophy that puts our clients’ short and long-term sustainable growth at its heart. Since Rachel Forde took over as CEO in 2018, RECMA has named UM the fastest growing agency in that period with 83% growth. We have over-delivere...

MEDIA IDEA – LAUNCH

MEDIA IDEA – UNDER £250K

MEDIA IDEA – £250K TO £1M

MEDIA IDEA – OVER £1M

MEDIA IDEA – LAUNCH

MEDIA IDEA – UNDER £250K

MEDIA IDEA – £250K TO £1M

MEDIA IDEA – OVER £1M

BEST USE OF CONTENT – UNDER £250K

BEST USE OF CONTENT – OVER £250K

LONG-TERM MEDIA STRATEGY

MEDIA INNOVATION

MEDIA CREATIVITY

BEST USE OF AUDIO

SMALL COLLABORATION (UNDER £250K)

LARGE COLLABORATION (OVER £250K)

BEST USE OF DATA FOR AUDIENCE BUYING

ECONOMETRICS

RESEARCH INSIGHT

MEDIA LEADER OF THE YEAR