Meet the visionaries and innovators of 2024.

The Advocate

This award recognizes the company demonstrating an innovative customer-first approach to creating personalized customer journeys using Adobe Experience Cloud solutions.

The winner

7-Eleven Australia redesigned its entire website and app experiences for enhanced personalization and to eliminate customer pain points.

The story

As one of Australia’s largest convenience and fuel retailers, 7-Eleven is a daily stop in its customers’ lives. As part of its digital transformation, it set the ambitious goal of delivering one billion customer moments by 2030, powered by Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Commerce, Adobe Analytics, and Adobe Campaign.

7-Eleven now delivers 250 million moments each year and boasts 1.2 million active users of its My 7-Eleven loyalty app, which accounts for 15% of online and offline sales. These connected experiences have in turn helped the business achieve a 28% lift in active digital customers and a staggering 79% increase in gross profits from its fuel and merchandise offering for loyalty club members.

The Ambassador

This award recognizes the individual who shared Adobe Experience Cloud product expertise and best practices with their colleagues to help them bring their projects to life.

The winner

Macy’s Inc. unified its in-store and digital data and fueled real-time 1:1 personalization for every customer.

The story

Macy’s Inc. is the holding company for well-known U.S. department store brands Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury, making it a household name across America. Led by Director of MarTech and AdTech Solutions Katie Klein, the company is driving an enterprise roll-out of Adobe Customer Journey Analytics across the organization.

Klein’s leadership has facilitated the creation of 42 dashboard modules that inform critical decision-making. Armed with these insights, Macy’s Inc.’s marketers and business users can deliver data-driven experiences across channels without requiring IT intervention, and while respecting the highest standards of data privacy for their customers.

Klein’s passion for innovation is matched only by her love for driving change.

“Knowing we can use [Adobe’s] solutions to innovate, activate, and measure, while learning about the people and businesses we serve is a huge part of why I truly love what I do.”

Katie Klein
Director of MarTech and AdTech Solutions.
(via LinkedIn post)

The Analyzer

This award recognizes the brand that masters data-driven decision-making with Adobe Experience Cloud to drive business growth.

The winner

Novo Nordisk (nominated by Accenture) unified its online and offline data sources and unlocked new levels of visibility across all customer journeys.

The story

Known for its therapeutic medications and devices, including the popular diabetes and anti-obesity treatments Wegovy and Ozempic, Novo Nordisk is on a mission to deliver 1:1 personalization to healthcare providers and consumers alike. Adobe Customer Journey Analytics with Healthcare Shield offered the company a single omnichannel application for reporting and insights that spans both its B2B and D2C business models.

On top of achieving a 118% lift in web conversion rates and inspiring customers to spend 44% more time on its web properties, Healthcare Shield provides Novo Nordisk with HIPAA-ready solutions that allow it to better serve every customer while protecting its highly regulated medical data.

The Catalyst

This award recognizes the company using Adobe Real-Time CDP as a catalyst to build bridges across systems and teams, unify complex data streams across audiences, and incorporate data governance best practices to automate data usage policy management at scale.

The winner

Samsung Electronics Europe (nominated by Samsung SDS Europe) integrated its online and offline data sources into single customer profiles that can be activated across 39 European countries while ensuring data governance.

The story

As a global leader in consumer electronics, Samsung understands the importance of building personal connections with customers to drive engagement, loyalty, and sales. Adobe Real-Time CDP has provided the business with a platform to unify its data across channels for more personalized customer experiences.

With this consistent and secure data foundation in place, Samsung Europe has created hundreds of millions of unified customer profiles, centralized its omnichannel activations, and increased conversions and revenue for its flagship product launches. We cannot think of a more deserving recipient of the inaugural Catalyst category in the Adobe Experience Maker Awards.

The Conductor

This award recognizes the brand optimizing its content creation and delivery workflows with Adobe Experience Cloud solutions to achieve content velocity at scale.

The winner

Pfizer built an integrated, transparent, and efficient content supply chain enhanced by the transformational power of AI.

The story

Pfizer’s name is synonymous with pharmaceuticals. The company produces life-changing medicines and vaccines for immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. It also operates in a tightly regulated industry, which means it must maintain strict control over its content creation workflows, from production to reviews, approvals, and publication.

Since launching its new workflows with Adobe Workfront, Adobe Experience Manager Sites and Assets, and Adobe Express, Pfizer has on-boarded more than 8,000 Workfront users, launched nearly 2,050 projects for 103 of its brands in 48 markets, and accelerated content creation by 80%. The company is now leveraging AI to make its content supply chain even more efficient.

The Disrupter

This award recognizes the company delivering personalized, immersive shopping experiences for B2C, B2B, or hybrid customers and fueling growth using Adobe Commerce.

The winner

KFC Malaysia (nominated by VML) innovated with promotions and ecommerce services that integrate smoothly with backend systems.

