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Adobe, Harvard Business Review and Disney Advertising are among 2025’s DMA finalists
The finalists for this year’s Digiday Media Awards showcase how brands push boundaries by smartly integrating emerging technologies. Each entry highlights a commitment to deepening audience engagement with interactive formats, inviting participation and building community. With a sharp focus on measurable outcomes, the campaigns demonstrate clear impact through tangible results, proving that innovation and strategy can go hand in hand.
Adobe earned a finalist spot for Best Use of Audience Insights by tapping into a core challenge facing Photoshop users: remembering keyboard shortcuts. Inspired by mnemonic tricks used by professional designers, Adobe created a catchy jingle paired with dynamic visuals and a choreographed “finger dance” across a Photoshop-themed keyboard. The video struck a chord with audiences, earning over 1 million views across Instagram and TikTok and generating tens of thousands of saves and shares. This playful yet practical approach engaged loyal users while showcasing how creativity can turn learning into an entertaining experience.
Harvard Business Review’s “Women at Work” podcast is a finalist for Best Podcast, recognized for its thoughtful exploration of the challenges facing women and nonbinary professionals. Blending research, lived experiences and practical advice, the show tackles topics from workplace anxiety to integrating AI into careers. Hosts Amy Bernstein and Amy Gallo bring humanity and expertise to timely and enduring conversations. With its presence across newsletters, events and social media, “Women at Work” has grown into a vibrant community that uplifts listeners at every stage of their professional journey.
For a new category this year, Sales Team of the Year, Disney Advertising is on the shortlist, recognized for redefining the client experience through a unified, always-on approach to sales. The team, led by Rita Ferro, leverages Disney’s unmatched portfolio, groundbreaking ad tech and cultural tentpoles to deliver results across sports, streaming and entertainment. Innovations like Disney Compass and Magic Words have expanded real-time brand engagement, while strategic growth in programmatic deals and women’s sports partnerships reflect an evolving marketplace. Disney’s streaming volume saw a 10% year-over-year increase across Hulu and Disney+, along with record-breaking upfront commitments and global ad-supported monthly users reaching 157 million, exceeding that of Netflix’s and Tubi’s ad-supported reach.
While Adobe, Harvard Business Review and Disney Advertising are just a few of this year’s Digiday Media Awards finalists, they reflect how brands use technology to deepen engagement and deliver measurable impact. This year’s entries showcase a blend of innovation and strategy, thoughtful work with and for communities, transformed client relationships and real-time ad tech solutions. Together, these finalists demonstrate how creativity, technology and clear results reshape the media and marketing landscape.
See the complete list of finalists below.
Best Ad Tech Platform
Boots Unwraps a 4.6x Conversion Rate with Smartly
BWZ’s Revstacks & Revleads
Cadent + AdTheorent: AI-Powered Performance Advertising
Dstillery’s ID-free® Targeting Technology
Flight Control + GENAI COPILOT
Placements.io AdSalesOS Platform
Best Brand Partnership – B2B
BACK TO SCHOOL WITH RECESS THERAPY & LYSOL
Fortune Brand Studio & Accenture—Reinventing the Fortune 500
