Drumroll, please

VML Honored with Dozens of Awards at The Drum Awards Festival 2024

VML received more than three dozen recognitions at The Drum Awards Festival across a range of categories and creative disciplines.

The network's achievements include a Grand Prix, two Chair's Awards, 15 Gold, 14 Silver, and seven Bronze.

The Drum Awards Festival, held from November 4-14, honored outstanding work, companies, and individuals in marketing and media.

With a 700-member global jury, the awards recognize creativity and strategic excellence across all sectors, disciplines, and channels.

Grand Prix in Experiential and Chair's Award in PR

Taking home the top honor in Experiential, the Grand Prix, is Sela for its innovative project "Unsilence the Crowd" with Newcastle United. The work also received a Chair's Award in PR. Created by PRISM Sport + Entertainment, a VML company, the work was built on the belief that football is an experience meant to be felt, not just seen. Leveraging St. James’ Park stadium’s renowned atmosphere, Sela partnered with technology provider CuteCircuit to develop haptic-enabled replica NUFC shirts that transform stadium noise into real-time touch sensations. This groundbreaking approach allowed deaf fans and fans with hearing loss to feel the game’s energy, as the entire soundscape was translated into a sequence of tactile pulses across the torso, bringing the stadium experience to life in an entirely new way. Watch the video below to see how Sela and Newcastle United set a new standard for inclusivity in sports.

"Unsilence the Crowd" by PRISM Sport + Entertainment, a VML company, for Sela

Grand Prix in Experiential
Chair's Award in PR
Gold in Experiential: Community-Focused Experience
Gold in Experiential: In Person (1-1000)
Gold in Experiential: Sports
Gold in Experiential: Open Air Experiential Activation
Gold in Social Purpose: Content for Good
Gold in Media: Sponsorship
Gold in Media: Sport
Gold in PR: Innovation
Silver in Experiential: Integrated Experiential Activation
Silver in Social Purpose: Experience for Good
Silver in Social Purpose: PR for Good
Silver in Social Purpose: Video & Film
Silver in Design: Technical Achievement
Silver in Media: Content
Silver in PR: Sports
Silver in Content: Sports
Silver in Content: Video and Film
Bronze in Social Purpose: Brand Partnership

Chair's Award in Experiential

VML is proud to receive the Chair's Award in Experiential, selected by jury head Wendy Kupsis Robino, Senior Vice President of Marketing Events & Regional Publicity at Warner Bros Pictures, for the impactful "Waiting to Live" campaign with NHS Blood & Transplant, which helped reduce organ transplant wait times for children.

233 dolls, representing 233 individual children on the waiting list, were installed in hospitals and GP surgeries all over the UK, providing a contextually relevant healthcare environment to reach parents. Visitors were able to scan a QR code to learn more about the children’s stories and register as organ donors.

"Waiting to Live" by VML UK for NHS Blood & Transplant

Chair's Award in Experiential
Gold in Advertising: Creative Innovation
Gold in Experiential: Breakthrough Event
Gold in Social Purpose: Integrated Campaign — Not For Profit
Gold in Social Purpose: Public Awareness
Silver in Experiential: Government or Public Sector
Silver in Social Purpose: Government or Public Sector
Bronze in Advertising: Integrated Campaigns

VML's winning work at the Drum Awards Festival also includes:

"The Beko Inheritance" by VML UK and Germany for Beko

Gold in Media: Print
Gold in Media: Media Campaign (Over $1M)
Bronze in Advertising: Online Video — Long Form

"World Unseen" by VML UK for Canon

Gold in Experiential: Exhibition
Silver in Social Purpose: Experience for Good
Silver in Social Purpose: Public Awareness

"Thanks for Coke-Creating" created by WPP Open X, led by VML, and supported by Essence Mediacom and Ogilvy PR for The Coca-Cola Company

Gold in Advertising: Hand-Painted Mural or Display

"OREO Calls" by VML for Mondelez International / OREO

Gold in Advertising: Sports

"Absurd Promises" by VML Argentina for ASDRA

Gold in Social Purpose: Data and Insights

“UnXpected FM: Tuning Into Young Drivers’ Safety” by Wavemaker UK, VML, OmniGOV, Global, Verian for Department for Transport, THINK! Road safety