Featured Awards

Closed for Featured Awards

The Featured Awards are complimentary to enter. Please click on the "+" sign to see more details for the Awards.

Overview

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the marketing landscape, enabling brands to move beyond traditional approaches and unlock new levels of insight, efficiency, and creativity. As data becomes more complex and customer expectations for relevance and personalization continue to rise, marketers are increasingly turning to AI to solve business challenges and uncover new opportunities.

AI enables marketers to analyze vast datasets, predict behaviours, generate content, and automate decision-making in ways that were previously impossible or impractical. From predictive modeling to generative and agentic applications, AI is redefining how campaigns are conceived, executed, and optimized across the customer journey.

This evolution is not just about efficiency—it is about enhancing creativity, improving customer experiences, and driving measurable business impact. When applied effectively, AI can act as both a strategic and creative partner, augmenting human capabilities and enabling more adaptive, responsive marketing.

This category recognizes brands and agencies that are leveraging AI in innovative and effective ways to address marketing challenges, enhance customer experiences, and deliver meaningful business results. Entries will be evaluated based on their strategic use of AI, originality, execution, and measurable impact.

Who Should Enter:

In this category, we are looking for use cases that have used artificial intelligence to achieve marketing and business objectives. This may include the use of predictive, generative, or agentic AI across strategy, creative development, execution, or optimization.

The campaign may be submitted by agencies or brands and will be evaluated in four areas by a panel of judges:

Strategy. Clearly identify the marketing challenge or opportunity being addressed and explain why AI was chosen over traditional approaches such as analytics, automation, or conventional creative methods. Outline the type(s) of AI used and how it enhanced or replaced human decision-making or creativity.
Innovation & Customer Impact. Demonstrate how the use of AI improved relevance, timeliness, personalization, or overall usefulness of the use case. Highlight what was unique or differentiated about the approach and provide evidence that customers or the organization experienced tangible benefits.
Creative & Execution. Describe whether the core idea was human-led, AI-generated, or a combination of both. Provide a detailed overview of how AI was implemented across the use case and how fully the tools or platforms were leveraged. Outline any changes to the customer journey or marketing operations as a direct result.
Results. Provide clear, measurable outcomes over a defined timeframe, including KPIs such as revenue impact, pipeline growth, qualified leads, engagement, or efficiency gains. Include qualitative results where relevant and outline how the AI approach has been or can be scaled across the organization, including future plans for evolution.

A featured award, recognizing the most outstanding integrated marketing execution of the year.

The Canada Post Direct Mail Award is free to enter. Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

Marketing is evolving faster than ever, presenting both challenges and opportunities. And as a marketer, you are often asked to do it all – balance the possibilities of new technologies with the imperative of building meaningful relationships with an increasingly discerning audience.

The Canada Post Direct Mail Award celebrates those who have successfully navigated this challenge by strategically integrating direct mail into multi-channel marketing campaigns.

In a world of jammed inboxes, suffocating social feeds and endless alerts, direct mail remains a vital component of successful strategies looking to stand out from the competition by ‘getting real’ with their marketing.

From driving in-store and online traffic to building brand loyalty, direct mail provides marketers with a tangible, personalized touchpoint that cuts through the noise and drives human engagement. Direct mail also has a unique ability to complement and amplify other channels as well as provide a targeted and personal connection. The home continues to be central to our lives and where decisions that really matter are made. That makes direct mail the ideal channel to break through to your target. Today, direct mail can be individually customized and delivered programmatically to the customer in as little as 48 hours, it can be combined with digital to drive higher brand recall, it can target consumers through location-based observed behaviour via smartphones or simply be integrated in an omni-channel marketing campaign.

The Canada Post Direct Mail Award celebrates the year’s most outstanding integrated marketing execution that strategically incorporates direct mail. We recognize campaigns that masterfully blend creativity, strategy, and measurable results to drive business success.

Who Should Enter

Any campaign that has strategically utilized direct mail as a part of an integrated marketing campaign within the last 18 months. The direct mail piece needs to have been delivered using Canada Post properties.

In addition to being an eligible entrant, fulfillment houses, statement design firms, consultants, form design firms and printing companies may be interested in collaborating with clients to develop an award submission.

A panel of judges, appointed by Canada Post and CMA, will select one winner based on the following criteria:

Creative solution. The campaign must use creative that inspired emotion, connected consumers with the brand or motivated a change of behaviour.
Strategic thought. We consider a campaign to be strategically sound when it has considered 3 attributes: Data – reaching the target market with precision to deliver relevance and value, Physicality – triggers emotion and Connectivity – strengthens connections across media touch points.
Results. These should be measurable, robust metrics that demonstrate how a campaign achieved its business objectives and business impact. The results could be an increase in sales, brand recall, a shift in perception or a proven behaviour change.

