In the Best E-Commerce Strategy category, Procter & Gamble tapped eight of the NFL’s most skilled ping-pong players for a table tennis tournament. P&G’s campaign strategy focused on authenticity, leveraging the popularity of table tennis among NFL stars. The tournament, which aired live on Twitch and Amazon, drove consumer engagement and awareness of its brands — including Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Old Spice and Tide — ahead of Super Bowl LVII. The inaugural P&G Battle of the Paddles generated 1.33 billion impressions. The Twitch livestream attracted 3.8 million viewers, while the Amazon Live Shopping Integration drew 561,000 views for an event total of 4.3 million.

Demonstrating the power of visual storytelling, The Atlantic received a nomination for Best Experiential Campaign for its collaboration with Mastercard. The campaign was designed to help the publication’s audience understand people’s deep connections to the land amid the climate crisis and reinforce Mastercard’s position as a sustainability and social responsibility champion. The Atlantic brought an immersive experimental art exhibition, A Forest for the Trees, to downtown Los Angeles as part of the campaign. Common Ground complemented this with a multi-part custom content program that included Q&A pieces, interactive photo essays and data visualizations. A Forest for the Trees received 1.7 billion press impressions, including 75.5 million impressions with Mastercard inclusion. At the same time, Common Ground generated more than 90,000 total page views and more than 95,000 minutes spent with the content throughout the campaign.

Popeyes is a Best Organic Marketing Campaign finalist, earning recognition for its ‘Memes to Dreams’ campaign with Dieunerst Collin. In 2013, the quick-service restaurant chain entered the social media spotlight when Collin’s viral Vine captured his side-eyed expression at a Popeyes location. A decade later, Collin, now a college football player, posted on social media asking followers to help get Popeyes’ attention for an NIL deal. The brand seized the opportunity, launching the campaign with a hometown billboard and media outreach, which generated more than 880 media placements, resulting in more than 3.3 billion earned impressions. Popeyes featured the social media star in the brand’s Big Game promotion to further the conversation. Collin’s ‘The Side-Eye for Fries & Pies’ offer and Super Bowl spot generated another 270 media placements and resulted in more than 990 million earned impressions.

Altogether, the work the judges nominated in 2023 demonstrated how brands go beyond traditional advertising by creating immersive, multisensory brand experiences that leave a lasting impact on consumers.

See the complete list of finalists below.

Best Audio Campaign
Comedy Central
Intuit QuickBooks & Ruby 
Novartis & iHeartMedia 
NYTA x American Express
Paramount/iHeart
State Farm 
ZOE & Fascinate Productions

Best Branding Campaign B2B
Fiverr 
Front Office Sports x PitchBook 
Hearts & Science x AT&T x Washington Post
Hello Heart 
Phenom 
Simpli.fi
Spectrum Enterprise

Best Branding Campaign B2C
Anthemic Agency 
Equinor 
LifeStance Health
LoopMe 
VICE, REALTORS®, & Havas Media
Wisp 

Best Collaboration
1r Agency x JOOPITER
Atlantic Re:think + Ancestry
New York Times Advertising, Giant Spoon, and GE
Outbrain Brand Studio & Elvie 
Twitch and Adobe
UnitedHealthcare

Best Creative
Atlantic Re:think + The Glenrothes
Edelman London
Julie 
Lightdrop
Mint Mobile 
Upwork 

Best E-Commerce Strategy 
Adrien Gagnon & Anagram
Digitas & Walmart 
Harry Rosen & Orium
January Digital x Carhartt
P&G 
PSOne & Folgers 

Best Experiential Campaign
AGENC 
Atlantic Re:think + Mastercard
Budweiser FCB Grand Visual
Critical Mass
Giant Spoon
Morgan Stanley & Courageous Studios 
Visa

Best Gaming/Esports Campaign
160over90 
Gucci and FACEIT 
Hearts & Science x HBO Max x Riot Games
Pizza Hut – Dentsu Creative, Carat & Bidstack
State Farm 
United Esports x Old Spice 

Best In-Game Advertising Strategy
Charles Schwab
Critical Mass
Digitas & Walmart 
OneFootball – Bidstack and SPORTFIVE
Priceline
Twitch and Adobe

Best Metaverse Gaming Activation
Kraft Heinz Lunchables and Playwire
Mekanism and Eos 
NFL, WMG, Intuit & Gamefam 
Super League and MTV
Super League, Urban Decay & ULTA Beauty

Best Metaverse Marketing Campaign
Digitas & Walmart 
Intuit, NFL, WMG & Gamefam
State Farm
TIMEX 
Vatom 

Best Multi-Platform Campaign
Burger King 
DraftKings x The Revival House
Edelman
Priceline 
Shell & Food Network
Tinuiti + e.l.f. Cosmetics

Best Organic Marketing Campaign
Archer School for Girls x James Dyson Foundation
Commerce House
GLOW & The Westminster Kennel Club 
Movement Strategy & Adult Swim 
Movement Strategy & Prime Video
Popeyes x Dieunerst Collin

Best Partnership
Ally, EYL & United Masters 
Archer School for Girls x James Dyson Foundation
JBL X Doja Cat 
Mint Mobile + AriZona Iced Tea
Morgan Stanley & Courageous Studios 
Twitch and Adobe

Best PR Campaign
Captain Morgan
e.l.f. Cosmetics 
Edelman
Grubhub & Amazon
PATRÓN EL ALTO
Priceline 

Best Product Launch Campaign
Atlantic Re:think + Ally
Flex Seal Family of Products
Julie 
MUD\WTR 
Rascal + Friends 
SuperHeroes & Lenovo Yoga 

Best Search Campaign
Adlucent & Theisen
Collective Measures & Room & Board
Hearts & Science x Reckitt
iQuanti & Laurel Road
UnitedHealthcare
Wells Fargo

Best Use of AI
Fospha & DOMU 
Iconos
LoopMe
RTB House and Mercedes-Benz
Snapple
VOICE WATCH

Best Use of Influencer Marketing
Edelman
Hellmann’s and Edelman Canada
P&G 
Pfizer & Real Chemistry 
Smarts & ASICS 
YES Means TEST and Edelman 

Best Use of Social
Edelman London
Genius Sports & Bayer 
GSD&M + Pizza Hut
Neutrogena & Movers+Shakers
Priceline
Tinuiti + e.l.f. Cosmetics

Best Use of Video
Electrify America & Praytell 
Midol
P&G 
Tinuiti + e.l.f. Cosmetics
Understood.org
WBD 

Leader of the Year
Samantha Skey, CEO of SHE Media
Disney Entertainment’s Shannon Ryan 
Jenifer Willig, CEO and Co-Founder, WRTHY
Lee Anne Grant, CGO of Babylist
Lisa Utzschneider, Integral Ad Science
Vinoo Vijay, Truist Bank

Most Innovative Agency
Critical Mass
Known
Manifest
Movers+Shakers
Ovative Group
Portal A
RQ

Most Innovative Brand
Atlas Obscura
Mad Rabbit
Phenom 
BLUETTI POWER
The Players’ Tribune

Most Innovative Publisher
Black & White Zebra
Dotdash Meredith
Highsnobiety
Jungle Creations
Made In Network 
SHE Media

Most Innovative Technology Platform  
Clinch
Dealtale 
DISQO
Doceree 
GroupM and Streamline 
Minute.ly
Premion