Cinema revelled in success at the 2024 Digital Cinema Media Awards where the spotlight shone on the best strategic use of cinema and work created by the media industry over the past 12 months.
The industry came together on Wednesday September 18th to celebrate brands which have embraced the high-attention environment of the big screen, darkened room and immersive sound to great effect - and the people behind the work.
Here, we go behind the screen and discover what it was that marked these campaigns below as winners from among a strong cohort of finalists.
Cinema advertising, which topped £1 billion for the first time post-pandemic after an 8% rise in 2023, “plays a profound role in shaping culture, sparking conversations, and building meaningful connections between brands and audiences,” said DCM chief executive Karen Stacey.
“We had the liveliest of debates,” she said, with a “stellar panel” of judges bringing “rigour and passion to the process and ensuring the creativity, innovation and craftsmanship of the work was recognised at the highest level.”
Maisie McCabe, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s UK editor and chair of judges, said the entries “demonstrated meticulous media planning, enthusiastic adoption of the varied opportunities the cinema environment can offer and – crucially – clear, attributable results.” McCabe also pointed to several previous nominees and winners of the awards which were in the running again this year after expanding and enhancing their cinema activity.
In addition, “many brands’ campaigns incorporated bespoke elements for the big screen,” she noted, “and relayed robust reasons for including the medium in the mix.”
Thank you to the judges and big congratulations to all the winners and finalists!
THE 2024 WINNERS
Grand Prix
+ Winner of Best Creative Use of Cinema
Royal Air Force / MG OMD “Stimulating senses with 4DX and the Royal Air Force (RAF)”
The judges said:
“A stand-out favourite, this campaign was a top contender among multiple categories. It’s a brilliant combination of strategic thinking and innovation around the opportunities offered by the cinema medium. The smart use of the latest technology and innovation truly brought this campaign to life in a way that was irresistible and unforgettable, while demonstrating the effectiveness of cinema. A true Grand Prix winner.”
“This fully integrated campaign utilised the breadth of cinema’s capabilities, with strong results. The RAF adopted a brave, new approach to deliver something bespoke for cinema that is truly immersive and unforgettable. It used great insights and contextual relevance to combine planning and creative.”
In 2023/24, the RAF’s recruitment targets were growing, and it needed to find a way to stand out from the competition. Research established that what resonates with young prospects is the fact the RAF offers more than just a job.
From global travel to lifelong friendships, life in the RAF offers things that few other employers can hope to match. The task was to showcase this. Cinema was chosen as the backbone of an integrated multi-channel campaign for its immersive nature and unmatched attraction of 16-24s.
The RAF is no stranger to large-scale cinema campaigns and, as a result, it has been able to test and evolve its strategy over the years. For this campaign, blockbuster buys alone wouldn’t be enough. It needed to use cinema creatively to stand out.
With a new creative execution, “Protecting Space,” showcasing so many sensory- stimulating aspects of being in the RAF, it was quickly realised the fit was perfect for Cineworld’s sensory 4DX technology and a Gold Spot on 4DX screens for six months was planned. Early reads indicated strong results from this approach, so the RAF doubled down on its strategy to become the UK’s first-ever sponsor of 4DX. This included two components: on screen, where it coupled its Gold Spot activity with in-reel co-branded idents, and off- screen, which saw the RAF promoted across Cineworld’s website and newsletters.
This was a fully immersive sponsorship that maximised cut-through to the RAF’s audience during a cluttered and competitive time, with results that were as thrilling as the partnership, which saw significant uplifts across all KPIs.
Best Use of Cinema (Small)
The LEGO Group / Initiative “LEGO City & Picturehouse Kids’ Club - Build their love for cinema”
The judges said: “A true example of the power of smart insights, bold execution and integration across multiple touchpoints. The campaign centred around a strong synergy between LEGO and Picturehouse, with robust cinema specific results. This was a stand-out winner.”
Traditionally, LEGO City had targeted boys aged six to eight. However, as sales continued to fall, LEGO Passion points data revealed there was a critical opportunity to engage a younger audience of boys aged three to five. They not only showed a strong affinity for movies but also represented a strategic entry point into the world of LEGO. Tapping into a new audience would help reduce cannibalisation with the six to eight audience across other LEGO themes and future-proof LEGO City for years to come.