Overview

Presented by Cineplex Media, the Best in Cinema Award celebrates a standout campaign that made a meaningful impact in a commercial cinema environment. This award honors a brand or agency that leveraged the unique power of cinema to deliver attention-commanding, immersive, and emotionally engaging creative—brought to life through the scale, sound, and shared audience experience of the big screen.

Whether designed specifically for cinema or as part of a larger multi-platform campaign, the winning entry will demonstrate how the cinema environment enhanced brand storytelling, engagement, and overall effectiveness.

There is no cost to enter, and submissions are open to a single campaign that ran in a paid, commercial cinema advertising environment between June 1, 2025, and June 1, 2026. The entry must include supporting evidence such as the ad creative, campaign strategy, and impact metrics.

The winning work will demonstrate a clear understanding of how to use cinema as a premium video platform—leveraging its environment and audience to elevate creative and drive results. This may be achieved through storytelling, execution, contextual alignment with the moviegoing experience, or innovative use of the medium.

Who Should Enter

The Best in Cinema Award will recognize work that embodies the power of cinema advertising. Submissions do not need to meet all criteria—entries may demonstrate strength in one or more of the following pillars:

Creativity & Impact

Demonstrates strong creative execution that leverages the scale, sound, and immersive nature of cinema to create a meaningful and memorable connection with audiences.

Engagement & Effectiveness

Delivers measurable impact—such as brand recall, attention, engagement, or business outcomes—and shows how cinema contributed to overall campaign performance, whether in-theatre or beyond.

Innovation

Pushes creative or technical boundaries through the use of format, integration, or experience—making the most of the cinema environment in new or unexpected ways.

Instructions

The Best in Cinema Award is sponsored by Cineplex Media and is complimentary to enter.

You can enter as many times as you like; each submission must represent a single campaign. Submissions can feature the same creative as other entries or entirely different campaigns.

Apply for this award on the CMA Awards entry website.

Select "Best in Cinema Award" from the drop-down menu and complete the entry form.

If this submission was entered in another category, ensure the text aligns with the criteria for the Best in Cinema Award.

Each entry must be submitted and uploaded individually. If you are entering the same materials in more than one discipline/category, you must upload the files separately for each entry.

All entries, including French-language campaigns, must be submitted in English for judging. Provide English translations in print or “dubbed-in” for any creative elements in French.

By entering, you grant Cineplex Media permission to use your entry as an example of best-in-class cinema creative. Submitted materials, including campaign results, may be published.

This award will be judged by CMA and a panel of industry experts.

**The advertiser must have obtained all necessary permissions for any images, recordings, or videos featuring individuals, including parental consent for children/youth if applicable. Campaigns must not be primarily targeted to children under 13.

A featured award, recognizing the best use of creator content partnerships in marketing.

Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

The marketing landscape continues to evolve, and the creator economy has fundamentally transformed how brands connect with audiences. Content creators have built trust, loyalty, and engaged communities around their authentic voices, making them essential partners in modern marketing strategies. As marketers, we are operating in a creator-driven world where influence has expanded beyond traditional media channels to individual storytellers. The key is to identify creator partnerships that deliver genuine alignment between brand values and creator authenticity, resulting in content that resonates with audiences while achieving meaningful business objectives.

The most successful creator partnerships go beyond transactional sponsorships. They're built on strategic alignment, creativity, and transparent measurement. Whether working with nano, micro, mid-tier, or macro creators who may be thought leaders, podcasters, or multi-platform storytellers, today's sophisticated creator collaborations leverage data-driven selection and authentic storytelling to drive real business impact—from brand awareness and consideration to direct conversion and lasting customer loyalty.

Creator Content Award recognizes programs and campaigns for creativity and results achieved by strategically partnering with content creators. The award will recognize the most outstanding creator collaboration of the year including, but not exclusive to, social content, long-term ambassadorships, product collaborations, experiential or event-based partnerships, editorial or platform-led storytelling, or integrated multi-channel creator programs.

Who Should Enter

Any campaign that has strategically partnered with content creators within the last 18 months. This includes collaborations with influencers with a presence on any platform including YouTube, podcast platforms, TikTok, Meta (IG/FB), LinkedIn, X, Twitch, etc. Campaigns may feature single creator partnerships or multi-creator programs.

Both brands and content creators may submit entries, either independently or as collaborative submissions. Creative agencies, influencer marketing platforms, and talent management companies may also be interested in collaborating with clients or creator partners to develop an award submission.

