Retail media's most effective campaigns were crowned in the 2025 Cartology Campaign of the Year Awards, with Unilever's Vaseline Gluta-Hya taking out the top honour.
Brands gathered at Sydney's Town Hall to recognise Activia, Aptamil, Mars Petcare, PlayStation, Red Bull and Unilever's Vaseline, who are setting the benchmark for impactful and effective retail media across Australia.
The Campaign of the Year Awards are Australia and New Zealand's largest recognition of retail media effectiveness.
This year, with 48 submissions from 36 brands, Cartology celebrated brands showcasing the power of strategic partnerships, spotlighting campaigns built on collaboration, use of proprietary customer insight and strong commercial results.
Vaseline was recognised for its omnichannel campaign strategy that was anchored in insights.
With category growth coming from a younger Gen Z customer, the heritage brand aimed to recruit the most sophisticated of skincare customers.
The partnership between Unilever, Cartology and Woolworths boosted visibility and educated customers on the product's benefits, earning praise for its insight-led strategy and bold online and in-store sampling that drove trial.
The campaign delivered a 72% increase in Gen Z customers, 78% incremental sales and 5% market share against a 2% target.
"The awards each year go from strength to strength, serving as the benchmark for the most impactful and effective work in retail media," said Cartology client partnerships and sales director Tony Prentice.
"These awards recognise the work our brand partners are doing, anchored in strategic partnerships, collaboration and customer insight to drive commercial growth."
Woolworths Group interim chief marketing officer Michael Laxton said this year's winner is an exemplar of marketing excellence.
"The winner meticulously translated deep customer insights into a flawlessly integrated, cross-channel strategy that had the customer at the core," Laxton said.
"The connection of insight and innovation connected with their target shoppers at the right time with a bold, consistent and benefit-led narrative."
Other winners included Aptamil for Partner of the Year, Red Bull Berry Launch for Best use of Creative Canvas and Best NPD Campaign, Mars Petcare for Best use of Customer Insight, Activia for Best Omnichannel Campaign over $250,000, BIG W Sony PlayStation for Best Omnichannel Campaign, and Swisse for Best Digital Strategy.
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