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Adidas and Gamefam, Poppi and Walmart Connect are winners for the 2026 Digiday Awards
The 2026 Digiday Awards winners reflect a media and marketing landscape in which cultural relevance, audience participation and measurable business impact increasingly go hand in hand. From immersive digital experiences to campaigns that turned social media conversations into product launches, this year’s honorees demonstrate how brands are finding new ways to earn attention. Their work also underscores the value of emotional storytelling, cross-platform collaboration and data-driven personalization in building meaningful audience connections.
Adidas and Gamefam won Best Partnership for illustrating how brands are rethinking audience engagement by meeting younger consumers in the environments where they already spend time. Through an activation on Roblox, Adidas brought football culture into gameplay, generating more than 51 million visits and 468 million brand interactions in four weeks. Meanwhile, Poppi won Most Innovative Brand for demonstrating how quickly cultural momentum can translate into business growth. The brand turned a viral social media post about an imaginary soda flavor into a limited-edition product, and expanded its retail distribution after strong consumer demand.
Both campaigns point to a broader shift in marketing: Rather than relying solely on traditional advertising, brands are creating opportunities for consumers to participate in their stories and carry that engagement into the marketplace.
That same convergence of content and commerce is reshaping retail media. Walmart Connect won Best Use of Retail Media for its Backyard Escapes campaign with Vizio, which demonstrated how integrated campaigns can connect audience engagement with commercial outcomes. The campaign aligned entertainment, influencer storytelling, experiential activations and retail channels to move consumers from inspiration to purchase and contributed to nearly 40% year-over-year growth in gross merchandise value during Walmart’s Patio & Garden Event.
Together, the 2026 Digiday Awards winners reflect an industry focused not simply on reaching audiences but on engaging them, building cultural connections and driving measurable business results. As platforms, consumer expectations and marketing technologies continue to evolve, the work points to a future in which the most effective campaigns will be those that connect creativity with insight and engagement with business impact.
See the complete list of winners below.
Agency Executive of the Year
Chad Easterling – Obsidianworks
Best Activation – NEW
Critical Mass & INFINITI: Multi-Sensory Pod
Best Branding Campaign B2B
Mediaplus North America
Best Branding Campaign B2C
Murphy’s Naturals / Fitzco, “We Love Bugs”
Best Creative
SCAN Health Plan’s “Health Insurance is Broken”
Best Event
Ulta Beauty World Unites Beauty Fans, Brands & Creators
Best Gaming/Esports Campaign
Nomadic Agency and Capcom-Resident Evil Requiem Game Launch
Best Multi-Platform Campaign
GSK and Lifetime Ask2BSure Campaign
Best Partnership
adidas & Gamefam: adidas Football Festival on Roblox
Best Podcast – NEW
beehiiv’s Creator Spotlight
Best PR Campaign
Audible Story House: the First-Ever Bookless Bookstore
Best Product Launch Campaign
R\West and CineFi – Launch of CineFi digital banking
Best Search Campaign
Fitzco Media & Home Instead- When Research Becomes Readiness
Best Search Optimization Strategy – NEW
Dentsu & IKEA – From Overstock to Opportunity
Best Sports Marketing Partnership – NEW
Critical Mass: Homecourts Advantage
Best Use of Agentic AI – NEW
Swivel — Launch of First-Ever Agent-to-Agent Media Buy
Best Use of AI
How AI Fueled Live Game Predictions for Avocados From Mexico
Best Use of Creator Marketing
Coach x The Sims 4
Best Use of Retail Media
Walmart Connect & VIZIO – Backyard Escapes
Best Use of Social
HBO Max & Razorfish – The Re-Rebrand
Best Use of Video
GSK and Lifetime Ask2BSure Campaign
Campaign of the Year
Coach – Explore Your Story Campaign
Founder of the Year
Cassandra Morales Thurswell – Kitsch
Marketing Leader of the Year – NEW
Jamie Domenici – Klaviyo
Media Leader of the Year – NEW
Barry Dan – Obsessed Media
Most Innovative Agency
Instrument
Most Innovative Brand
poppi – Moving at the Speed of Culture
Most Innovative Publisher
POLITICO — POLITICO Pub, POLITICO SMS & AI-Enabled Search
Most Innovative Technology Platform
Klaviyo: The Autonomous CRM Built for B2C Brands
Technology Leader of the Year
Steven Nishimura – INNOCEAN USA
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