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The Drum Awards for Marketing APAC 2025 printed now not simply who’s doing nice paintings however how nice paintings is being completed around the area. From oat milk in barista fingers to steady TikTok livestreams, this 12 months’s winners presented a front-row view of ways manufacturers are responding to cultural complexity, moving expectancies, and real-world pressures.
Across the gold-winning campaigns at The Drum Awards for Marketing APAC this 12 months, sure subject matters saved repeating – now not as fads, however as foundations. Here are 10 of the most important tendencies working throughout this 12 months’s winners.
1. Campaigns are designed for conduct, now not simply consideration
It’s not sufficient to get noticed. Winning campaigns helped folks do one thing. Whether it was once Google Play converting how cell players in Indonesia purchase in-game foreign money or End Food Waste Australia nudging families towards on a regular basis behavior equivalent to portion regulate and leftover use, motion was once the metric that mattered.
Key instance: TikTok’s 304-hour livestream of Nedd Brockmann’s staying power run didn’t simply hang consideration – it raised $4.9m by means of integrating donation gear and day-to-day content material triggers that made it simple to take part.
2. Marketing is getting hyper-local by means of design, now not default
Brands leaned into native nuance as a energy, now not a constraint. This wasn’t simply translation. It was once transcreation – culturally related perception implemented with precision. Oatly spoke to Australian café tradition thru barista-led out of doors commercials. RHB sparked nationwide conversations in Malaysia round racial therapeutic all through Ramadan. Fairrie introduced luxurious jewellery in accordance with Mobile Legends esports ranks.
Key instance: Amazon MX Player tackled India’s cultural skepticism towards “free” with an instantaneous, cheeky marketing campaign that redefined the that means of AVOD.
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3. Experiential is having a strategic renaissance
Pop-u.s.weren’t only for buzz – they had been vital to how manufacturers drove foot visitors, emotional connection, and on-line amplification. These weren’t stunts. They had been staged reports, constructed for virtual carryover.
Key instance: La Mer’s Wonder Express, a full-scale luxurious educate carriage within a Shanghai mall, delivered immersive skin care storytelling whilst fueling social shareability throughout Douyin and Rednote.
4. Platform-native creativity is very important, now not non-compulsory
Top campaigns didn’t simply adapt to virtual platforms – they had been constructed for them from the beginning. Whether it was once TikTok, Grab, YouTube or OTT platforms, the content material felt local, interactive, and engineered for every touchpoint.
Key instance: Lancôme’s Idôle perfume release in Thailand used Grab’s ecosystem throughout vehicles, in-app icons, meals supply, and location-based notifications to create a full-funnel, full-city activation.
5. ‘Purpose’ is being redefined thru application
This 12 months’s purpose-driven campaigns succeeded by means of providing tangible worth. DBS and POSB sponsored tens of millions of hawker foods and rainy marketplace purchases. Google’s Project Relate gave folks with non-standard speech a brand new solution to keep up a correspondence. These weren’t cause-alignment messages. They had been gear that solved issues.
Key instance: Oatly’s marketing campaign to strengthen unbiased cafés in Australia wasn’t simply branding – it delivered unfastened espresso and drove genuine visitors to native retail outlets.
6. Luxury advertising is evolving into immersive, layered storytelling
Gone are the times of quiet magnificence and brand drops. The best luxurious campaigns combined theatrical immersion with influencer amplification and social trade hooks. They understood that standing is now earned thru tale and enjoy.
Key instance: Toblerone partnered with Vogue Australia and David Jones to redefine the emblem as a luxurious gifting possibility, combining fashion designer awards, model occasions and new distribution placement.
7. Cultural relevance beats conventional class considering
Several winners succeeded by means of stepping out of doors their class playbooks and talking without delay to native tradition. Whether it was once the use of Ramadan rituals, gaming behavior, or neighborhood humor, campaigns that mirrored lived enjoy had extra affect than those who simply shouted product advantages.
Key instance: Google’s Ramadan marketing campaign in Indonesia didn’t simply say “Search is useful,” it embedded Google into the lives of subculture communities, from calisthenics fanatics to tufting hobbyists.
8. Trust is the brand new aggressive edge
Many campaigns centered explicitly on rebuilding or reinforcing accept as true with, steadily by means of correcting misperceptions. Deliveroo challenged misleading supply app pricing with clear messaging. Amazon MX Player dared audience to search out the wonderful print – as a result of there wasn’t any. Even good looks manufacturers equivalent to Estée Lauder earned accept as true with by means of embedding merchandise into relatable storytelling, now not simply aspirational gloss.
Key instance: Honor’s ALS marketing campaign constructed accept as true with thru fair, respectful illustration of incapacity – mixing emotion, tech, and lived enjoy with out falling into tropes.
9. Creative restraint is using affect
In distinction to loud, flashy media buys, most of the maximum tough campaigns this 12 months used centered, well-timed interventions that reduce thru. A wrapped automotive. A sensible L-band advert. A refrigerator door that opens to a secret bakery display. The constraint turned into the ingenious unencumber.
Key instance: Maxibon’s ‘Maxi-Bakery’ was once a three-day activation in the back of an unmarked freezer door on a Sydney boulevard – but it drove a 124% gross sales elevate with much less media spend than a normal nationwide release.
10. Cross-sector collaboration is unlocking genuine effects
This 12 months, collaboration wasn’t about co-branding – it was once about coalition-building. Governments, non-profits, startups, publishers, and international platforms labored in combination to resolve genuine issues, succeed in extra folks, or magnify cultural relevance.
Key instance: Google’s ‘Project Relate’ introduced in Singapore thru partnerships with the federal government, SGOs, and nationwide accessibility campaigns – now not simply to marketplace an app, however to coach caregivers and create systemic affect.
Final take
This 12 months’s APAC winners confirmed us that daring doesn’t must imply giant. It can imply actual, non-public, practical, and platform-smart. Whether it was once oat milk, esports pendants or unfastened streaming, the most efficient campaigns didn’t simply push messages – they driven obstacles. And in doing so, they reminded the trade that genuine advertising doesn’t simply react to tradition. It is helping form it.
