Award Categories

This category seeks to reward a brand that has successfully adapted a campaign for local execution, demonstrating a creative and strategic media approach tailored to an audience within Latin America. 

Judges will be looking for strong insights that recognise cultural nuances, driving appropriate channel selection and locally tailored execution. Results should be clearly evidenced, including improvements in brand perception, customer engagement, and sales performance. 

Winning work may come from a challenger, local, or global advertiser, or may be a global brand campaign adapted for a specific market, provided the execution is curated for a local audience. 

Importantly, entries will be assessed within the context of each brand’s size, resources, and market position. This ensures that smaller, local brands are evaluated fairly alongside larger global organisations, with impact measured relative to their unique circumstances. 

We strongly encourage submissions from brands and clients based in Latin America. 

This category welcomes entries from media owners and agencies, rewarding the best original content created for a brand. 

The branded content should align with the brand values and strategy, clearly addressing marketing objectives and challenges. Judges will evaluate the content creation and creative execution, with additional credit given to compelling storytelling across media channels, as well as strong customer experience as evidenced by consumer engagement metrics. 

Content examples can include but are not limited to: videos, articles or publications, podcasts, radio shows, TV shows, music, video games and event content directly made for the brand. 

This category celebrates campaigns that have been executed on a budget of $70,000 under, recognising the creativity, resourcefulness, and strategic thinking required to deliver outstanding results with limited budget. 

Entrants should provide a clear account of the sacrifices and limitations they faced due to budget restrictions and how they strategically adapted their approach, maximized available resources, and implemented creative solutions to navigate these constraints and overcome challenges. 

Judges will be looking for campaigns that demonstrate entrepreneurial spirit, inventive problem-solving, and a strong strategic approach that met or surpassed client objectives despite financial limitations 

This category is reserved for campaigns that demonstrate how it led with a purposeful cause- addressing a social, ethical, economic, cultural, political and/or environmental topic. Eligible entries may include but are not limited to: CSR focused efforts or marketing for brands, charities, not-for profits, health enterprises, sustainability causes, social movements or inclusion and diversity initiatives. 

Winning campaigns will clearly demonstrate a positive and measurable impact, raised awareness or meaningful shifts in cultural and social perceptions, supported by tangible results and evidence of influence. Judges will also consider how effectively the campaign has raised awareness of an organisation’s values or initiatives in alignment with the cause at its core. 

This category rewards campaigns that best demonstrates a clear and successful communications strategy. 

Judges will be looking for work a cohesive narrative across all touchpoints of the campaign, with a compelling messaging aligned with the brand, and strategically selected media channels working together to reach the target audience. This can include any form of media, whether a single or multi-platform campaign. 

Winning entries should evidence strong consumer insight and a well-defined strategic approach that builds a genuine connection with the target audience, delivers tangible results, and successfully meets or exceeds the brand’s objectives. Judges will favour work that pushes creative boundaries and, in some cases, introduces new ways of communicating. 

This category recognises campaigns successfully boosted by the distribution, amplification, and presentation of content. The content does not need to be original or newly created content and can be in any format e.g. video, print, OOH, native advertising etc. 

Campaigns will be specifically judged on their content strategy, which will include assessing the identification of target audiences and appropriate media channels, how effectively the placement of content was planned and implemented to engage with consumers and how it successfully tapped into the media owner eco-system. 

We encourage entries from both agencies and media owners. 

Examples include distributing and amplifying user generated content, social media content, third-party generated content, brand-specific content, such as videos, articles, podcasts, radio shows, video games and live event content. 

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This category recognises the campaign that best demonstrates successful and measurable consumer engagement. Entrants should highlight how creativity, insight, and channel strategy combine to capture audience participation and interaction with either a broad and niche consumer groups. 

The jury will be looking for audience-driven results and clear evidence of how the campaign successfully connected with its target audience, including metrics such as time spent with the brand, number of interactions, downloads, comments, shares, or other relevant indicators of active participation. 

