2022 Digital Cinema Media Awards Winners Announced

The sixth annual Digital Cinema Media Awards, held in partnership with Campaign, took place on 20 September at BAFTA. Leading figures from the media and advertising worlds came together to celebrate and reward the most impactful cinema advertising work created by our industry.

The big winner on the night was Disney+ The Walking Dead and Publicis Imagine’s Frighteningly Good: How Disney+ Jump Started Their 18+ Audience campaign. After The Walking Dead became exclusively available on Disney+, Disney needed to shift perception that the service was not just for families and kids. On-screen activity included a 30” gold spot brand ad adjacent to big cinema horror hits Censor, Night House, The Candyman, and Don’t Breathe 2 to ensure the exact target audience was reached. This was followed by a 40” bespoke ident created by DCM Studios that played with the audience’s imagination through the power of 5.1 surround sound and a black screen, rather than relying on visuals.

Disney took advantage of a captive audience in a dark auditorium and built anticipation and imagination by overly stimulating the senses, with impressive results that shifted perceptions and brand awareness. The campaign was termed “powerful, brave and innovative” by the judges. It won the award for Best Bespoke for Cinema campaign, as well as the overall Grand Prix prize.

The Digital Cinema Media Awards celebrate and reward the best cinema advertising and prizes were handed out in six categories this year, with one overall Grand Prix prize. 

The Awards last took place in 2019 but made a return in 2022 after a short break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a high number of entries from a broad mix of brands and agencies, showcasing more cinematic innovation than ever before and how brands have really embraced cinema’s unique offerings beyond just a single placement in the ad reel.

Karen Stacey, CEO, DCM, commented: “It is so good to bring back the Digital Cinema Media Awards this year and shine a light on the best of the best work, which is inspired by great media ideas that showcase the powerful use of cinema and the important role it plays as part of advertisers’ AV schedules. I hope our winning campaigns will continue to set a high standard for smart media planning and inspire how cinema can be used differently across a whole variety of media challenges and budgets.”

Other wins on the night included Ernest Jones and Bountiful Cow for cleverly using cinema with a small budget to cleverly align with cinema’s premium environment while targeting local stores to drive direct footfall, delivering strong results including an impressive uplift in volume sales in the Best Use of Cinema (Small) category. 

BT and Essence’s BT Banish the Ultimate Cinematic Cliffhanger with Unbreakable Broadband campaign took home the trophy in Best Use of Cinema (Large) category. The judges praised the campaign for supporting cinemas as they reopened and using clever insights and smart planning to deliver contextually relevant bespoke copy to an engaged cinema audience.

The winner of Best Use of Innovation in cinema was Netflix and Wavemaker for its Man Vs Bee campaign, praised for delivering a hugely entertaining and immersive experience in a disruptive manner, driving nationwide buzz for the core product.

Mind and Medialab were awarded the Best ‘Marketing for Good’ campaign prize for their ‘Connecting Mind and its services with those who need it most’ campaign, which used cinema as the key medium, with support from OOH, social media and Spotify, with a focus on the London area to drive engagement and audience engagement.

This year a new category was introduced - Talent – Best Contribution to Cinema, which recognised individuals who champion the cinema medium and go above and beyond to get the best from the growing opportunities the medium presents to brands. The calibre of entries was high, and the judges couldn’t pick just one winner, with two individuals rewarded.

PHD’s Calum Coghill was awarded the Best Contribution to Cinema Advertising, praised for changing the perception of cinema’s role in the AV landscape to make cinema a central channel for key clients.

GCRS’ Raja Sehgal was awarded the Best Contribution to Cinema Production for his dedication to the cinema industry for over two decades and work that has pioneered cinematic sound innovations, a unique cinema feature that was successfully utilised by many of this year’s winners.

McDonald’s and OMD received a Highly Commended certificate in the Best Use of Cinema (Large) category.

Below is a full list of winners from last night's ceremony. Click here to read more about the winners, where you can also download the 2022 Digital Cinema Media Awards brochure with insight from the judges and the nominees in each category.

Best Use of Cinema (Small)

Winner - Ernest Jones, Bountiful Cow, The End Frame is Just The Beginning

Best Use of Cinema (Large)

Winner - BT, Essence, BT Banish the Ultimate Cinematic Cliffhanger with Unbreakable Broadband

Highly Commended - McDonald’s UK, OMD UK, McDonald's Happy Meal

Best Bespoke for Cinema Campaign

Winner - Disney+ The Walking Dead, Publicis Imagine, Frighteningly Good: How Disney+ Jump Started Their 18+ Audience

Best Use of Innovation in Cinema

Winner - Netflix, Wavemaker, Man Vs Bee

Best ‘Marketing for Good’ Cinema Campaign

Winner - Mind, Medialab, Connecting Mind and its services with those who need it most

Talent – Best Contribution to Cinema

Winner - Best Contribution to Cinema Advertising - Calum Coghill, AV – Account Director, PHD

Winner - Best Contribution to Cinema Production - Raja Sehgal, Director of Sound / Co-founder of GCRS, GCRS

Grand Prix

Winner - Disney+ The Walking Dead, Publicis Imagine, “Frighteningly Good: How Disney+ Jump Started Their 18+ Audience