The story

Part of QSR Brands, which operates more than 850 KFC and 500 Pizza Hut restaurants across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Cambodia, KFC Malaysia faces fierce competition from food aggregator services. To outpace its rivals, KFC needed a flexible, customizable ecommerce platform that could support differentiated experiences and scale as the business grows.

With Adobe Commerce as its headless ecommerce platform, KFC Malaysia rolled out customer dynamic menus, gamified customer experiences, and in-house fulfilment in just 10 months, driving up digital transactions 16% and boosting its quarterly revenue nearly 20%.

The Engager

This award recognizes the company delivering personalized customer engagements that drive measurable results through Adobe Experience Cloud marketing automation tools.

The winner

Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu India Unlimited deployed a laser-focused personalization engine, driving significant improvements across the entire funnel.

The story

Deloitte’s 420,000 employees in 150 countries empower client success through industry expertise and cutting-edge technology. Powered by Adobe Marketo Engage, Adobe Experience Manager, and Adobe Target, the company replaced its scatter-shot marketing with a laser-focused personalization engine.

Its transformation has delivered significant improvements across the entire funnel, including a 74% acceleration in lead qualification, a 22% improvement in qualified lead conversion, and an 18% increase in the speed of closed deals.

“Companies must prioritize personalizing experiences at scale to understand their audience. Our top tip is investing in platforms and strategies that seamlessly integrate customer data and AI-powered insights to drive efficiency and individualization.”

Darshil Shah
Senior Consultant

The Maverick

This award recognizes the company that pioneered innovative customer experiences through out-of-the-box strategies and transformative use cases of Adobe Experience Cloud solutions.

The winner

In a sector known for focusing more on products than people, TSB Bank emphasized personalized omnichannel experiences that put customers at the heart of financial services.

The story

Launched in 2013, TSB Bank is one of the UK’s most trusted retail banks with over five million customers across the country. It was the first financial services company in Europe and the UK to adopt Adobe Experience Platform. In combination with Adobe Real-Time CDP, Adobe Journey Optimizer, Adobe Customer Journey Analytics, and Adobe Workfront, TSB delivers real-time customer experiences and journey management across every channel.

These investments have allowed TSB to guide customers to relevant products using AI-powered analytics and data modeling. Mobile now represents 80% of the bank’s revenues, up from 35%, helping it to boost mobile sales eight-fold. A recent use case for TSB’s personalized loan offering saw the bank increase sales by an impressive 300%.

The Transformer

This award recognizes the company that has made a strategic shift in its operational model to create a digital-first go-to-market approach that leads to measurable business growth through Adobe Experience Cloud solutions.

The winner

PRISA transformed its editorial and marketing operations from a traditional one-size-fits-all model to a data-driven, personalized approach.

The story

PRISA is one of the largest Spanish-language media companies in the world. Using Adobe Real-Time CDP to create real-time customer profiles, Adobe Analytics for deeper insight into customer behavior, and Adobe Campaign to target its audiences with relevant content, PRISA grew its digital customer base by 50% and its subscriptions by 18%.

The company has also achieved open rates of 40% for its digital newsletters, helping the business to connect and become a trusted information source for digital readers. Looking to the future, PRISA is focused on embedding Generative AI into its execution strategy.

“Our approach should encompass tactical solutions, such as building a user-friendly data dictionary, and strategic initiatives, like creating AI-based assistants for content discovery.”

Nicolas Lozano Argüelles
Director of Digital Strategy

Americas

The winner

Ajay Kapoor, Global Director of Performance Driven Marketing (PDM) at General Motors, spearheaded an enterprise-wide initiative to transform customer experiences with Adobe Experience Cloud.

The story

GM is America’s largest automaker, known for brands like Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac. Led by Kapoor, its PDM Team partners with brands across the organization to deliver data-driven customer experiences that drive growth.

Kapoor’s technical expertise, unique insights, and ability to win the support of GM’s senior executives have been instrumental in driving the company’s success. Among their many milestones, his team launched GM’s first-ever omnichannel customer journey and continues to evolve customer experiences through Adobe’s real-time analytics, advanced segmentation, and AI initiatives to drive powerful business results.

“At GM, we're embracing true omnichannel experiences, reacting in real-time to customer online interactions. Our aim is to tailor these experiences to be highly relevant, personalized, and with ‘Zero Friction.’ With Adobe’s partnership, we're pioneering ways to leverage their capabilities, including GenAI, to deepen these personalized connections everywhere, at scale.”

Ajay Kapoor
Global Director of Performance Driven Marketing

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

The winner

Under CIO Marcel Alet, the Palladium Hotel Group is boosting the profitability of its owned channels by delivering meaningful customer experiences that promote engagement, loyalty, and revenue.

The story

Headquartered in Spain, Palladium Hotel Group operates more than 50 luxury hotels in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America. With an emphasis on meaningful customer experiences, the Group joined forces with Adobe to drive frictionless self-service through its digital channels, optimize its call center services, and engage customers.

