Adwanted Media Research Awards 2026: Global takes home Grand Prix
The 11th Adwanted Media Research Awards took place yesterday at London’s Banking Hall, with Global Media and Entertainment taking home four gongs, including the top Grand Prix.
Global was crowned Media Owner/Trade Body of the Year and won the Research Effectiveness award for its TfL Ad Tracker study.
Its Global IQ research, partnering with Colourtext, achieved a Highly Commended for Best Use of 1st Party or 3rd Party Data. It won ‘The Adrian Edwards Award’ for Best Use of Datasets, and subsequently the Grand Prix.
“A technically ambitious and commercially impactful achievement.
“Global: IQ finally unlocks credible, channel-specific attribution for audio and OOH, something the industry has sought for years, with exceptional methodological sophistication,” commented one of the judges.
Other big winners
Independent research agency, Colourtext, picked up three gongs, one with Radiocentre for the Performance Multiplier work, winning the Best Custom Media Research Project – Trade Body, and then two trophies and a highly commended certificate in association with Global’s Global IQ research.
Meanwhile, the7stars also went home with three gongs, including Media Agency of the Year, for Best Representation of Data for its ClaireTalk project, and one for its Rising Star, Aditya Vikram, who the judges said was “the driving force behind innovation at the7stars, blending tech and empathy to create solutions that empower teams, democratise insight, and transform client relationships”.
Tribute to Denise Turner
The event paid tribute to Denise Turner, research director at the IPA, who sadly died last year and was due to be the 2026 head judge.
Anne Tucker, head of research at Adwanted UK, led the tributes, describing how Denise had been involved with the awards throughout their 11-year history, whether entering, winning or judging, stating that “she was genuinely delighted when we asked her to take over as head judge last year.
She was a great friend to so many in the room and to us at Adwanted and is truly missed across the industry.”
Full results
The afternoon saw 17 trophies awarded, and full details are available in the awards brochure here.
On Device was the gold sponsor for the 2026 Adwanted Media Research Awards, while UKOM was the silver sponsor.
Catalyse Research and Fifty5Blue were category partners, with additional partnerships from Azerion, Media Mind, Potentia Insight and RAM UK.
See the full list of winners below.
Best Custom Media Research Project — Trade Body
WINNER: Radiocentre & Colourtext – Radio: The Performance Multiplier
Shortlisted:
- Newsworks, Lumen & Peter Field – Attention: A Newsworks study
- Marketreach & Thinks Insight and Strategy – Landslide: Proving Mail’s Power in the 2024 General Election
Best Custom Media Research Project — Media Owner
WINNER: Digital Cinema Media & everyday people – Maximising Price: How Cinema Delivers Commercial Success for Brands
Shortlisted:
- HIGHLY COMMENDED: Google – The Effectiveness Equation
- Brainsights & Allvision – Reimagining Out-Of-Home – Proving the Value of Digital OOH through Neuroscience
- Vevo & Amplified Intelligence – Unlocking the Power of Premium on YouTube CTV
Best Custom Media Research Project — Agency
Sponsored by Catalyse Research
WINNER: Savanta & Samsung Electronics – From Features to Feelings
Shortlisted:
- PHD UK – Is Optimism Dead?
- Wavemaker – Wavemakers GOAT Insight; Unlocking Growth for Paramount+
Best Custom Media Research Project — Budgets Under £50,000
WINNER: OMD UK – Defining Premium for Mercedes-Benz Vans
Shortlisted:
- Azerion, Mindshare & Differentology – Meaningful Connections
- ITV, Strat7 ResearchBods & Mediaprobe – Project Agyemang
- Thinkbox, EssenceMediacom & WPP Media – Why the Eff Would You Cut TV?
Best Media Research Tracking or Syndicated Project
WINNER: Goodstuff & Beatgrid – OVO 2025 Cross Channel Effectiveness
Shortlisted:
- OMD UK – Dyno-Rod Brand Health Tracker
- Wavemaker – Wavemakers GOAT Insight; Unlocking Growth for Paramount+
Best Use of AI in Research Projects
WINNER: JCDecaux UK & System 1 – Starting Brand Revolutions through Creative Testing
Shortlisted:
- HIGHLY COMMENDED: ITV – Content Similarity
- BBC – From Segmentation to Conversation: AI at the BBC
- the7stars – ClaireTalk: Turning Data into Dialogue
Best Use of 1st Party or 3rd Party Data
WINNER: Wavemaker & WPP Media – Precision-Targeted Gold – How Data Drove Olympic Dominance
Shortlisted:
- HIGHLY COMMENDED: Global Media and Entertainment & Colourtext – Global IQ: A Data Transformation
- All Response Media – How WRPlive Democratised Behavioural Insight
- the7stars – Gravity Connect
Best International Media Research Project
WINNER: Haleon & mediasense – The Media Impact Model
Shortlisted:
- Google, MTM & Behavioural Architects – Why We Watch 2.0
- OMD EMEA – Signals 2025
- Wavemaker – Anything is e.l.f.ing possible: Crafting the Perfect Foundation for Global Media Success
Pulse of the Nation
WINNER: Craft & Channel 4 – Gen Z: Trends, Truth & Trust
Shortlisted:
- OMD UK – The Real Britain Series
- WPP Media, Mindshare UK, Blis, Captify, JCDecaux, Mobsta, Reach, 5 & Sky – Shaping the Nation
The Adrian Edwards Award for Best Use of Datasets
In partnership with Barb
WINNER: Global Media and Entertainment & Colourtext – Global IQ: Full-Funnel Attribution for Audio and Outdoor
Shortlisted:
- Haleon & mediasense – The Media Impact Model
- Thinkbox & EssenceMediacom – The Media Mix Navigator
Best Representation of Data
WINNER: the7stars – ClaireTalk: Turning Data into Dialogue
Shortlisted:
- All Response Media – How WRPlive Democratised Audience Insight
- Thinkbox & EssenceMediacom – The Media Mix Navigator
Research Effectiveness
WINNER: Global Media and Entertainment – TfL Ad Tracker
Shortlisted:
- Haleon & mediasense – The Media Impact Model
- ITV, Lumen, Savanta & Sequence Analytics – Creative Boost
- the7stars – Tuning Into Tomorrow: Forecasting Audiences in a Reimagined Radio Landscape
Media Agency of the Year
Sponsored by Fifty5Blue
WINNER: the7stars
Shortlisted:
- HIGHLY COMMENDED: Wavemaker Audience Intelligence
- OMNICOM
- PHD UK
Media Owner/Trade Body of the Year
Sponsored by On Device
WINNER: Global Media and Entertainment
Shortlisted:
- HIGHLY COMMENDED: JCDecaux UK
- Mail Metro Media
- Thinkbox
Research, Data or Measurement Company of the Year
WINNER: Ipsos
Shortlisted:
- Differentology
Rising Star
Sponsored by UKOM
WINNER: Aditya Vikram – the7stars
Shortlisted:
- HIGHLY COMMENDED: Simran Gill – Essence Mediacom & WPP Media
- Abbie Smith – Global Media and Entertainment
- Hannah Pereira – OMD EMEA – OMNICOM
Grand Prix
Global Media and Entertainment & Colourtext – Global IQ: Full-Funnel Attribution for Audio and Outdoor