Adweek's 2021 Constellation Awards Winners

Putting together a full-scale campaign is no small task for any team, but having to do so during a pandemic requires a different skill set altogether. Just ask this year’s winners of the Brandweek Constellation Awards, which honor the best team-led marketing efforts. Between heartwarming campaigns and humorous ads that momentarily transport us away from reality, our honorees prove that great marketing can only be achieved through great teamwork, and that the power of a team and creating something remarkable together is always worth the effort. Chewy, 'A Day in the Life of a Shelter Pet Photographer' Chewy’s #PetsBringUsTogether is more than a hashtag—it’s a lifestyle. That’s what the brand leaned into with “A Day in the Life of a Shelter Pet Photographer,” its first documentary. The four-minute video chronicles volunteer photographers Adam and Mary Goldberg, who spend a day photographing shelter animals at The Humane Society of Tampa Bay in Florida to increase their chances of getting adopted. It was all hands on deck for Chewy as its editorial, brand marketing and Chewy Studios teams worked with Pittsburgh-based production company Vinegar Hill to shoot the video in early 2021. With the pandemic restricting how many people could be on set, they relied on Zoom throughout the process to ensure everyone was on the same page. Since its May release, the documentary has garnered more than 1.95 million views on YouTube. Chewy also ran a paid YouTube video campaign through its skippable in-stream format, and 58% of viewers watched the ad all the way through. Kara Fullmer-Wehner, head of creative and Chewy Studios, says collaboration was the key to making the documentary a success, and that everyone involved inspired each other to “be greater.” “It’s important to believe in the story you’re telling, to make decisions along the way that protect and preserve that story, and to trust your colleagues to tell that story in the best way possible,” she says. "The teamwork between marketing, our in-house studio and our partners at Vinegar Hill was essential to finding a great story, expressing it through beautiful visuals and making it right for our brand. If not for all of these entities coming together, I am certain it would not have been as successful." Inspiring creativity “It’s important to allow for freedom of expression among creatives and for them to feel comfortable expressing their ideas to the team as we collaborate. The team gets a lot of inspiration from the incredible stories that we find and connect emotionally to everyone working on the project. We also look to keep an open mind, hear everyone’s perspective, consider all angles and maintain open communication across all fronts and with all partners because you never know who is going to take an idea and make it even better.” —Kara Fullmer-Wehner, head of creative and Chewy Studios Team members: In-house studio: Kara Fullmer-Wehner, head of creative and Chewy Studios; Brooke Cameron, associate creative director; Brad Ragland, executive producer; Kelly Nesbitt, senior producer; Paige Taylor, studio project manager; Juliana Patino, senior creative manager; Paige Erceg, director, brand design Brand marketers: Allyson Schultz, associate director, brand marketing and communications; Lucas Pantel, senior manager, brand marketing; Ciara LaVelle, editor, BeChewy; Stephanie Brown, senior editor, BeChewy; Kate Karam, editor in chief, BeChewy Vinegar Hill: David Altrogge, director and editor; Michael Hartnett, director of photography; Jen Brown, line producer; Mary Kuehn, producer Frito-Lay North America, ‘It’s About People’ At the beginning of the pandemic, it was easy for brands to slap together an ad that showed concern for consumers but remained focused on the company. Frito-Lay North America wanted to do the opposite. Rachel Ferdinando, svp and CMO at Frito-Lay North America, encouraged everyone to think about what the company stood for and create something “that put brands second and people first,” according to Chris Bellinger, vice president, creative and digital at PepsiCo. Bellinger and Frito-Lay North America’s in-house agency took note of that and produced “It’s About People,” a minutelong ad with no voiceover—just text—highlighting the brand's commitment to creating jobs, donating $15 million for Covid-19 relief, funding for virus testing and providing meals for people in need. The ad debuted during Good Morning America in April 2020 and has since garnered 85.4 million media impressions. It also achieved a 97.6% positive response rate from consumers who reached out to its consumer relations team, the best response it's ever had for a national ad. Noting that “It’s About People” was a true team effort, Bellinger says internally prioritizing diversity and distinct viewpoints contributed significantly to making the ad such a success. “The pandemic has reinforced how important it is [to] make sure [a diversity of] perspectives are infused into every step of the collaboration process—from ideation to execution and everything in between. As we’ve seen, people can go through the same world event—the pandemic, social unrest or just 2020 in and of itself—and have completely different experiences,” he says. “Without collaboration from all of these perspectives, our work will not continue to succeed.” Words of advice "If we learned anything from the development of 'It’s About People,' we learned that people and purpose must stay at the core of everything an organization does. If the goal is to create remarkable work, then a great place to start would be to look at your team or organization’s