Alet selected Adobe Real-Time CDP and Adobe Journey Optimizer to underpin Palladium’s journey, helping the Group to create four million customer profiles. Thanks to his efforts, Palladium Hotel Group has doubled its web traffic and realized a 40% lift in conversions since 2020. Alet’s big bet for 2024 is AI-driven personalization that offers guests tailored experiences before, during, and after their stay.

“Focus on the human element alongside technology. Even with automation, creating genuine connections remains the key to building lasting loyalty.”

Marcel Alet
CIO

Japan and Asia-Pacific

The winner

Digital Area Lead Paul Wallace repeatedly proves the value of digital channels in fueling growth for 7-Eleven Australia, securing its position as one of the country’s most innovative companies.

The story

Setting the ambitious goals of quadrupling delivery of customer moments to one billion and increasing digital transactions to 28% of revenue by 2030, Wallace led the relaunch of 7-Eleven’s app experiences using Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Commerce, Adobe Analytics, and Adobe Campaign.

The company’s My 7-Eleven application has since earned a 4.8- out of 5-star rating based on over 180,000 reviews. Most importantly for 7-Eleven, app members fill up their fuel tanks six times more frequently than non-members, increasing fuel sales by 460 million liters year-on-year.

“Value for our customers is more about product than price. Our goal is personalization that drives value and reduces decision fatigue for customers.”

Paul Wallace
Digital Area Lead

Americas

The winner

U.S. Bank transformed its online and in-branch customer experiences through data-driven personalization.

The story

Headquartered in Minneapolis, U.S. Bank has more than 2,000 branches across the United States. With a mandate from their CEO to better serve customers through mobile self-service banking, and with the end of support for third-party cookies on the horizon, U.S. Bank’s Digital Transformation Team partnered with Adobe to modernize their approach.

Backed by the business’ largest ever martech investment, the team adopted Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Journey Optimizer, Adobe Real-Time CDP, and Adobe Target. Two years later, U.S. Bank had increased booked accounts across its retail banking products by 300%, saw a 184-fold surge in its deposit conversions, and cut its launch time for new campaigns by 80%.

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

The winner

Prashaant Huria, Vice President of Global eB2B at Unilever (nominated by Accenture), led a B2B transformation that delivered double-digit rises in sales and order value.

The story

Unilever is one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, with $65 billion in annual sales. Led by Huria, the company launched a major modernization project with Adobe Commerce to broaden its reach with small- and medium-sized companies and expand its $16 billion distributive trade business.

Unilever has since deployed a successful B2B loyalty program for distributive trade, personalized distributor experiences across its supply chain, gained near real-time persona-based insights to inform its decision-making, and established end-to-end order status visibility — all while ensuring its mobile app meets accessibility and sustainability guidelines. An initial roll-out of the project led to a 22% rise in gross sales and a 19% jump in average order value.

Asia-Pacific

The winner

News Corp Australia’s Data Technology Capabilities Team drove subscriptions and grew its addressable audience.

The story

With over 150 brands across print, digital, social, and audio channels, News Corp Australia delivers lifestyle, business, news, and sports content to 18.2 million Australians. Using Adobe Real-Time CDP, the Data Technology Capabilities Team created unified customer profiles that can be stitched to affiliate data and activated in real-time.

New Corp Australia has since created more than 20 million profiles, parcelled out to 10,000 audience segments. This unified view has helped the company grow its addressable audience in Google Ad Manager by 40% and activate profiles across 130 digital properties, all while ensuring compliance with Australian data privacy regulation, positioning its business for future success.

“Hard work pays off! Our teams have been working for nearly two years to get the company best placed for a cookieless world with privacy always top of mind! As Bruce Lee used to say, ‘Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.’ 💪“

Stefania Accardo
Head of Data Technology Capabilities
(via LinkedIn post)

Japan

The winner

Thanks to Data Architect Haruna Hashimoto, Recruit Co., Ltd. is on track to become a data-driven organization powered by advanced analytics.

The story

Established in Tokyo in 1960, Recruit offers mid-career recruiting, placement, and staffing services for businesses and job seekers alike. It also owns global job search engine Indeed. Hashimoto’s team leveraged Adobe Analytics to power A/B testing, optimize participation in its loyalty campaigns, and continuously enhance its digital user experiences.

Hashimoto’s close relationship with Recruit’s executives ensures her team delivers on the business’ ever-growing data and analytics needs. By using Adobe Analytics to transform data collection processes and introduce key efficiencies, Recruit cut the time needed to manage accounts by 80% each month, freeing up its analysts to focus on activities that enhance customer experiences. Additionally, automated performance monitoring has helped Recruit to cut its number of reporting suites in half.

“We constantly ask ourselves what state should we be in, and what do I want to achieve? With so many tasks to complete, it is essential for companies to imagine the future they want to create to bring their goals to life.”

Haruna Hashimoto
Data Architect