Addressing these insights, LEGO partnered with Initiative and DCM to leverage the power of cinema, entering a sponsorship with Picturehouse Cinemas and its Saturday Kids Club to launch a big new idea: “Build Their Love For Cinema”.
LEGO integrated across Picturehouse’s capabilities both on and off-screen. The partnership featured custom on-screen cinema idents and hands-on LEGO City activations across nine Picturehouse cinemas throughout the UK. These activations allowed kids to play with LEGO bricks for free before the screenings, take home samples, and to create their own movie posters. Complementing this was a robust online strategy designed to raise awareness of the partnership and sustain product desirability through monthly competitions to win LEGO City bundles.
The campaign was a resounding success. Cinemas hosting LEGO City activations experienced a noticeable spike in admissions, while LEGO City itself saw significant growth in 2023.
Highly Commended
Hillarys / EssenceMediacom “Hillarys premiere cinema to propel its AV strategy”
Best Use of Cinema (Large)
Google Pixel / EssenceMediacomX “Google Pixel Best use of cinema”
The judges said: “This campaign is rooted in smart planning, tapping into environment and context. Google matched audience insights with a brilliant idea that was executed bespoke to cinema. It’s a bold campaign that brought to life a product benefit in a fun way, while shifting core KPIs.”
Google needed to get people in the UK to notice Pixel’s innovative tech to drive consideration. But how could you get people to pay attention to a phone different to their own?
Knowing 16-34s are a core cinema audience, with 67% enjoying talking about the ads, Google wanted to make sure young audiences would not miss their latest creation.
Working with EssenceMediacomX and DCM, Google turned its attention to a medium that itself guaranteed grabbing people’s attention – cinema. The big screen has been a powerhouse for Pixel, delivering impressive results and driving impact for previous campaigns. However, it needed to think outside the box and be as creative as Pixel’s new features to make this campaign standout.
Google took over the ‘Turn Your Phone Off’ (TYPO) spot with a first of its kind contextual message, a surprising and fun way to show Pixel’s unique Audio Magic Eraser feature in the right context, at the right time and in the highest impact environment..
The campaign focused on carefully selected films to align with a younger target audience with the Pixel 8 ad playing out in the Bronze Spot, ahead of the TYPO creative for premium awareness and frequency.
Google Pixel’s media first was so impactful it blew the cinema uplift benchmarks out the water, dramatically increasing unaided awareness and consideration uplift.
Best “Marketing for Good” Cinema ±±¾©Èü³µpk10
NatWest / Initiative “Thriving with cinema”
The judges said: “NatWest leaned into context and content to create a powerful idea that was both bespoke to cinema but with a strong sociability angle as part of a wider purpose. It uses real people at the heart of it, with strong results for cinema and those behind the camera.”
NatWest Thrive is a financial confidence and life readiness programme that supports a diverse group of young people across the UK. NatWest was looking to empower students to take action towards owning their future and also leaving a valuable, positive footprint behind.
Knowing 78% of 16-34s are cinemagoers (source: TGI GB Nov 2023), the big screen was the perfect place to target the Thrive audience.
From previous award-winning campaigns, NatWest knew that context was the thing that made the difference. NatWest partnered with Initiative, DCM Studios and production company Recipe to tap into cinema in a hands-on way. With clear synergies between NatWest’s brand ethos and the cinematic narrative of Sony Pictures’ Gran Turismo film release, this was the perfect pairing for the Thrive platform, ‘Believe it, Become it’.
In a media-first, the campaign was centred on giving young people the opportunity to create, star in and deliver this campaign themselves. Partnering with a filmmaking club in Southeast London, students spent the day on a professional set, recreating scenes in the actual Nissan GTR from the film, putting them and their stories at the heart of the ads.
Their work was shown across the DCM network of cinemas, with supporting activity in social media. But the real value extended well beyond the ads, leaving a positive footprint behind; helping to propel this young, diverse talent forward towards future careers in film production.