This category recognises campaigns that deliver effective experiences or events for consumers, whether physical, virtual, or hybrid. The case should be clear on its results and be focused on the event / experience itself. 

The jury will expect to see how the brand has developed meaningful interaction with the consumer, created a number of key touchpoints and brought its values and identity to life. The winner will be able to demonstrate the tangible benefits for the brand ideally including business results as well as impressive campaign metrics. 

Examples include, but are not limited to: pop-ups, brand activations, live performances, product sampling, immersive installations, festivals, community events, stunts, tours, guerrilla marketing, projections, street performances, takeovers, ambient media, as well as digital simulations and virtual events. 

This category celebrates independent agencies achieving excellence through campaigns that set new benchmarks or creative standards in the industry. 

Entrants should outline how they used their unique capabilities, tools, resources, and community to generate impressive results and drive business growth for both the brand and agency. When evaluating the work, judges will be looking for innovation, solid insight and clear detail on how the agency navigated or overcame the challenges of operating independently. 

To be considered an independent agency 51% of its ownership should be independent inclusive of private equity and have no affiliation with one of the six holding groups WPP, OMG, Havas, Publicis, IPG and Dentsu. The agency – big or small – needs to be the lead on the campaign. 

For this category, the entry price will remain at $450 throughout the entire entry period to be inclusive for all independent agencies in the region. 

Judges also have the option to award multiple trophies within this category. 

The winner of this category will demonstrate the most successful multi-channel campaign and must have combined two or more platforms whether offline and online, such as: mobile, OOH, social media, TV, cinema, digital, radio, print or other. 

Entries should detail a clear strategic thread connecting all touchpoints and showcase how the chosen platforms integrated to create a cohesive and engaging brand activation. Judges will be looking for a well-defined rationale behind platform selection and evidence that each channel contributed distinct value to delivering strong results against the campaign’s objectives. 

Please note: Campaigns may be purely digital, purely traditional, or a hybrid of both, but must demonstrate a truly multi-channel approach and clear integration across all touchpoints. 

The winning campaign will demonstrate the most successful strategy created to launch or re-launch a new or existing product, service, or brand. 

Judges will look for a proven understanding of the target audience and marketplace, and how those insights informed the positioning or repositioning of the brand, product, or service to address a specific marketing challenge, opportunity, or objective. A clear focus should be placed on the results delivered by the campaign. 

Entries focused on re-launch should demonstrate a significant update to the product, service, or brand in question. It will also be advantageous to compare performance against previous results achieved prior to the re-launch. 

Please note: the launch or re-launch of a marketing campaign itself is not suitable for this category. 

This category is open to campaigns which have tapped into the world of music as the main driver of their strategies and success. 

This could be campaigns that have curated musical experiences, are focused on, or incorporated the use of a licensed, or original piece of music, as well as collaborations with music acts/artists, or organisations such as, but not limited, to music publishers, licensors or distributors, record labels and music streaming platforms. This could also include campaigns utilising communities, audiences/fanbases and networks in this space. 

Judges will be looking for an authentic connection between the music and the brand, and how music has been leveraged to communicate and resonate with consumers, while delivering or surpassing its client objectives and generating awareness, product or service uplift and key amplification to current and potential customer. 

This award recognises the success of a campaign where a partnership has enhanced creativity, innovation, and problem-solving, as well as audience engagement, and overall business impact. 

Judges will be looking for collaborations where all parties played a meaningful and active role in shaping the strategy, execution, and outcomes of a campaign—going beyond a traditional sponsorship agreement. 

Successful entries should demonstrate shared expertise, how responsibilities were divided, how decisions were made collectively, and mutual value creation, ultimately proving how the collaboration led to stronger results than any single entity could have achieved alone. 

This category is open to campaigns that have tactically responded to the cultural, environmental, economic, social, political, health and community landscape in a creative and resourceful way. Judges will look for brands who have developed their campaign strategy – short term, long term or in real time - in reaction to the changes within the environments and adapted their media and marketing strategies to deliver the best possible results. 

