Toyota, L'Oréal, ALDI, Uber and Australian Lamb among inaugural Hashtag Australia finalists

ALDI, Uber, Toyota, L'Oréal, MILKLAB and Australian Lamb are just a few of the major brands shortlisted for the inaugural Hashtag Australia Awards, as MARKETING-INTERACTIVE prepares to recognise some of the country's best social and influencer marketing work.

The debut shortlist spans 20 categories, bringing together brands, agencies and creators behind campaigns ranging from community engagement and always-on social strategy to creator partnerships, influencer collaborations and social-led brand experiences.

Among the finalists is ALDI's Good Influence: ALDI's Always-On Trust Engine, developed with Social Soup, while Toyota Australia and Havas Red have been shortlisted for the carmaker's social media community engagement work.

L'Oréal Australia has also made the cut with Garnier's Always-On Strategy 2026, developed by Havas Play, while Uber is represented with its Uber Drift campaign.

Other shortlisted work includes Wombat Wednesday from WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo, Glowchella for Kao Australia's Bondi Sands brand and Hard Work Wins from the Australian Institute of Business.

Did you make the cut? See the full list of finalists here.

Meat & Livestock Australia is also among the finalists with its Australian Lamb Lamb Recruitment campaign, created with One Green Bean and UM.

MILKLAB features on the shortlist with its Floating Café campaign, which took Australian coffee culture to Thailand with support from Vivaldi PR, Beyond the Cloud Events and WE-Interactive Social Media Agency.

Stanley 1913 has been recognised for its 5to9 Club campaign with Praytell, while Subway's Serving Up Impact campaign, involving Influential Australia, One Day Dream, MGMT and Icon Management, is among the shortlisted creator-led work.

The influencer categories also feature Accor's All Accor Creator Academy, the Hong Kong Tourism Board's Saved It, Booked It, Ate It In Hong Kong campaign and IFM Investors' partnership with Thanh Truong, better known as the Fruit Nerd.

The awards make their Australian debut after five years in Southeast Asia, recognising work that goes beyond generating views and likes to demonstrate creative effectiveness, audience understanding and commercial impact.

Briony Kent, head of marketing at Salomon Australia and New Zealand and a member of the judging panel, said the strongest entries showed a clear understanding of social as a way to build relationships rather than simply distribute advertising.

"The best entries didn't treat social as a place to drop an ad. They treated it as a place to build community, and you could feel the difference straight away," Kent said.

"Seeing that level of craft across such a diverse mix of industries tells me Australian brands are well and truly done with one-size-fits-all content."

Yasha Chandra, digital marketing manager, auto at Honda Australia, said the most effective campaigns demonstrated clear strategic thinking and increasingly treated creators as genuine partners in brand development.

"The most effective work recognised that creators are no longer simply a tactical channel for distribution. Instead, they are active co-creators of the brand itself, helping to shape its identity, relevance, and connection with audiences in authentic and meaningful ways," Chandra said.

Emma Losco, PR leader at IKEA Australia and New Zealand, said the quality of submissions made judging difficult, particularly given the strength of audience understanding across the shortlisted work.

"The quality of entries this year made judging difficult! Beyond the creativity and fresh ideas, what stood out most to me was the way entrants had such a clear understanding of the people they were trying to reach," Losco said.

The inaugural Hashtag Australia Awards will announce its Gold, Silver and Bronze winners at a reception in Sydney on 20 November.

The full list of finalists is available on the awards website.

For more information about the awards reception, contact Czarina at CzarinaS@lighthousemedia.com.sg.