The list of winners of the 2023 Digiday Content Marketing Awards highlights how companies are leaning on immersive video and interactive social media content to create meaningful connections with growing Gen Z audiences. DE&I initiatives remain top priorities for brands as they develop new ways to share the voice of underrepresented groups.
For example, QYOU Media, in partnership with Hyundai, took home the Best Advertising Partner award for their ‘OKAY Hyundai’ campaign. The goal was to deliver expanded awareness, purchase consideration and audience engagement with Black communities by working alongside Black content creators, ensuring messaging was conveyed with authenticity and cultural relevance. All in all, the campaign produced positive social sentiment within the Black community, significantly surpassing view and engagement goals.
For Best Agency/Client Collaboration, CBS Sports and Bonobos claimed the award for their “Decades of Drip” campaign, which used social-first branded content videos to promote Bonobos’ golf wear line. To tell the story of golf fashion through the years, the campaign featured PGA star Justin Rose wearing a series of era-defining looks and playing with clubs used throughout the sport’s history, including his modern-day Bonobos gear. This video content was then optimized for TikTok and Instagram in an engaging short-form format while featuring the full-length ad on CBS Sports’ YouTube, Facebook and Twitter profiles. This branded content alone drove 7.5 million impressions and 3.4 million video views. It surpassed CBS Sports TikTok benchmarks, garnering 700% more engagements than the average post on the platform.
AB InBev/Michelob ULTRA and Wieden+Kennedy earned the Best Brand/Influencer Collaboration award for their Super Bowl campaign, ‘It’s Only Worth It If You Enjoy It,’ which was designed to reinforce the brand’s stance on gender equality in sports. The brand and its agency created a 60-second Super Bowl spot that brought to life a fictional world inspired by classics such as ‘The Big Lebowski’ and ‘Kingpin.’ This campaign highlighted sports legends finding joy in their professional journeys. Throughout the Super Bowl weekend, it generated 3.8 billion impressions, becoming the second most searched ad on Google during the game.
Explore all the 2023 Digiday Content Marketing Awards winners below — including a quick rundown of the programs and insights into why they won and what marketing teams can learn from them.
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Full 2023 Digiday Content Marketing Awards winners list below:
Best Advertising Partner
- QYOU Media Presents ‘OKAY, Hyundai’ in partnership with Hyundai and Culture Brands
Best Agency/Client Collaboration
- Bonobos x CBS Sports Present “Decades of Drip”
Best Brand Publication
- Foundry 360 at Dotdash Meredith x Mars Petcare: Paw Print
Best Brand/Influencer Collaboration
- Wieden + Kennedy – AB InBev / Michelob ULTRA
Best Branded Content Series – B2B
Best Branded Content Series – B2C
- Launch of HigherDOSE Biohack-hers
Best Branded Content Site – B2B
- Foundry and OpenText – Digital Futures
Best Branded Content Site – B2C
Best Branded Podcast
- “The New Rules of Business” Podcast by Chief
Best Campaign Pivot
- Dreamscape Marketing LLC – Harmony Hills
Best Community Building Campaign
- Rapyd and Known – Hack the Galaxy
Best Content Marketing Platform
- Alpha Precision Media- 5GRV: Gamers on the Road
Best Event
- Pop-Tarts & Hypebeast: Crazy Good Skate Jam
Best Experiential Marketing Campaign
- Netflix – The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience
Best In-House Content/Brand Studio
Best Influencer-Generated Content
- Kyra and The Weather Channel – The Weather Channel x Creator App Campaign
Best Interactive Content Piece or Series
- Paramount Brand Studio – Ram x Yellowstone Set Tour
Best Metaverse Campaign
- eos X Mariah Carey’s Winter Wonderland on Roblox
Best Multi-Channel Strategy
- The Wild & Brew City – Represent A Proper Snack, Gary
Best Product Launch Campaign
- Britvic/Tango, LADbible Group and mSix@Partners: How the peach emoji parody got GenZ Tango’d
Best Real-Time Strategy
- Wieden + Kennedy – AB InBev / Michelob ULTRA
Best use of AI Generated Content
- FCB Agency – AB InBev / Michelob ULTRA
Best use of Data
- Captiv8 – Creation Of Influencer Velocity Index (IVI)
Best use of Native Advertising/Sponsored Content
- Pop-Tarts/Kellogg: The Gingerbread Zillow Program
Best use of Shoppable Content
- Circle K & Pokémon Go – Bringing Retail to Life Through Augmented Reality
- First Media and Kraft Heinz – 2022 Holiday Campaign with So Yummy
Best use of Social
- Barkley and HARIBO – Chewy Games Social
Best use of TikTok
- The Container Store – Launch of “Welcome to the Organization”
Best use of Video
- OMD and Ancestry “A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson”
Best User-Generated Content
- AMC Networks Content Room
Content Marketing Partner of the Year
- Foundry 360 part of DotDash Meredith
Most Effective/Measurable Campaign
Most Innovative Use of Content
- Long & unfunny; how Reach Agency promoted HULU’s #1 comedy