Criteria:

A panel of judges, appointed by CMA, will select one winner based on the following criteria:

1. Authentic partnership. The campaign must demonstrate genuine alignment between creator and brand, with content that feels natural to the creator's voice and authentic to their audience. We're looking for partnerships that go beyond paid promotion to create meaningful storytelling that resonates.

2. Strategic creator selection. We consider creator partnerships to be strategically sound when they demonstrate thoughtful matching between creator audience and target market, clear brief and creative direction that balances brand objectives with creator freedom, and integration within a broader marketing strategy. The approach should show why specific creators were essential to campaign success.

3. Results. These should be measurable, robust metrics that demonstrate how the creator partnership achieved business objectives and delivered impact. Results could include engagement rates, reach and impressions, conversion metrics, brand lift, audience growth, earned media value, or demonstrated shifts in perception and behaviour among target audiences.

A featured award recognizing the best use of data and analytics in marketing.

The Environics Analytics Data Marketing Award is free to enter. Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

The volume of available data, deeper analytics capabilities and innovations in technology allow marketers to connect more effectively with their customers and markets than ever before.

Whether aiding in the development of an overall marketing strategy, informing the planning of a campaign or evaluating the success of a specific promotion, data analytics is an essential tool in every marketer’s portfolio.

The Data-Driven Marketing Award, sponsored by Environics Analytics, recognizes innovative, creative and exemplary applications of data and analytics in the development of or as key elements in executing marketing campaigns that produce exceptional results.

Who Should Enter

For a marketing campaign or initiative to be considered for the DATA MARKETING Award, it must make use of data–driven analytics in a significant or meaningful way, whether in the development, execution or assessment of the campaign.

A panel of judges, appointed by Environics Analytics and CMA, will select one winner based on the following criteria:

Creative planning and execution involving data analytics, such as developing a segmentation model to determine the best audiences to test–market a new product; combining purchase history and social values to produce more relevant or personalized messaging for an effective direct marketing campaign; or measuring the current and prospective value of customers to increase product sales per customer.
Strategic thought, such as analyzing past data on behaviour and preferences to identifying high–value target customers; determining knowledge gaps and accessing additional data to create a more comprehensive view of customers; or evaluating metrics within the marketing mix to allocate budgets more effectively and efficiently.
Results: Innovative engagement, such as leveraging consumer segmentation information to identify and service pockets of underserved markets; offering sponsorship and reward program opportunities to partners that offer products of interest to current customers as determined by their lifestyles and purchase histories; or using social media data to identify and address health–related concerns within specific populations, such as recent immigrants and new parents.

A featured award, recognizing the best campaigns from around the world that have been developed by Canadian based marketing teams and agencies.

The Global Creative Award is free to enter. Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

The Global Creative Award recognizes the best campaigns from around the world that have been built right here in Canada and the brilliant trailblazing minds behind them. These campaigns have a global impact and highlight the success stories in markets well beyond our borders.

Who Should Enter

Any campaign executed in a market outside of Canada that has been developed by a Canadian based marketing leadership team and/or agency team.

Entries may come from both CMA member companies as well as non-members.

A panel of judges, appointed by the CMA, will select one winner based on the following criteria:

Creative solution. The campaign must use creative that inspired, connected consumers with the brand or motivated a change of behaviour and positively impacted the business.
Strategic thought. We consider a campaign to be strategically sound when it has considered 3 attributes: Data – reaching the target market with precision to deliver relevance and value, Physicality – triggers emotion and Connectivity – strengthens connections across media touch points.
Results. These should be measurable, robust metrics that demonstrate how a campaign achieved its business objectives and business impact. For example, the results could be an increase in sales, brand recall, a shift in perception or a proven behaviour change.

A CMA Featured Award, recognizing the best use of inclusive marketing practices.

Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

The marketing landscape continues to evolve, and with it, our understanding of who we're marketing to and how we represent the diversity of Canadian society. Today's consumers expect brands to reflect the world they live in—one that is multi-dimensional, authentic, and representative of all people. As marketers, we have both an opportunity and responsibility to create campaigns that authentically represent and engage diverse communities. The key is to move beyond surface-level representation to create genuine connections that drive empowerment, impact, and business results.

Inclusive marketing goes beyond casting. It requires intentional strategy, genuine community engagement, and a commitment to authenticity that permeates every aspect of a marketing program—from concept development, design, and creative execution to media placement and measurement. When done right, inclusive marketing doesn't just ensure diverse audiences are seen; it celebrates them, challenges stereotypes, activates communities, and creates meaningful connections, including in segments that have historically been marginalized or underrepresented.