Winning entries should be able to demonstrate how and why the brand has responded to the topic in focus. Judges will be looking for clear insight and an authentic brand connection to the issue at hand. 

Examples include, but are not limited to campaigns responding to topics such as: environmental issues, news stories, extreme weather conditions, crisis, conflict or war, political elections or policies, public affairs, healthcare issues from pandemics to viral infection, inclusion & diversity, consumer trends, viral movements OR moments, and cultural shifts. 

This category celebrates campaigns where audio was not just a supporting element, but a primary driver of engagement and success. Entries should demonstrate how the unique capabilities of audio were strategically leveraged to build meaningful connections with the audience, create a distinct brand experience, and deliver measurable results. 

The campaign may have been executed through traditional audio platforms, digital audio platforms, or a combination of both, but must clearly demonstrate how audio played an integral role. 

Examples can include, but not restricted to: the use of Podcasts, radio, streaming platforms or other channels in the audio space such as: WTOP FM, ESPN Radio, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Soundcloud, NTS, Bandcamp, Internet Radio. 

The winner in this category will demonstrate the best use of data, where the successful campaign has been notably enhanced or even made possible through learning gained from econometrics and insights. 

The winning entry should demonstrate the best use of all data insights, which has ultimately improved results, as evidenced by metrics including purchase intent, attention, brand consideration, increases in the average order value, a reduction in online CPA or increase in ROI. Pre- and post-campaign statistics will be another useful benchmark for judges. 

Examples could include, but are not limited to: Music-based activations analysing and utilising listening data to present an engagement campaign personalised to specific users, or a pharma/health-based campaign using consumer data to locate key audience figures to partner with to promote a health cause. 

This category is open to any marketing initiative where gaming has been the focal point of the campaign’s strategy and successfully used the medium to increase results for the client’s brand. This could include utilising both gaming and esports communities, audiences/fanbases and networks, or partnerships with talent, organisations and publishers in this space. This could also include gamification campaigns created by brands to engage with specific audiences. 

Judges will be looking at how the brand has engaged with the esports or games/gaming organisations and generated key resonation with its products or services to the right audience, and with the innovation of the partnership activation. 

Examples could include but are not limited to the use of esports teams, companies, events and tournaments. Gaming/streaming platforms. Gamification initiatives and apps. Virtual realities or experiences, wearable tech, the metaverse and all other emerging platforms. Single or multi-player video games, arcade, console, mobile and other offline/online gaming experiences. 

This category rewards brand communication that has used mobile as a strategic driver of campaign success. 

Entrants should clearly explain how and why mobile was uniquely leveraged to engage audiences, meet objectives, and achieve results, demonstrating a deep understanding of the platform’s strengths- whether through apps, messaging, mobile-first content, location-based targeting, or real-time engagement. Judges will be looking for examples where mobile wasn’t just a channel, but a critical part of the strategy and execution. 

Examples include, but are not limited to: apps, mobile websites, mobile games, and mobile based advertising Mobile apps, mobile websites, mobile games, and mobile based advertising. 

This category rewards campaigns that have effectively used the web and the broader online landscape as a critical marketing tool. Entries should demonstrate a strong understanding of the digital environment- from user behaviour and platform potential to emerging tools and technologies, and how that understanding translated into strategically achieving audience engagement and meeting specific business or brand objectives. 

The jury will be looking for creative implementation, standout digital experiences, great user interaction, and results that could only have been achieved through the web. 

Examples include but are not limited to: content produced specifically for the online space, such as Connected TV (CTV), landing pages, video and display ads, microsites, web-based apps, search and display, SEO, banner ads, pop-ups, and digital publishing. This may include branded editorial content, interactive articles, native advertising, digital magazines, or partnerships with online media platforms. 

This category is open to all campaigns which have used Out of Home as a lead channel to amplify a product, service, or brand. Judges will be looking for work that goes beyond simple placement, showcasing smart media planning, contextual relevance, audience understanding, and innovative use of format, location or technology. 

