This is for anyone having a tough day.
If the person paying your salary is telling you that you're not ready to be promoted yet, remember that they have a bottom line to worry about. It is not always in their best interest to be honest with you, and themselves, about the title you should have, or what you deserve to be making. And look, maybe they're right. Maybe you're not ready yet. But don't take their opinion as gospel when they're not an unbiased source. Show your portfolio to other people in the industry who don't work at your company. Get a second, third, and fourth opinion. And don't be afraid to jump ship. There's always another, better job out there and you owe it to yourself to take it.
Awards are fine, but they are not everything. If you didn't win, remind yourself that awards are just as much about the case study video as the idea itself. Personally, I think awards are becoming less of a "thing" anyway. As clients move more of their business in-house, I think we're going to see a major paradigm shift over the next 10 years or so as fewer pieces of work are entered. I'd be surprised if award shows still exist at all in 15-20 years, except for maybe Cannes. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep thinking of stuff that will resonate with people. The public can't resist a great idea.
Some creative directors get promoted because of the awards they've won and not because of their leadership or managerial skills. It's one of the largest systemic issues in the industry. If your creative director can't empathize with you, blatantly favours other teams over yours, doesn't make themselves available to you, says things that are inappropriate or unprofessional to you, backstabs you, competes with you, or struggles to keep you motivated in a positive way, this is a sign that they don't understand their job and are perhaps unequipped do to it. And that is not your fault.
Keep going.
You've got this.