Best Long-term Use of Cinema
Kia / Havas Media Network, Havas Play “Harnessing the power of independent cinema”
The judges said: “This partnership is rooted in strong planning, insights and the evolution of channel usage. Each year it adds sponsorship and activation elements, ensuring a fully integrated experience across the whole consumer journey. A robust, strategic and long-term partnership with strong results.”
Kia’s newly found commitment to being a progressive leader in technology, sustainability, electrification and mobility was perfectly condensed in the formula “Movement that inspires”- a clear message for a new global brand positioning.
Kia turned to independent cinema to engage a new affluent target audience of “modern progressives”, prospective clients who were open minded in their values and enjoyed being early adopters in tech and culture. For the past two years, Kia, Havas and DCM have formed a strong, creative bond delivering state-of-the-art advertising and creating a new way of reaching target audiences through DCM’s unique independent cinema estate.
This multi-year partnership provides a unique platform and the perfect building blocks to create an unparalleled synergy with film. “Movement that inspires” became the key message across all DCM’s independent cinema estate cinemas, owning the Gold Spot - the 60 second ad space right before the movie start - all year round. Not only that, Kia established a reputation for itself as a strong champion for independent cinema via a number of bespoke sponsorships, from the Sundance Film Festival to comprehensive support of Picturehouse, including their podcast The Love of Cinema and tactical activations at outdoor cinema events and members clubs.
The creative bond between Kia and DCM’s independent estate has gone from strength to strength. It has been extended for a third year running and is the longest integrated partnership ever to exist in the independent cinema space.
Cinema Champion of the Year
Individual winner: Guive Shafie, AV director, Dentsu
The judges said: “Guive has demonstrated a huge passion for cinema. He focuses on insights and planning to find smart ways of adding cinema onto a media plan. He has a diverse client list, delivering a broad range of campaigns which have clearly grown investment in the channel.”
Shafie has played a pivotal role in cinema’s growth at Dentsu, onboarding new clients and driving over two-thirds of Dentsu’s regional cinema spend over the 12-month period from July 2023 to June 2024. He has built strong relationships, enhancing collaboration and pioneering best-in-class client inspiration and work. By integrating smart media-planning, strategic innovation, creative solutions, and data-driven results, he has consistently demonstrated the value of cinema advertising for a diverse range of clients such as Puregym, Greggs and Carling, with different KPIs, enhancing the overall perception and effectiveness of cinema advertising within the network.
Team winner: Recruitment Hub, OmniGOV
The judges said: “The OmniGOV team has a clear passion and support for cinema to deliver best in class campaigns. They have uncovered new approaches to evolve previous non-spenders into big cinema advocates, pushing hard at every opportunity with strong commercial results as proof of their successes.”
OmniGOV hasn’t always been a huge investor in cinema, despite large AV investment overall, but, over the past 24 months, the Recruitment Hub has taken OmniGOV on a developmental journey to test, prove and invest in cinema – led by the RAF initially. This has evolved OmniGOV’s spend profile, elevating it to become one of the largest spenders across the OMG group, building a tight partnership with DCM specifically. This team has been creating standout, bespoke campaigns that take advantage of everything cinema has to offer to drive outstanding results with significant investment.
The 2024 judges
Adam Foley, chief executive, Bountiful Cow
Ben Chadd, chief client officer, Mindshare
Beth Freedman, former chief executive, Dentsu X
David Wilding, chief strategy officer, EssenceMediacom X
Davina Barker, sales director, Digital Cinema Media
Grant Burke, managing director, OMD UK
Karen Stacey, chief executive, Digital Cinema Media
Kelly Parker, chief executive, Wavemaker UK
Maisie McCabe, ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 UK editor and chair of judges
Matt Landeman, chief client officer, Carat UK
Natalie Bell, chief executive, MG OMD
Richard Friar, managing director, Starcom UK
Steve Parker, executive director, Medialab Group
Tom Cornell, chief investment officer, Hearts & Science
Vee Gunn, head of AV, Wavemaker North
Vicky Handley, brand communications lead, Lloyds Banking Group