Successful entries will clearly articulate how the campaign used the unique strengths of OOH- visibility, scale, immediacy, or environmental presence, to meet the client’s objectives and deliver brand or business outcomes. 

Examples can include but are not restricted to digital and non-digital billboards, posters, bus shelters, transit advertising, retail displays, sports centres, building wraps and small and large sized ambient media or objects such as OOH promotional products and installations. 

This category will award the campaign that has most successfully leveraged retail media, which may be offline, online, or a combination of both. 

The winning work should demonstrate how and why a brand has used retailers’ sites and/or its stores, audiences, tools, resources, and data to drive awareness, or sales uplift. The jury will be focused on the key metric of growth, paying special attention to results such as: purchase intent, click through rates, conversions, store, or site visits and the number of new customers purchasing the brand’s products or services and the revenue uplift, as a result of the retail media strategy. 

Judges will also be looking for how the campaigns have effectively interacted across platforms, and how they have combined data and creativity to use retail media in an innovative or effective way. 

Examples could be a brand using a retailer such as Mercardo libre, Rappi, Linio, or Falabella to market it’s latest product in the retailers physical or virtual stores, or a combination of both. The category is also open to those retailers brands (Rappi etc.) using their own social commerce or ecommerce tools to sell their products. 

This category rewards brand communication that has used social media as a primary marketing tool. Entries should demonstrate how social was not simply used as a distribution channel, but played a critical role in enabling direct interaction, cultural relevance, and measurable impact in ways no other medium could. 

Judges will be looking for a strong understanding of the chosen platform(s), how they were used to build meaningful engagement with the target audience, and how social-specific features, from formats and tone to influencers and community dynamics were harnessed to achieve the brand's objectives. Creativity, strategy, and authenticity will be as important as results. 

Examples of the use of social media channels can include but are not limited to– organic, sponsored and paid-for content, blogs, social video, social posts, video-sharing sites. This could include campaigns using platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, X, Twitch, Pinterest, LinkedIn, WeChat, Facebook and TikTok. 

This category has been created to celebrate media campaigns, which have used sport as a vital component of their strategies to drive results, resonate with consumers and communicate the client’s key messaging.  

This could include working or partnering with sports- teams, organisations, venues, communities, audiences/fanbases, networks, and associations within any sport amateur to professional around the globe, or an activation at a sports event – local, regional, or global – which allows key touchpoints for the client’s target audiences and is part of an overall media strategy. 

Judges will be looking at the results the association with sport has achieved, how it met and surpassed the client’s objectives and used sport as a key communicational tool. 

Brand examples could include but are not limited to:  

• Innovative sponsorship activations at sporting events like F1, FIFA World Cup, Superbowl and the Olympics. 

• Partnerships with sports venues such as Allianz Arena, Wembley stadium, Melbourne Cricket ground, Beijing National stadium or Madison Square Garden.  

• Campaigns incorporating work with sports teams, clubs or organisations- such as the IOC, Copa libertadores, The Brazilian, Mexican and Argentinian national football teams and Concacaf. 

This category will reward the campaign that has best leveraged a strategic partnership between a brand and talent as a key element, or the entirety, of its activation. 

Talent may include a celebrity, sports star, industry figure, social media influencer, brand ambassador, community leader, or other notable character (real or fictional) who has effectively connected with audiences and directly engaged their own following to benefit the brand. 

The activation may form part of a planned campaign featuring talent or be used more spontaneously in real-time marketing. Judges will be looking for strong authenticity and alignment between the talent and the brand. 

This category celebrates campaigns where technology is not just a tool but the foundation of the creative and strategic approach. Judges will be looking for entries where technology is deeply embedded in the campaign's DNA—driving innovation, shaping audience engagement, and delivering measurable results. 

Successful submissions will demonstrate a seamless integration of technology and brand objectives, showcasing how tech solutions were pivotal in addressing marketing challenges and/or needs. 