The Inclusive Marketing Award presented by RBC recognizes strategy and creativity in campaigns that have authentically leveraged diverse and inclusive inputs and communication formats to achieve outstanding results and relevant representation.

Who Should Enter

Any campaign that has strategically prioritized inclusive marketing strategies within the last 18 months. This includes campaigns that authentically engage and represent diverse communities including, but not limited to racial and ethnic diversity, gender diversity, LGBTQ2S+ communities, people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, newcomers to Canada, age diversity, body diversity, or intersectional identities.

In addition to being an eligible entrant, creative agencies, diversity consultants, community organizations, and cultural advisors may be interested in collaborating with clients to develop an award submission.

A panel of judges, appointed by CMA and RBC, will select a Gold, Silver, and Bronze winning campaign based on the following criteria:

1. Authentic representation. The campaign must demonstrate genuine, nuanced representation. Diversity should be integrated naturally throughout the creative, reflecting real experiences and perspectives of the communities represented.

2. Strategic inclusion. We consider a campaign to be strategically inclusive when it demonstrates intentional community engagement in the development process, incorporates diverse perspectives throughout execution, and shows cultural competence in messaging. The strategy should demonstrate how inclusion drives business objectives.

3. Results. These should be measurable, robust metrics that demonstrate how the campaign achieved its business objectives and created meaningful impact. Results could include market expansion, increased brand affinity among target communities, shifts in perception, proven behaviour change, or demonstrated social impact alongside business outcomes.

A featured award, recognizing the best B2B marketing campaigns.

The LinkedIn Business Innovation Award is free to enter. Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, connecting over one billion members - including business leaders, decision-makers, influencers, creators, and affluent consumers that shape industries, culture, and the future of work.

Members come to LinkedIn with intent: to learn, to lead, to discover new perspectives, and to make better business decisions. This purpose-driven mindset creates an environment where brands can do more than generate awareness - they can build trust, establish credibility, and influence consumer and commercial revenue.

As marketing continues to evolve, business success depends on more than media reach or short-term performance. Today’s leading brands and agencies are rethinking how they connect with audiences, integrate data and technology, and measure success across the full funnel - from brand perception and engagement to demand creation and revenue impact.

The LinkedIn Business Innovation Award recognizes brands and agencies that are pushing marketing forward. It celebrates bold, insight-led work that leverages LinkedIn’s professional context, platforms, and solutions in innovative ways to drive measurable business results. Winning entries demonstrate not just what worked, but why it mattered to the business.

Who Should Enter

This category is open to campaigns that use LinkedIn’s platform to achieve defined business objectives—whether brand building, audience engagement, or performance-driven outcomes. All entries must be part of a paid advertising campaign reaching an advertiser's primary target audience.

Campaigns may be submitted by agencies or brands and will be evaluated across four key areas by a panel of judges appointed by LinkedIn and CMA:

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be assessed across four key areas:

1. Strategy & Business Insight

The campaign is underpinned by a clear, insight-driven strategy aligned to a defined business challenge or opportunity. Judges will look for work that demonstrates strong audience understanding, strategic clarity, and thoughtful use of data or insights to guide decision-making.

2. Use of LinkedIn

The campaign makes effective and forward-thinking use of LinkedIn’s marketing solutions, products, or ecosystem. While campaigns may be part of a broader integrated approach, particular weight will be given to how LinkedIn was leveraged to deliver relevance, differentiation, and impact.

3. Creative & Experience

The creative work is compelling, distinctive, and well-suited to the professional context of LinkedIn. Entries should demonstrate how creative choices captured attention, strengthened brand connection, or influenced perception or behaviour within a business mindset.

4. Results & Business Impact

The campaign delivers meaningful, measurable results against its objectives. This may include impact across brand, engagement, leads, conversions, pipeline contribution, or broader business outcomes. Strong entries clearly connect marketing performance to real business value.

Instructions

Each entry must be submitted and uploaded individually. If you are entering the same materials in more than one discipline/category, you must upload the files separately for each entry.

All entries, including French market campaigns, are to be written in English to ensure fair judging. Please provide English translations in print or "dubbed–in" for any creative elements in French.

By entering this award, you grant LinkedIn permission to use your entry to demonstrate a "gold standard" of Business Innovation

A featured award, recognizing the top agencies and/or brands showing the power of creativity on the TikTok platform.

The TikTok Power of Entertainment Award is free to enter. Please review the requirements carefully to ensure your entry is eligible.

