The New York Times, e.l.f. and Business Insider are 2025 Digiday Content Marketing Awards winners

This year’s Digiday Content Marketing Awards winners embraced video content, in its various forms, to craft compelling narratives that successfully connect with audiences. As brands work to build long-term consumer relationships, tailoring content to individual preferences has become mission-critical.

For instance, L’Oréal Groupe partnered with The New York Times to launch “This Is Not a Beauty Story,” a global media campaign rooted in the Essentiality of Beauty research study. At its center was “This Is Not A Beauty Podcast,” winner for Best Branded Podcast. Hosted by Isabella Rossellini, the six-episode series explored beauty’s hidden role in industries like sports, politics and business. The podcast leveraged The New York Times’ audio journalism style and was distributed across major platforms, including Apple, Google, Spotify and NYTimes.com. The campaign sparked conversations and helped L’Oréal Groupe strengthen its role as a thought leader across new and influential audiences.

To engage Gen Z and millennial beauty lovers, e.l.f. Cosmetics partnered with BDG Studios for the winning effort in the Most Innovative Use of Content category. “The Beauty Hotline” campaign leaned on a retrofuturistic ’90s and Y2K aesthetic, merging real-world utility with a nostalgic digital experience. A unique LLM was trained on e.l.f.’s top products to provide personalized recommendations, boosting awareness and driving purchases for e.l.f.’s priority products while rewarding loyal Beauty Squad members. The collaboration successfully positioned e.l.f. as a disruptive force in the beauty industry, setting a new standard for innovation in beauty marketing.

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