Nestlé Vietnam won big at MMA SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 with 17 awards

Nestlé Vietnam won big at MMA SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 with 17 awards

Nestlé Vietnam has collected 17 awards at a leading marketing and creative communications showcase in Vietnam, including top honours for its marketing work and its MILO brand.

Photo: Nestlé Vietnam

The company won the awards across multiple categories at MMA SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 on October 29, recognising its contributions to marketing and creative communications. Nestlé Vietnam was named 'Advertiser of the Year', recognising its efforts to drive innovation across multi-brand marketing activities, while its MILO brand took 'Most Resilient Brand of the Year'. The company also secured 15 awards across MILO, KitKat, NAN, NESCAFÉ, and MAGGI.

Binu Jacob, CEO of Nestlé Vietnam, said, “I am incredibly proud of our team and sincerely grateful to our partners for their continued support. Behind the recognition is a journey of learning, adaptation, and efforts to turn ideas into tangible value. What matters most to me is that our campaigns have successfully connected with consumers.”

He also expressed hope that these achievements would inspire young people in the advertising and creative industries to continue learning, exploring new ideas, and creating meaningful value for the community.

Among the 15 professional awards, brands within the Nestlé Vietnam family demonstrated a diverse range of approaches tailored to the specific challenges of their respective product categories.

MILO won a gold award in the 'Social Impact Marketing' category for its 'Unbenching an Active Generation' campaign, which highlights brand mission and social impact. Recognising that many children lack access to a diverse range of sports, MILO has joined forces with the community to encourage younger generations to participate in sporting activities.

In addition, MILO also scooped up three awards with its 'See Games Equal' campaign during the SEA Games in late 2025. By sharing the stories of young athletes pursuing less widely recognised sports, the campaign encouraged all athletes competing across different disciplines at the SEA Games. It secured two gold awards in the 'Diversity and Inclusive Excellence' and 'Short or Long Form Video' categories, along with a silver award in 'Brand Purpose / Activism'.

Likewise, MILO’s 'Breaking the Urban Bias' campaign also won a bronze award in the 'Advanced Technologies Marketing' category. The brand builds a model to customise coverage allocation for each locality and adopts automation technology to optimise media distribution. Thus, the campaign addressed the tendency to concentrate ad delivery in major urban areas. This approach expands MILO’s reach to rural areas while raising brand awareness and household penetration.

Another brand KitKat implements its marketing activities based on consumer insights. Its 'KitKat Turns a Global Heist into Vietnam's PR Win' campaign achieved two awards in the 'Real Time Marketing' and 'Small Budget, Big Impact' categories. Based on a major KitKat heist in Europe, KitKat has adapted the content to the Vietnamese market and turned it into a conversation that captured local attention.

In partnership with influencers, the 'KitKat Let Influencers Hijack Brand Voice' campaign was granted a gold award in the 'Creator / Influencer / Celebrity Marketing' category. Similarly, the campaign titled 'Break from Chaos: How KitKat Won the Noisiest Tet' also received a gold award in the 'Omnichannel Marketing' category, recognising its effective multichannel strategy during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Binu Jacob, CEO of Nestlé Vietnam. Photo: Nestlé Vietnam

At MMA SMARTIES Vietnam 2026, Nestlé Vietnam was honoured for its great strides in adopting AI, big data, and e-commerce in marketing actvities. A prime example is NAN infant nutrition brand with the breakthrough campaign 'The Unkeyword Search'.

By applying advanced data analytics and AI, NAN identified everyday descriptions and even incomplete search queries of first-time parents. Thus, the campaign provided accurate, science-based information to address their concerns when taking care of babies.

Thanks to this thoughtful and practical approach, the campaign brought three awards to NAN, including a gold award in the 'AI Powered Data Insights / Contextual Marketing' category and two bronze awards in 'Audience Engagement Excellence Using AI' and 'Innovative Use of AI in Advertising'.

NESCAFÉ also made its mark with the 'Go Home For Coffee' campaign for its NESCAFÉ Signature product. The brand achieved a silver award for 'New Product and / or Service Launch / Re-launch (Impact Marketing)' and a bronze award for 'Advanced Technologies Marketing'. While café culture has become an integral part of daily life, NESCAFÉ invited the Vietnamese people to come home to drink coffee. This intriguing reversal elevates the product launch beyond conventional promotional methods. It sparks curiosity, drives engagement, and makes NESCAFÉ Signature more memorable from the very moment it is introduced.

Moreover, MAGGI has secured a silver award in the 'Integrated E-commerce Innovation & Live Streaming' category for its campaign 'MAGGI Mushroom Bouillon: From Context to Commerce'. By integrating food content directly into the e-commerce shopping journey, the campaign reflected an emerging marketing trend in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. It also completed the list of 15 category awards, bringing Nestlé Vietnam's total tally at this year's event to 17.

Wrapping up MMA SMARTIES Vietnam 2026 with the 'Advertiser of the Year' title, alongside a series of awards spanning social impact initiatives, AI-powered data applications, and e-commerce, Nestlé Vietnam reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the domestic market. These achievements also contribute to raising the standards of modern marketing, where technology and creativity go hand in hand to better serve consumers' everyday needs.

VIR