| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
| Categories | awards |
We’re pleased to reveal the nominees for the 10th Digital Cinema Media Awards 2026, presented in partnership with Campaign.
Honouring cinema’s most exceptional advertising campaigns for a decade, the Digital Cinema Media Awards offer brands and professionals a chance to have their incredible talent, strategy and creative work recognised on the industry’s most prestigious stage.
A near 50 total nominations have been announced across all categories, including the brand-new Excellence in Cinema Effectiveness award.
Karen Stacey, CEO, DCM: “The DCM Awards are back for an incredible tenth year and the level of craftsmanship and innovation from our entrants continues to amaze me. Our nominees have all harnessed the unique strengths of cinema to great effect, delivering campaigns purpose-built for the big screen and turning the medium into one of the most effective channels of communication for brands.”
This year’s roster of nominees will be judged by some of the advertising industry’s leading experts, with winners revealed at the glamorous awards ceremony hosted at BAFTA in London’s Piccadilly on the 8 October.
The full list of nominations:
Best Use of Cinema (Small)
This category rewards campaigns under £250,000 (DCM ratecard) that demonstrate exceptional strategic utilisation of cinema.
- Agria and Dentsu – Big Impact, Modest Budget: Cinema Powers Agria's Growth
- Arla and Dentsu – Butter Up: How Lurpak Brought Christmas to the Big Screen
- Currys Group PLC and Spark Foundry – Currys - Amazing US
- Efteling and Mediaplus Connect – Big Screen Wonder: The Magic of Co-Viewing
- Famille Perrin and Be Addressable – Precision on the Big Screen: How a small Cinema budget delivers great results
- Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust and BBJ&K – 'You Know Them Best'
- The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Mediaplus Connect – Talking Futures - Technical education opens doors.
- Haleon and Spark Foundry – Corsodyl Horror - Blood in the sink
- Heathrow and Wavemaker – Heathrow Bears
- Jakemans and Bray Leino – Jakemans: Marvel in the Menthol
- Penfolds and Bicycle London – Penfolds Grange
- Unilever and Mindshare – Pot Noodle Dead Good Films
Best Use of Cinema (Large)
This category rewards campaigns over £250,000 (DCM ratecard) that showcase exemplary strategic utilisation of cinema.
- Adidas and EssenceMediaCom – Adidas: Behere now… For the cultural moment of the year!
- Aldi and Starcom – From Middle Aisle to Main Feature: Aldi's Cinema Journey
- Disney, and Walt Disney World Florida and Publicis Imagine – Turning 2.36 Million Family Cinema Moments into Disney Holidays
- Kia UK and Havas Media – Building an Independent Cinema Legacy
- McDonald’s and OMD UK – The ONE where McDonald’s brought Friends to the Big Screen
- Sainsbury's and PHD – The Unexpected Guest
- Starbucks and Havas Media – Made In Starbucks
Best Creative Use of Cinema
This category honours campaigns showcasing innovative thinking and clever utilisation of new ideas within the cinema medium to deliver tangible results for advertisers.
- Disney+ and Publicis Imagine – FX’s Alien: Earth lands in the UK
- Haleon and Spark Foundry – Corsodyl Blood in the Sink - Horror package
- Hilton Hotels and Dentsu – Breathing New Life Into Hilton's "Hello"
- Lotto and Hearts & Science - “It Could Be You”
- McDonald’s and OMD UK – The ONE where McDonald’s brought Friends to the Big Screen
- Netflix and iProspect – Wednesday Season Two: Infiltrating Summer
- Nintendo and the7stars – Nintendo - Super Mario Galaxy Movie Blipverts
- Nintendo and the7stars – Beyond the Big Screen
- Unilever and Mindshare – Tresemme Thermo Sculpt
- Unilever and Mindshare – Lynx Cherry Spritz 4DX
- Unilever and Mindshare – Pot Noodle Dead Good Films
Excellence in Cinema Effectiveness
This category recognises campaigns that demonstrate outstanding effectiveness in cinema advertising.
- Agria and Dentsu – The Big Screen Effect: Delivering Measurable Growth for Agria
- Confused.com and Zenith Media – From Zero to Hero: Transforming Cinema into Confused’s Highest ROI ATL Channel
- Colgate Palmolive and Wavemaker – Colgate Max White: How Colgate Turned Captive Attention into Toothpastes Most Effective Media Channel
- Famille Perrin and Be Addressable – From Buzz to Business: Proving Cinema’s Power to Drive Growth
- Stellantis (Fiat) and Starcom – The Big Screen Test Drive: Fiat’s Automotive Media First
Best Long-Term Use of Cinema
This category honours brands that exhibit a sustained commitment to the cinema medium as a core element of their brand strategy.
- Disney + and Publicis Imagine – Lifetime of great stories
- Jet2 and WPP - Wavemaker North and Jet2 – Phones Off, Taking Off: Jet2's Long-Term Cinema Strategy
- Kia UK and Havas Media – Five Years of Championing Independent Cinema
- McDonald’s and OMD UK – From Happy Meal to Main Feature: Making Cinema a Long-Term AV Strategy
- Samsung and Starcom – From Big Screen Presence to Blockbuster Impact
Cinema Champion of the Year
This category celebrates individuals and teams that demonstrate excellence in advocating for the power of cinema in the brands they represent.
- Alice Betterton - Starcom
- Amit Raphael - Dentsu
- Generation Media - Making Cinema Impossible to Ignore, Generation Media
- Grace Whittley - The Kite Factory
- Louis Monckton - Havas Media
- From Nice-to-Have to Must-Have: How One Team Made Cinema Essential for McDonald's - OMD UK
- Unilever Audio Visual Team - Mindshare
- Publicis Imagine AV Team, Cinema Team of the Year - Publicis Imagine
- Spark Cinema Co-ord team - Spark Foundry
Winners on the night
The Grand Prix is chosen by the judging panel solely from the winners of the five main entry categories (excluding Cinema Champion of the Year).
Prizes for the victors include a cinema screen-time campaign to the value of £100,000, a red-carpet premiere experience for two people, exclusive access to DCM’s screening room and cinema tickets.
Finally, the Cinema Campaign of the Decade will be crowned on the night, after a public vote.
Chaired by Maisie McCabe, UK Editor, Campaign, the judging panel will meet on Thursday 17 September:
Clare Elder, Chief Strategy Officer, Republic of Media; Davina Barker, Chief Revenue Officer at DCM; Genna Trentham, Client Managing Director at Spark Foundry; James Bailey, CEO Media, UK&I at Dentsu; Jem Lloyd-Williams, Mindshare President and WPP Media CSO; Jenny Biggam, Founder, the7stars; Jon Stevens, WPP Media President at Wavemaker; Karen Stacey, CEO at DCM; Katie Lee, CEO at Starcom; Melissa Wood, Media Strategy Lead, Allwyn; Patrick Affleck, CEO at Havas; Paul Knight, CEO at PHD; Rachel Peace, UK Managing Director, Hearts & Science; Sarah Nugent, CEO at UM; Will Spence, CEO at Initiative.