purpose. What do you stand for at your core? … Let that be the guiding light, and everything else will follow." —Chris Bellinger, vice president, creative and digital, PepsiCo Team members: Chris Bellinger, vice president, creative and digital at PepsiCo; Rachel Ferdinando, svp and chief marketing officer; Chase Rodriguez, head of production; Christian Hoyle, creative director; Christie Duoos, account manager; Lauren McGlory, senior associate account director; Kelsey Greer, social and concept director; Jordan Gilliam, junior social strategist; James Clarke, senior director, media; Amanda Corral, director of paid media and analytics; Lauren Whitmyer, director of digital communications; Erin (McCarthy) Higgins, associate social director; Joan Cetera, vp, communications Hulu, 'Hulu Doesn’t Just Have Live Sports' Producing a humorous ad might seem like fun and games, but the work that goes into it is no joke. When Hulu released “Hulu Doesn’t Just Have Live Sports,” a music video featuring an original song by NBA star and rapper Damian Lillard (aka, Dame D.O.L.L.A) promoting the company’s live TV and streaming library offerings, several teams across the streamer’s marketing organization were there every step of the way. Whether it was drafting lyrics or developing a strategic plan, no one worked alone. There were even times when people outside of the team were pulled into discussions to bring in fresh perspectives. In addition to traditional mediums, Hulu utilized SoundCloud, Spotify and TikTok to push the video and received 14 million organic views overall. Even celebrities and athletes like Dwyane Wade, Lil Dicky, Reggie Bush and Spice Adams publicly reacted to the ad on Lillard's first post about the campaign on social media. Rosalind Pressman, senior team lead, live and licensed marketing, says her philosophy for a successful collaboration is to have her team members be “kind, empathetic, reliable and communicative.” “It’s important to create a psychologically safe environment, one where people feel seen and heard,” Pressman says, “one where they know they can ask questions, bounce crazy ideas off the wall, and where teammates support teammates. The highest-functioning and happiest teams tend to be ones that operate in a psychologically safe environment, which in turn will lead to more creativity and higher-quality output.” The future of teamwork "Given the way the working environment has shifted over the last year and a half, teamwork will likely turn into a hybrid of in-person brainstorming and remote collaboration. There’s nothing like the energy and inspiration of an in-person session where creativity and ideas can flow from person to person, but we’ve also been effective and efficient working remotely. So having the opportunity to work together in a hybrid environment should achieve great results." —Rosalind Pressman, senior team lead, live and licensed marketing Team members: Chie Kobayashi, live and licensed marketing manager; Rosalind Pressman, live and licensed marketing senior team lead; Jordan Badia-Bellinger, principal live and licensed business strategy manager; Scott Donaton, senior vice president, marketing; Michael Schneider, vice president, brand marketing Sweetgreen, 'Naomi Osaka, national athlete ambassador' With every creative campaign, Sweetgreen starts from “a place of truth.” That was top of mind for the fast-casual food chain when tennis star Naomi Osaka became its first-ever national athlete ambassador this year. From the beginning of the partnership, Sweetgreen’s marketing team was “in constant conversation” with Osaka to create a campaign that would not only showcase Osaka’s athleticism, but also her personality and interests. As a result, they developed the Naomi Osaka Bowl, a custom bowl featuring her favorite to-go order ingredients, along with an integrated campaign across out of home, digital and social platforms. The partnership was a chance for Sweetgreen to take the first steps toward redefining the way brands and athletes discuss the importance of healthy eating. Creating a campaign while working fully remotely is no easy feat, but Nathaniel Ru, co-founder and chief brand officer at Sweetgreen, says that “constraints tend to fuel creativity,” pushing the team to be more “communicative and collaborative.” Ru's advice for other creatives to make effective campaigns is to always question everything. “Inspiration can come at any point throughout a team project, so stay curious every step of the way,” he says. Flexibility in teamwork "In the future, our team will continue to be fluid and flexible, combining creativity, craft and technology into ideas and experiences. … Teams work incredibly fluid today, and we believe that enables creative ideas to come to fruition. This sense of flow that occurs amongst our team today will only continue to fuel our potential to create extraordinary work in the future." —Nathaniel Ru, co-founder and chief brand officer, Sweetgreen Team members: Nathaniel Ru, co-founder and chief brand officer; Thomas Wilder, executive creative director; Emily Morris, director of brand; Alexis Coulter, executive producer; Marisa Aveling, creative director, narrative; Brian Okarski, design director; Yi Mao, designer; Eric Estroff, senior brand manager; Kyra Peckaitis, brand manager; Sweetgreen Brand Studio

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Adweek's 2021 Constellation Awards Winners Epitomize the Power of Creative Collaboration

Our honorees demonstrate how top-notch teamwork often results in impactful marketing

Tiffany Moustakas

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Tiffany Moustakas