Overview

TikTok Power of Entertainment Award

Presented by TikTok, the TikTok Power of Entertainment Award will seek to honour an agency or brand that understands TikTok’s core DNA— showing the power of creativity is on the platform—and created work made for TikTok that drove cultural and/or commercial impact.

Who Should Enter

There is no cost to enter, and entry is open to campaigns, videos or actions that debuted and ran on TikTok between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The supporting evidence must include work that ran in Canada on TikTok in those 18 months and can consist of videos, creative examples and case studies. ALL WORK ENTERED MUST HAVE BEEN INTENTIONALLY MADE FOR TIKTOK AND / OR A MAJOR COMPONENT WAS INSPIRED BY TIKTOK AND LIVED ON AND OFF THE PLATFORM. All sounds/songs/likeness used in the campaigns must have been pre-cleared for use. Campaigns developed in partnership with TikTok are not eligible.

The campaign, video or action will have leaned into one or more of TikTok’s core pillars and deliver on TikTok's mission to inspire creativity and bring joy:

Community: Highlighted or engaged a community by showing up authentically, partnering with creators, and/or took advantage of community moment(s) and turned it into a movement.
Sound: Leveraged or created net-new audio and/or trending sounds to amplify creative.
Co-creation: Incorporated co-creation tools like duet, stitch, and hashtag challenges to spark user-generated content.
Entertainment: The content was entertaining, sparked joy, and showcased brand storytelling in a surprise and delight way.

Instructions

By entering this award, you grant TikTok permission to use your entry to demonstrate a "gold standard" of Power of Entertainment. Anything you submit, including results of the work, may be published.

This award will be judged by CMA and TikTok.

The advertiser must have obtained consent to use the image(s) and recordings or videos of any people who appear in the ad, including parental consent for images of children/youth if applicable. Campaigns must not be primarily targeted to children under 13.

Overview

Presented by The Trade Desk, The Trade Desk Open Internet Marketing Award celebrates the Canadian brands that best harnessed the power of digital advertising across the open internet — the open, publisher-driven ecosystem of premium websites, streaming platforms, and apps that exists outside closed, walled-garden environments — to drive meaningful business results. The award recognizes campaigns where smart strategy, data-driven insight, and compelling creative came together, where the media plan put a majority of spend behind open, accountable, and brand-safe environments.

Today’s marketers are navigating a fragmented media landscape and facing pressure to deliver measurable results with every dollar spent. The best-performing campaigns don’t rely on a single channel or a closed ecosystem. They build reach and relevance across the open internet, through premium publishers and across formats like connected TV, digital audio, display, digital out-of-home and beyond. This award celebrates brands that leaned into that opportunity and won.

The winning brand will have demonstrated that precision, transparency, and creativity are not trade-offs; they are the standard. The winning brand and its agency are recognized together for the role each played in bringing the campaign to life.

Who Should Enter:

There is no cost to enter. This award is open to Canadian brands and their agency partners that ran a digital advertising campaign between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, in which a majority of paid media spend was allocated to open internet channels, such as connected TV (CTV), streaming audio, digital out-of-home (DOOH), online video (OLV) or display advertising across premium publishers, rather than closed, walled-garden platforms. Submissions must identify the specific publishers and inventory sources used in the campaign to demonstrate the deliberate use of open internet channels. Campaigns may be submitted by the brand or together with their agency.

A panel of judges, appointed by The Trade Desk and the CMA, will select one winner based on the following criteria:

1. Open Internet Strategy. The campaign must demonstrate a clear, insight-led media strategy in which the majority of paid digital spend ran across the open internet — the open, publisher-driven ecosystem of premium websites, streaming platforms, and apps that exists outside closed, walled-garden environments. Judges will look for evidence that the brand made deliberate, strategic choices about where to reach their audience, favouring accountable, brand-safe, and transparent environments over closed platforms. Entries must identify the specific publishers and inventory used to substantiate this open internet approach.

2. Data & Audience Intelligence. The campaign must demonstrate a meaningful use of data and audience insight to inform targeting, creative, or channel decisions. This could include the use of first-party data, audience segmentation, contextual signals, or cross-channel measurement, applied in a way that made the campaign smarter and more effective.

3. Creative Solution. The campaign must use creative that inspired emotion, connected consumers with the brand, or motivated a change in behaviour. Judges will consider whether the creative was well-suited to the digital environments in which it ran, and whether it took advantage of the unique storytelling possibilities of the open internet.

4. Results. These should be measurable, robust metrics that demonstrate how the campaign achieved its business objectives. Results could include an increase in sales, brand recall, a shift in perception, or a proven behaviour change. The strongest entries will connect campaign performance directly to business impact.