10 advertising and marketing developments from The Drum Marketing Awards (Americas)

Smart manufacturers don’t simply journey developments – they reshape them. MRM’s “Used Barbie Dream Cars” marketing campaign for CarBravo noticed the car reseller piggyback on Barbie-mania by way of purchasing up overpriced toy Barbie automobiles and reselling them relatively via a tongue-in-cheek Shopify website online. It used to be well timed, strategic, and delivered genuine affect: $2.3 million in automotive gross sales, a 91x ROI, and a cultural commentary that equity in pricing nonetheless issues in a hype-driven marketplace.

2. AI-driven personalisation at scale

Monks’ marketing campaign for Headspace proved that synthetic intelligence can unencumber relevance with nuance. Using its Monks.Flow platform and Meta’s Advantage+, the emblem rolled out over 460 hyper-personalised ingenious belongings tied to seasonal emotional triggers. The consequence? A 62% uplift in conversion charge and a 13% elevate in sign-ups, all whilst respecting the sensitivity of psychological well being messaging.

3. Experience as logo fairness

Ford and CIVIC became an deserted icon right into a logo renaissance. The relaunch of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station, entire with performances by way of Eminem and Diana Ross, wasn’t only a birthday party — it used to be a logo positioning masterstroke. Over 20,000 attendees, thousands and thousands of livestream perspectives, and popularity in The New York Times as a 2025 must-visit vacation spot positioned Ford on the cultural middle of innovation and growth.

4. Emotionally-led B2B branding

Stein IAS and Mack Trucks confirmed that B2B doesn’t need to imply bland. “By America’s Side” tapped into patriotic nostalgia and positioned Mack’s logo fairness along icons of American infrastructure. That emotional pull helped pressure a 26% build up in heavy-duty truck orders and delivered 34% upper engagement than any marketing campaign in Mack’s contemporary historical past.

5. Insight-led innovation and application

Data isn’t simply fuelling technique — it’s changing into logo IP. Hilton’s Global Travel Trends file, in accordance with comments from 13,000+ travellers and workers, changed into a cross-functional asset: it powered Hilton’s largest-ever media tournament, knowledgeable product construction, and earned 1,500+ world media tales with 9.7 billion attainable achieve. That’s what occurs when insights are was actionable logo reports.

6. Gaming as a gateway to new audiences

Coldplay’s “Moon Music” release on Roblox, in partnership with Gamefam and Warner Music Group, didn’t simply goal more youthful audiences – it absolutely immersed them. Spanning 4 of Roblox’s hottest video games, the marketing campaign generated 25.6 million visits and 76.7 million logo engagements. Players racked up 294.7 million mins of interplay – the identical of streaming the album 6.7 million instances – in the end serving to Coldplay hit No.1 at the Billboard 200 for the primary time in over a decade.

7. Transforming conventional media via data-driven tech

NBCUniversal’s “Big Board,” designed by way of Code and Theory, reimagined how records journalism may appear and feel in real-time. Built for Steve Kornacki’s famed election protection, the machine processed over 10 million records issues in 4 seconds and controlled over 16,000 U.S. geographies. It helped MSNBC reach its highest-ever target audience, surpass CNN, with 30 million YouTube perspectives on Election Day and 70+ million perspectives on TikTok. The Big Board didn’t simply visualise democracy it gave it a brand new interface.

8. Purpose-led messaging rooted in cultural disagreement

E.L.F Beauty and Billups took their venture to boardrooms throughout America – actually. With handiest 6.1% of Fortune 500 board seats held by way of Black girls, their “Change the Board Game” marketing campaign spotlighted the issue with a bodily board recreation dispensed to most sensible corporations and a countrywide OOH marketing campaign. Results had been robust: 5 billion media impressions, 99% certain sentiment, and a 20% elevate in logo consciousness. Crucially, 20 applicants from the marketing campaign’s featured listing secured board interviews.

9. Cross-platform fan reports riding cultural relevance

The Coldplay x Roblox collaboration wasn’t near to gamification – it used to be about omnipresence. The song infused in-game quests throughout a couple of titles, and the digital pieces unlocked had been worn around the platform, turning every participant right into a logo amplifier. Media shops from Music Ally to Pocket Tactics praised the innovation, and the affect on Coldplay’s fanbase used to be transparent: new generations found out the band, and the song trade took be aware.

10. Empathy in storytelling round critical well being subjects

F*** Cancer’s marketing campaign with The Variable took a daring, unfiltered strategy to confronting a difficult subject head-on. Instead of sanitised well being messaging, it delivered direct, emotionally resonant tales from younger folks dealing with most cancers – developing house for honesty, rage, and resilience. The marketing campaign generated over 1 billion impressions and reframed the dialog round formative years most cancers consciousness. In a class continuously afraid to impress, this used to be unflinching and unforgettable.