Winning trends from The Drum Awards for Marketing #1: value in the virtual

After hosting the great and the good of the industry at live awards shows in London, New York and Singapore, it is clear from the winning work that key themes have repeatedly hit home with our judges regardless of where they are based.

The continued assigning of value to the virtual, for example, is undeniable – despite the almost ubiquitous ennui lately induced by all things metaverse. We take a look at some examples and catch up with the teams behind the work.

Greatest gig that never was

Observatory and Slap Global’s work with Doritos and Netflix, which took home the Grand Prix from our New York show, saw the snack brand tap into the excitement around the fourth season of the streaming platform’s Stranger Things. The clever collaboration turned Doritos bags into tickets to a first-of-its-kind virtual concert set within the mysterious alternative dimension of the sci-fi show. The greatest gig that never was, Live from the Upside Down played on the 80s nostalgia inspired by the program and brought together that decade’s darlings Corey Hart, The Go-Gos and Soft Cell, as well as Gen Z’s Charli XCX, for a half-hour virtual set.

Here’s what Observatory’s Keemya Najmi and Christian Silva had to say about the campaign and their award win.

Moxy mixes realities

Media.Monks meanwhile won in the Experience and Disruption categories at our show in Singapore with an AR experience for Marriott brand Moxy that blurred the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Before arriving at its hotels, guests are invited to customize their own avatars, which, once checked in, come to life on their mobile devices as they are set a series of AR challenges based in physical locations throughout the hotel.

Here’s what Media.Monks’ Joao Flores had to say about the campaign and the award win.

A collectible collaboration

Also venturing into virtual spaces this year was Shanghai shop Red Ant, which won in the Fashion & Beauty category, having been tasked by luxury perfumier Creed to engage a younger audience during the competitive Chinese New Year shopping season. Collaborating with art object maker Robbi, it created a limited-edition and highly collectible perfume-scented taikonaut rabbit toy with an NFT chip in its left foot encoded with its own unique number. The toy straddled the physical in Creed’s stores across the world, the virtual with China’s leading AI influencer Ayayi in the metaverse, as well as existing across 3D video created by animation experts Carbon.

Here’s what Red Ant and Carbon had to say about the campaign and the award win.

Read more about all the work that has won at The Drum Awards so far this year over on our case studies hub, and head to The Drum TV to watch more interviews with our award winners.

The Drum Awards Festival takes place from November 27 to December 1 and includes shows dedicated to specialisms such as PR, B2B, search and out-of-home. Find out more.