The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas 2024 winners revealed

Taking home the Grand Prix this year, as well as winning Gold in the Disruption category, was ‘Translators,’ a 20-minute documentary from McCann Detroit and US Bank that tells the story of three child translators.

The film highlights the over 11 million child translators in the United States, some as young as five or six, who are relied upon by millions of non-English-speaking adults to translate everything from the healthcare and immigration systems to the family’s finances.

US Bank saw this happening in its branches and was inspired to create Asistente Inteligente, the country’s first and only Spanish voice assistant specifically for banking, to ease the burden on these young translators. With Asistente Inteligente, 42 million native Spanish speakers could now confidently bank with their own voices while navigating industry-specific acronyms and jargon in their own language.

The film was selected for 13 film festivals and took the top prize at three, as well as being shared with the community that inspired it with screenings in colleges, schools, community centers, churches and US Bank branches. ‘Translators’ started a national conversation, gaining over 16.7 billion earned media impressions and 965 earned media impressions.

Meanwhile, The Drum’s editorial team, led by editor Cameron Clarke, bestowed the Editors’ Choice award on Hearts & Science for its work with Warner Bros, which also won Gold in the Media and Entertainment categories.

Knowing that the Barbie movie had something for everybody, whether already a Barbie admirer or a skeptic, the agency created a campaign to share its vision with the wider audience, to take each and every one of them to the box office.

While carrying out a thorough analysis of the main target audience, it found that 53% had a love for nostalgic content. With nostalgia being a defining element in contemporary culture, this was an illuminating insight. The agency could leverage the fact that Barbie has been a leading player in mass consumers’ imagery for over six decades, meaning anyone from each of those generations would be able to tap into that yearning for the past.

If it could convert the joy and enthusiasm for Barbie’s plastic heritage into engagement from the main target audience, it could also inspire intrigue from non-Barbie fans, igniting unprecedented levels of excitement to drive viewers to the cinemas and make Barbie movie the defining pop-culture moment of the year.

Hearts & Science used a tactical approach, developing a multi-channel strategy to engage different audiences across their favorite mainstream platforms. These included a fully-explorable 3D Barbie Dreamhouse on Pinterest, taking over Amazon with a custom Alexa Barbie theme, a special integration on The Bachelorette with a Barbie-themed group date, and a first-ever collaboration with Roku, launching a Barbieland version of the Roku City screensaver and topping it up with a 24-hour themed takeover of the Roku Home Screen.

The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas is the second in a three-legged global tour celebrating the world’s best marketing. The Drum Awards for Marketing APAC took place on Thursday, May 30, in Singapore, while The Drum Awards for Marketing EMEA is on Thursday, June 13, in London. All events will be streamed live and on-demand on thedrum.com.

You can see all the Gold winners from this year’s Americas event below and check out the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in full on The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas website.

Entertainment

Hearts & Science for Warner Bros

Fashion and Beauty

Elf Beauty

Retail

Zulu Alpha Kilo for Sephora Canada

Energy and Industry

Ubicquia

Government or Public Sector

Fund for the City of NY, The New Jersey State Office of Innovation’s Communication + Engagement Lab

Healthcare and Pharma

StrawberryFrog for Northwell

Automotive

Carmichael Lynch for Subaru of America

Food and Beverage

Small Girls PR for Jack in the Box

Charity or Not-for-Profit

EP+Co for Worth Rises

Finance

McCann Detroit for US Bank

Travel and Tourism

Vistar Media, Proof Advertising for Travel Texas

Sports

Gamefam for NFL, Nickelodeon

Creative Innovation

Arcadia Creative Studio, Snap Inc for NYX Professional Makeup

Disruption

McCann Detroit for US Bank

Partnership or Collaboration

Gamefam for NFL, Nickelodeon

Rebrand or Relaunch

RPA for La-Z-Boy

Social Purpose

McCann Detroit for US Bank

Sustainability

Riester for The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority

Technology Innovation

Yeti

Advertising

Harvest Creative for Stok Cold Brew Coffee

Design/Brand

Crowe

B2B

Code and Theory for Amazon Ads

Creative

Harvest Creative for Stok Cold Brew Coffee

Commerce

Pearmill Digital Marketing Performance Agency for Toybox

Data/Insight

Vuja De Digital for Exer Urgent Care

Experience

PBS

Gaming

Gameloft for brands for Lego

AI

Broadsheet Communications for Cognitiv

Metaverse

Gamefam for NFL, Nickelodeon

Influencer Marketing

Allison for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

PR

McCann Detroit for US Bank

Search

Rakuten Advertising for OUAI

Social Media

Digitas for Crocs

Out-of-Home

Erich and Kallman for Take 5 Car Wash

Media

Mediabrands Brasil, MullenLowe for Initiative for Unilever Brasil, OMO

AND

Hearts & Science for Warner Bros

Kantar’s AI Creative Effectiveness Award

Erich and Kallman for Reese’s Caramel Big Cup

Rising Star

Nicole Palmer, strategist, Nebo

Future Leader

Morgan Higgins, director of social media and PR, Jack in the Box

Editors’ Award

Hearts & Science for Warner Bros

Grand Prix

McCann Detroit for US Bank