What makes a marketing campaign win awards?
By Ly Viet VuUpdated 26 Oct 2026Tiếng Việt
The short answer
Award-winning campaigns do three things. They start from a truth everybody recognises. They have one idea you can say in a sentence. And they prove it worked. Big budgets help with polish, not with those three. That's why a small business can steal the rules.
Why listen to me on this
I've been on both sides of the table. In 2017 I chaired the jury and gave the keynote at Vietnam's first Young Cannes Lions competition, in the Cyber category. Our agency won a Campaign Asia-Pacific Vietnam Digital Agency of the Year medal four years running: gold in 2012, silver in 2013, bronze in 2014 and 2015. Our team also took an AME Awards Silver for Most Effective Use of Direct Marketing, and MMA Smarties Vietnam awards.
So I've judged award entries, and I've written our own. Here's what wins.
The five rules winners follow
- Start with a habit everybody has. Look at Heineken in Brazil. Everybody has a friend who sends voice notes that never end. Heineken built a WhatsApp bot that turned a long voice note into a free beer. You see yourself, you laugh, you lean in. It took the Grand Prix, Social & Creator Lions, at Cannes Lions 2026. See the play.
- One idea. One sentence. If you need a slide to explain it, a judge won't remember it. Uber Eats let fans build their own Super Bowl ad inside the app. One line. It took the Grand Prix, Media Lions, at Cannes Lions 2026. See the play.
- Give people something to do, not just something to watch. Columbia's CEO wrote an open letter in The New York Times: find the edge of the Earth and the company is yours. Nobody can win it. Anybody can argue about it in the comments. It took the Grand Prix, Brand Experience & Activation Lions, at Cannes Lions 2026. See the play. Our team ran this rule for Pepsi: an old vending machine turned into a dance game. You had to dance the routine to win a Pepsi. People lined up for it.
- Show the score, not the effort. Judges skip "we worked really hard". They look for what changed: sales, sign-ups, people talking. Effectiveness awards like the AME judge results first. If you can't show a number, show behaviour: queues, shares, replies.
- Steal the rule, not the ad. Clash Royale had a pile of knock-off games copying it. Instead of fighting the clones over copyright, it invited their players over and paid them in gold and cards in the real game. It took the Grand Prix, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, at Cannes Lions 2026. You don't need their budget to use the rule: when a rival copies you, welcome their customers in. See the play.
What this means for your shop
You will probably never enter an award. Doesn't matter. The rules work on a café, a bakery or a dental clinic:
- Find the habit your customers already have.
- Write your idea in one sentence. If it needs two, cut.
- Give people something to do, not just something to read.
- Count what changed.
Every play on this site ends with "Your rink": the version you can run this week. Grab the play card. Plug it into your AI.
Juries don't reward money. They reward a truth you can feel in one second. You've got those for free.
Questions owners ask
What do award judges look for in a campaign?
A truth people recognise, an idea that fits in one sentence, craft in how it's made, and proof that it worked. My test: can you explain it to a friend in one breath?
Do award-winning campaigns actually sell more?
Some do, and the good entries prove it with numbers. Creative awards judge the idea first. Effectiveness awards, like the AME, judge the results first. Look for the score, not the trophy.
What is the difference between a creative award and an effectiveness award?
A creative award asks whether the idea is fresh and well made. An effectiveness award asks whether it changed sales or behaviour, and wants the numbers to show it. The best campaigns win both.
Can a small business use ideas from award-winning campaigns?
Yes. Copy the rule, not the ad. Every play here breaks a winner down into a version a small shop can run, and the play card works with your AI.
Your questionWhat habit do your customers already have that you could build your next play on?