The Better Work Project by Business Insider, Indeed, and EMC
Best Brand Partnership – B2C
BBC StoryWorks and Brand USA – USA Through Film
Brisk x Genius: Cold Takes Featuring Doja Cat
Starbucks, Genius & Spark Foundry: Spicy & Sweet Ft. T-Pain
The Campbell’s Company & DDM: A Groundbreaking Partnership
Trident x Genius: Clarity Sessions Ft. Coco Jones&Mark Ambor
UGG x The Foundry at Dotdash Meredith: APRÉS UGG
Best Branded Content Program – B2B
Custom Content from WSJ & USPS – Delivering Advantage
AWS and WP Creative Group – Generative AI Explorer’s Guide
Fortune Brand Studio & Accenture—Reinventing the Fortune 500
SkiftX & IAG Loyalty – Navigating the Next Phase of Loyalty
Best Branded Content Program – B2C
BBC StoryWorks and Brand USA – USA Through Film
BDG Studios and Google Search: “Get Ready With Leah Kateb”
First Media’s So Yummy & Coca-Cola’s Simply Branded Campaign
Insider Studios and The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card
UGG x The Foundry at Dotdash Meredith: APRÉS UGG
theSkimm x Ferring x CMI: Fertility Facts I Wish You Knew
Best Commerce Strategy
Attain & Tombras: Driving $2.3M Sales for Pilot Flying J
AdAdapted, Gopuff & General Mills Redefine Commerce Strategy
Carhartt x January Digital: Record Holiday Performance
Shifting into High Gear: LWD Scales Endurance’s Market Share
Tinuiti & Honest: NTB Growth Unlocked with Amazon’s FSI
Rising to the Occasion: Uber & Pizza Hut’s Handcrafted Range
Best Contextual Targeting Offering
dmg::ID: Cookieless Ad Targeting Solution
Driving Engagement with Teads’ Contextual Targeting
Hearst and Chicory Succeed With Contextual Commerce Media
Molson Coors x Pixability – Happy Thursday Launch
Rising to the Occasion: Uber & Pizza Hut’s Handcrafted Range
Best Custom Advertising
Apartment Therapy’s Custom Advertising Solutions
Best Design
Harvard Business Review Re-Brand
Best Digital Product Innovation
Kurs.com.ua Hits 1 Million Reach with HeroVideo AI Generator
Launch of The Knot Budget Advisor
Locality – Launch of Reach+
Maestro, Equativ’s Curation Platform, Scales Alternative IDs
Mobsta leads the sustainable media planning evolution
Best Editorial Package
Fortune x Nike’s Refounder, Elliott Hill Exclusive Interview
Her Campus Media — Our Bodies, Our Votes
Major Mujeres by Remezcla
Overcoming Overwork
Best Event
Journal House by The Wall Street Journal
Hans Niemann vs. You: Record-Breaking AI-Powered Chess Game
Logi PLAY: A Global Celebration of Gaming Innovation & Play
Own the Sky: Kargo Drone Shows at Cannes Lions
Purdue University and IMS Total Solar Eclipse Event
Remezcla Media Group and Digitas – Remezcla Beauty x Sephora
Best First-Party Data Strategy
AccuWeather x Toyota Tacoma – Adventure Conditions
Attain & Tombras: Real-Time Data Drives Sally Beauty Sales
Bloomberg Year-in-Review: Your Year, Your News, Your Impact
Conexiant & BlueConic
The Post and Courier & BlueConic
Vision Media Driving Donations with First-Party Data
Best Gaming/Esports Brand Activation – NEW
Dexerto, Cotton & Mindshare: Mindful Moments with Cotton
Dexerto, Drumstick & Spark Foundry: Cone-fessions
FlyQuest – Olipop
Logitech G’s Pro Alliance: Celebrating Athletes & Innovation
Moon Music Lands on Roblox: Coldplay Meets Next-Gen Fans
Paramount & Gamefam – First Playable Story on Roblox
Best Multichannel Campaign – NEW
Citi Mastercard Card Usage Campaigns in Hong Kong
Mindshare & FCAS – #TimeOutAgainstHate
OrangeTwist + Father Time Turn Back the Clock on Aging
Sol De Janeiro & Good Moose – Moment Maker Success
WildBrain & Paramount — Sonic 3 Cross-Game Quest
YouTube TV: Elevating the Oscars Viewing Experience
Best Newsletter
