We're delighted to share some exceptional news from the M&M Global Awards. Carat UK has been shortlisted an impressive nine times, not only placing us amongst the top 5 shortlisted agencies globally, but also making us the #1 shortlisted agency in the UK.
The M&M Global Awards celebrate the most innovative and effective media and marketing campaigns from around the world. Recognising excellence across strategy, creativity, and results, these awards represent the gold standard for our industry. The programme attracts entries from leading agencies and brands globally, making recognition here a true mark of international excellence.
Our shortlists this year span four standout campaigns that showcase the breadth and depth of our strategic and creative capabilities across diverse sectors and some pretty complex market challenges.
Cheez-It: Crunch It, Taste It, Feel It, Cheez-It
Shortlisted for: Best Use of Music in a Media Campaign
Let's be honest - Cheez-It was nobody in Britain. An American David facing down the snacking Goliaths in the UK's £4BN salty snack market. With HFSS restrictions looming, we needed to build sustainable brand equity in channels that would remain unrestricted while disrupting a category dominated by established players.
Our breakthrough insight? While competitors fought over eyeballs with boring, generic audio, ears were completely uncontested territory. We created Britain's first genuine snack anthem - "Crunch It. Taste It. Feel It. Cheez-It" - an Electronic Dance Music track so good people would actually choose to play it. Pioneering 3D audio technology with Spotify made listeners physically feel the Cheez-It experience through their headphones, creating an unmatched association between our sound and snacking satisfaction.
Our audio innovation exceeded all objectives, contributing to the biggest NPD launch in large-sharing snacks in four years. We achieved major player status while building future-proof brand equity that outperforms traditional approaches and survives regulatory restrictions. We proved that strategic sound design doesn't just get heard - it gets craved, turning an unknown American import into Britain's most wanted snack.
Co-op FNC: Life, Death and Rock & Roll
Shortlisted for: Best Response Campaign, Best Campaign led by Content, Best Campaign for Financial & Utility Services
Co-op Funeralcare's 'Celebrity Send Off' represents collaboration at its finest - uniting unlikely partners Carat UK, Channel 4, and Co-op Funeralcare to transform society's ultimate taboo into compelling entertainment. When 91% of people think about death, but half never discuss it, this partnership tackled a challenge that was frankly too complex for any single entity to solve.
The collaboration created genuinely groundbreaking content where celebrities blind-planned each other's funerals without knowing their wishes. Channel 4 took the unprecedented step of extending content beyond their owned platforms to YouTube, Meta, and TikTok. Co-op put real funeral directors on-screen, providing authenticity that simply couldn't be scripted.
The results proved the power of strategic partnership: 10+ million views, 63% of viewers feeling more comfortable discussing death, and record brand awareness. The collaboration created reach, credibility, and cultural impact that no single entity could have achieved independently, demonstrating that strategic partnerships really can tackle impossible challenges whilst delivering exceptional results for everyone involved.
Holland & Barrett: Be Strong for Life - 5:35pm: The Nation's Wellness Moment
Shortlisted for: Best Campaign for Pharma, Well-being & Healthcare, Best Communications Strategy, Best Campaign led by Traditional Media
Holland & Barrett faced a real consideration challenge, with only 11% of their audience considering them for Joint, Bone & Muscle solutions despite strong brand recognition. The brand was perceived as "reactive" rather than the "proactive wellness partner" consumers were actually looking for.
Our creative breakthrough leveraged 5:35pm as a universal transition moment when health naturally comes to mind. We created a synchronised national wellness moment using Global's radio and OOH networks, essentially transforming advertising into a shared cultural experience with "Be Strong for Life."
The results really demonstrated creative innovation's power: brand favourability improved by 9 percentage points, purchase intent increased by 9 percentage points, and customer acquisition expanded by 14 percentage points, successfully repositioning Holland & Barrett as a proactive wellness partner. The campaign proved that precise timing and cultural insight can create moments that genuinely matter to audiences.
Nerds: Sensory Touchdown: How a Super Bowl Moment Changed Britain's Sweet Game
Shortlisted for: Best Campaign for FMCG, Food & Beverage, Best Integrated Campaign
Carat UK successfully launched NERDS Gummy Clusters into the stagnant UK confectionery market through an innovative "sensory takeover" strategy centred around cultural timing. Despite facing significant barriers including zero brand awareness and a pretty established competitive landscape, the campaign leveraged the Super Bowl as a cultural catalyst to authentically position this American import.
The strategy utilised high-impact media placement across Piccadilly Lights, nationwide out-of-home, television, and interactive digital creative that really embodied the product's multi-sensory nature. By timing the launch around peak Americana cultural excitement, the campaign transformed an unknown import into a credible category competitor.
Results exceeded all objectives, establishing the brand as a significant market player whilst driving genuine category growth rather than cannibalisation. The campaign demonstrated how strategic cultural timing combined with experiential media execution can deliver transformative business impact in established FMCG categories.
What This Recognition Really Means
These nine shortlistings represent more than just award recognition - they demonstrate our commitment to work that moves both metrics and mindsets. Each campaign showcases our ability to understand unique client challenges and develop solutions that are both strategically sound and creatively brave.
Being the #1 shortlisted UK agency is a testament to the incredible partnerships we've built with our clients and the talented teams who bring these ideas to life. It reinforces our position as a leader in the UK media landscape whilst highlighting our ability to compete on the global stage.
We're looking forward to the awards ceremony and celebrating these achievements with the brilliant clients who trusted us to take risks and think differently.
For the full shortlist, head over to the M&M Global site.
The M&M Global Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony on October 2nd.
