Omnicom Media Group (OMG) agencies have been nominated 32 times at the MMA SMARTIES x Global Awards 2025. PHD topped OMG’s count with 18 shortlists; OMD received 13; and Beauty Co-Lab, the group’s dedicated agency for L’Oréal, was nominated once.
Leading the way, PHD USA was recognized four times for two campaigns: Sandy Hook Promise’s ‘Just Joking’, where comedians delivered real school shooter quotes live; and Diageo’s ‘How Do You Say Buchanan’s?’, which celebrated 71 regional pronunciations of the whisky brand.
OMD Canada also scored three shortlists for McDonald’s: ‘Eat the Code’, which hid free-food rewards inside bugged code, and ‘Menu Song’, a modern remix of the 1989 rap listing every menu item with Lil Yachty and Mike Clay.
Beauty Co-Lab was shortlisted for L’Oréal’s ‘The Final Copy of Ilon Specht’, a global documentary restoring authorship of “Because I’m Worth It” to its original writer.
The Smarties Awards – which run at global, regional, and country levels – is the world’s only innovation award program that recognizes leaders, brands, agencies, and tech providers that use technology to pioneer new approaches in modern marketing.
Results will be announced in a virtual ceremony on Thursday, December 18.
View the full shortlist on the Smarties website.
OMG’s were as follows:
- Brand Purpose/Activism: 2degrees, ‘Good Tings: How 2degrees expanded its fight for fair’ (OMD New Zealand)
- Brand Purpose/Activism: Al Joumhouria, ‘Uncensored Press’ (OMD Dubai)
- Brand Purpose/Activism: McDonald’s, ‘Deal with the Trash’ (OMD Sweden)
- Customer / User Experience & Design: 2degrees, ‘Good Tings’: How 2degrees expanded its fight for fair’ (OMD New Zealand)
- Diversity & Inclusive Excellence: 2degrees, ‘Straight Up Rugby’ (OMD New Zealand)
- Gaming, Gamification & E-Sports: McDonald’s, ‘Eat the Code’ (OMD Canada)
- Instant Impact/Promotion: McDonald’s, ‘Eat the Code’ (OMD Canada)
- Omnichannel Marketing: McDonald’s, ‘McRib Mistakes’ (OMD UK)
- Product and/or Service Launch: McDonald’s, ‘Maccie’ (OMD Netherlands)
- Short or Long Form Video: McDonald’s, ‘Everything Changes’ (OMD Denmark)
- Small Budget, Big Impact: Al Joumhouria, ‘Uncensored Press’ (OMD Dubai)
- Social Impact Marketing: McDonald’s, ‘Deal with the Trash’ (OMD Sweden)
- Social Media Marketing: McDonald’s, ‘Menu Song’ (OMD Canada)
- Short or Long Form Video: L’Oréal, ‘The Final Copy of Ilon Specht’ (Beauty Co-Lab USA)
- AI-Driven Creative Excellence: Nosotras, ‘Me Feat. Me’ (PHD Chile)
- AI-Powered Audience Engagement: PT Paragon, ‘Wardah – Beauty AI’ (PHD Indonesia)
- Innovative Use of AI in Advertising: Versuni, ‘Cleaning Fairy’ (PHD Turkey)
- Personalization: Diageo, ‘How Do You Say Buchanan’s?’ (PHD USA)
- Integrated E-commerce Innovation & Live Streaming: PT Paragon, ‘OMG Creators Festival #GirlBossCreations’ (PHD Indonesia)
- Data Insights/Contextual Marketing: Diageo, ‘How Do You Say Buchanan’s?’ (PHD USA)
- Future Forward Technology Marketing: PT Paragon, ‘Paragon – Beauty Science Technology 2024’ (PHD Indonesia)
- Creator/Influencer/Celebrity Marketing: Sandy Hook Promise, ‘Just Joking’ (PHD USA)
- Cross Digital Media Marketing: Versuni, ‘Power of Persona’ (PHD Turkey)
- Gaming, Gamification & E-Sports: Volkswagen, ‘The Walking Ads’ (PHD Norway)
- Omnichannel Marketing: Uber, ‘Making local media Uber contextual’ (PHD UK)
- Social Media Marketing: Škoda, ‘The Redditor Edit’ (PHD UK)
- Brand Experience: PAK’nSAVE, ‘PAK’nRAVE’ (PHD New Zealand)
- Customer Journey Marketing – Lead Generation/CRM: Volkswagen, ‘The Walking Ads’ (PHD Norway)
- Product and/or Service Launch: Škoda, ‘The Redditor Edit’ (PHD UK)
- Real Time Marketing: Volkswagen, ‘The Walking Ads’ (PHD Norway)
- Small Budget, Big Impact: Sandy Hook Promise, ‘Just Joking’ (PHD USA)
- Diversity and Inclusive Excellence: Nosotras, ‘Me Feat. Me’ (PHD Chile)