1440 Daily Digest
Boardroom: HeadlineToGo
Sport & Story: The Brew – Daily Fan Newsletter
Yahoo Sports AM
Best Podcast
Crunchyroll Presents: The Anime Effect
Harvard Business Review – Women at Work Podcast
LifeStance Health’s “Convos from the Couch” Podcast
Microsoft WorkLab Podcast
Best Publisher Platform
A360 Media & Media Tradecraft: Bespoke Strategies & Tech
Adapex Data Refinery: Revolutionizing a Privacy-First Era
Bid Enhancement: Cookieless monetization for publishers
Condé Nast
Labrador CMS
VideoElephant: From Provider to Partner
Best Story
Tom Brady on the Art of Leading Teammates
Best Subscription or Membership Product
Storyful Newswire – Trusted Content for Fast-Paced Newsrooms
Best Sustainability Initiative
Mobsta leads the sustainable media planning evolution
Best Use of AI – NEW
BDG Studios and e.l.f. Beauty: “Beauty Hotline”
BrandMatch: New GenAI solution by New York Times Advertising
EX.CO’s LLM-Based Contextual Video Recommendation Engine
Grey Goose and Razorfish Tailored Toasts
Resonate Launch of rAI-powered Audience Insights
Best Use of Audience Insights
Adobe Photoshop ABCs
AKA NYC & American Dream – Data-Powered Results
Bloomberg.com’s Live Q&A
Dow Jones & The Wall Street Journal Launch WSJ Your Story
First Hawaiian Bank and Razorfish – It all starts with yes
Best Use of Emerging Tech
Big Happy, Starcom & Best Buy Immerse Tech Consumers
Bedtime AI Storymaker by SpecialGuestX
Moon Music Lands on Roblox: Coldplay Meets Next-Gen Fans
Nike x Snapchat – Victory Mode
Paramount & Gamefam – First Playable Story on Roblox
Best Use of Livestreaming
Tom’s Guide x Sleep Number Smart Bed Showcase
Best Use of Social
Adobe Premiere – Mask Task
EssenceMediacom & SHEBA® – Gravy Race
Mindshare & The Goat Agency – John Deere’s First CTO
Overtime – The Voice of Next Generation Sports Fans
Pinterest’s Holiday gift guide campaign
Wondery Media & Exhibit C – Launch of Kill List
Best Use of TikTok
Bath & Body Works – Razorfish TikTok Live Shopping Event
Daily Mail’s TikTok Supremacy: Most Followed News Publisher
Mindshare & The Goat Agency – John Deere’s First CTO
Best Use of Video
BBC StoryWorks and Brand USA – USA Through Film
EssenceMediacom & Ally – Savings Bucket to Honor You
Fortune Brand Studio & Accenture—Reinventing the Fortune 500
Sol De Janeiro & Good Moose – Moment Maker Success
Purdue Brand Studio presents “Boilers to Mars”
Wondery Media | Black History, For Real Animated Series
Best Use of YouTube – NEW
Cramer-Krasselt and Rural 1st – Cultivating Connections
HBR’s YouTube Channel
Paze & Nomology: Launching Paze’s Winning YouTube Strategy
Best Website
Re-launch of calix.com website
Best Website – HBR.org
Content Studio of the Year
Apartment Therapy Media’s Homemade Studios
NBC News Custom Productions
T Brand: New York Times Advertising’s content studio
The Foundry at Dotdash Meredith
The Trust (Custom Content from WSJ)
Vox Creative
Editor of the Year – NEW
Thatiana Diaz, Editor-in-Chief, REMEZCLA and HipLatina
Editorial Team of the Year
Fast Company
Media Brand of the Year
Boardroom
Everyday Health
Media Company of the Year
Black & White Zebra
The Outlaw Ocean Project
Wondery Media
Most Engaged Community
Dexerto: CharlieIntel
Dexerto X
Inc. — Inc. 5000 community & beyond
Overtime – The Voice of Next Generation Sports Fans
Product Team of the Year
Condé Nast
Sales Team of the Year – NEW
Disney Advertising: Recurring Relationships Rooted in Trust
Doing Things
NBCU Advertising & Partnerships
Short Form Video of the Year – NEW
Fortune Brand Studio & Accenture—Reinventing the Fortune 500
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