The Drum

And that's a wrap on The Drum Marketing Awards 2026 🏆 From Singapore to London to New York, we've spent the past few weeks celebrating the campaigns, teams and marketers raising the bar for our industry. A huge thank you to our nominees, winners, judges, partners and everyone who joined us along the way. The talent, creativity and results on display this year were truly exceptional. Congratulations once again to all of our winners! Thank you to our sponsors across regions, Kantar, Big Sky Studios, and Meet The People. The celebrations may be over (for now), but the recognition doesn't stop here. Explore The Drum Awards programme and discover what's coming next: https://lnkd.in/gGm4UfE #TheDrumAwards

By now you've probably seen both Adidas' 'Backyard Legends' and Nike's 'Rip the Script' World Cup ads 🔥⚽ They've sparked the usual debate: which ad campaign is better? Part of the reason this conversation keeps coming up is that the two brands often play very different games. Adidas has traditionally focused on the tournament and the power of football itself, leveraging official sponsorship rights, while Nike has built some of football's most memorable campaigns by using storytelling, star power and culture to own the conversation around the game. Adidas, however, is developing more creatively now. So, which campaign gets your vote? 🔘 Nike – Rip the Script, featuring stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgil van Dijk, Kim Kardashian, LeBron James, Erling Haaland, and Jason Sudeikis. 🔘 Adidas – Backyard Legends, featuring stars such as Timothée Chalamet, Bad Bunny, Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, David Beckham. VOTE BELOW ⬇️

BBC gets crafty for its official World Cup trailer 🔥🔥🔥 Called ‘Let’s Make It Iconic,’ the spot aims to bring iconic football moments to life across the objects fans use to celebrate the game. Blending live action with 2D animation, hand-craft, stop frame and in-camera techniques, it transforms everything from a scarf to a high-rise building into ‘fanvases’ where past legends and future stars come to life. ____________________ We are sharing World Cup ads all season. Follow for more! ⚽

This Week In Marketing 👇

Nike's new World Cup ad isn't about football ⚽🎬🔥 It's about what happens when athletes stop following the script. "Rip the Script" brings together football icons Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Vinícius Júnior, and Virgil van Dijk alongside cultural heavyweights Kim Kardashian, LeBron James, Travis Scott, Channing Tatum, and Ted Lasso in a chaotic Hollywood-style production. Set on a giant movie set, the six-minute film follows a scripted football production that quickly unravels, blending football, entertainment, music, and pop culture to showcase the unexpected moments that happen when players break from the script. ______________ We are sharing World Cup ads all-season. Follow for more! ⚽

⚽ The World Cup is coming. But are brands actually ready? With 104 games, 48 teams and countless real-time moments of joy, agony and uproar, the 2026 tournament is a $10bn marketing opportunity. But the old playbook won’t cut it. Big-budget media buys, generic creative and locked-in calendars risk leaving brands on the bench. The new rule? Stop planning campaigns. Start planning for moments. Read more from The Drum and Sportradar here: https://lnkd.in/eG_e8if9

Publicis and WPP battle it out for The Coca-Cola account 🥊 After moving the North American media brief out of WPP last year, Coca-Cola is now inviting Publicis to pitch for the remaining account. Over the coming months, Publicis and WPP will battle it out for the $4bn media, tech and data business. https://lnkd.in/epWd5SCV

Ikea finds Sweden’s sunniest square meter 🌞 To promote its outdoor range, Ikea Sweden has analyzed 20 years of solar data to identify the single square meter in the country that has received the most sunshine. The winning spot, on southern Gotland, has now been marked with a permanent monument: two stone armchairs inspired by Ikea’s Skarpo outdoor chair. __________________________ Follow us for the latest brand and marketing news 🥁

Everybody loves a good last-click attribution. But have marketers become so focused on measuring demand that they've forgotten the role of brand? In episode 3 of The Live Effect, Melissa Levy, President of Sparks, explores why attention has become marketing's most valuable currency, why brands are investing in real-world connection again, and how the best marketing connects physical and digital experiences rather than treating them as separate disciplines. As Melissa puts it: "We've always had the ruby slippers." Watch episode 3 now: https://lnkd.in/eDV29N4w