Technology can include, but not limited to, programmatic, 1st and 3rd party data tech, blockchain tech, real-time marketing, AR, AI, chatbots, IOT, metaverse, voice activations, software, wearable tech, custom made technology solution, drones, AV technologies, etc.  

This category is open to ad and martech companies, as well as agencies, media owners and brands. 

This category celebrates campaigns that have used visual and video-based media as a key channel to drive engagement, build brand equity, or deliver commercial results. 

Judges will be looking for campaigns that align strong creative execution with channel-specific thinking, showing how content was appropriately implemented, formatted and tailored to the strengths of the chosen video channels and the target audiences. Entries should clearly show how video channels played a critical role in achieving client objectives. 

Examples can include but not restricted to the use of Online or social video, Television channels, Streaming services, Television Networks, Cinema operators/Chains or Broadcasting companies such as: Netflix, Amazon, YouTube HBO, Cineworld, AMC, Telemundo, ESPN, Disney, NCB Universal. 

This category is open to campaigns that have utilised marketing tactics to generate viral or widespread consumer engagement, positive coverage, or awareness around a product, service, or brand. 

Judges will be looking for work that have been successfully amplified by peer or other external recommendations, sharing across social networks and other online channels, whether offline, online, or both. This could also either be earned or paid for media. Metrics such as reach, audience connectivity, the number of shares achieved across channels, engagement and overall impact for the brand, service, or product should be evidenced. 

Examples of viral marketing tactics include, but are not limited to: a campaign message that is instantly relevant, bold, funny, or awe-inspiring to the target audience; content with a clear call to action or strong shareability; emotive content that encourages audience participation or response; and a short, simple, and memorable message for the brand, service, or product being promote. 

This category will champion campaigns that have focused on or highlighted the topic of inclusion/inclusivity. The jury will be looking to award a work that has positively represented or contributed to individuals or communities from various backgrounds, experiences, capabilities, and perspectives who are usually excluded, unrepresented or marginalised. 

Entrants should demonstrate an authentic and effective campaign that delivered impact for the groups that it is representing, alongside fantastic marketing results. 

The campaign must focus on a topic of inclusion, examples can include, but are not exclusive to work based around gender, age, race, sexual orientation, or disability, as well as multi-cultural, indigenous and rural communities. 

This category celebrates agencies or clients who have stepped out of the comfort zone and created a courageous, daring or provocative campaign that generated impressive results. This could be campaigns that have challenged industry norms, broke conventional marketing expectations, deviated from cultural norms and/or tackled taboo subjects. 

The jury will be looking for clear evidence of how and why the campaign pushed the boundaries into unknown or uncertain territory, the risks involved and how they navigated marketing challenges to achieve success. Entrants are also encouraged to share lessons learned and insights gained from taking risks, illustrating how stepping outside comfort zones led to meaningful outcomes. 

Please note whilst results will play a role in the judging of this award, the jury will be focused on the braveness of the campaign. 

This category has been curated to celebrate outstanding creativity within the media industry. Entries should demonstrate how campaigns have been creatively elevated, whether through innovative ideas, intelligent use of existing media channels, the creation of new platforms or formats, or a game-changing strategic approach. 

Judges will be looking for cut-through or pioneering campaigns that skilfully navigate and also transcend the media landscape. 

Please note that while results will play a role in the judging of this award, the jury will be primarily focused on the creative idea, concept, and innovation. 

This category will reward the campaign that has achieved the most against its stated targets. Results play a critical part in the judges’ evaluation, where figures showing the campaign’s direct impact on sales will be compelling, although other ROI metrics will also be considered. Positive uplift against business targets rather than campaign metrics will be most favoured. Judges will focus on the achieved results against the KPIs. 

Please note This category will allow a two-year eligibility period, with campaigns that ran between 1 June 2023 and 31 July 2025 eligible for entry. Work entered into any Festival of Media Awards in previous years should be able to present a significant difference, re-launch and or obvious update since it's last year’s entry.