TBWA Tops the Effies Awards SA

The Effie Awards South Africa have been announced, with TBWA\Hunt Lascaris and its client, City Lodge Hotel Group, winning the Grand Effie 2025.

The agency won gold for the SOS – Save Our Stay campaign.

Three other agencies and their clients also won gold – Ogilvy SA and VW, Accenture Song and Sanlam and Halo with Pineapple.

The winners were announced at a glittering event at The Venue, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg last night, Tuesday, 21 October.

The programme recorded 44% year-on-year growth in entries, with 26 trophies awarded and 44 campaigns shortlisted as finalists — underscoring continued momentum and the industry’s sharpened focus on measured effectiveness.

“Effectiveness is disciplined creativity — the fusion of insight, imagination and evidence that turns strategy into growth. With continued growth this year, the bar keeps rising, and so does the quality of the proof presented.

“The 2025 winners demonstrate what Effie stands for: clarity of problem, originality of solution and hard, verifiable results. Their cases are a reminder that effectiveness isn’t a buzzword; it’s the discipline of making strategy, creativity and measurement work as one,” said Gillian Rightford, ACA executive director for Effie South Africa.

As part of Effie’s global framework, all finalists and winners earn points on the global Effie Index, contributing to worldwide effectiveness rankings. In addition, all Gold winners qualify for Effie’s Global Best of the Best competition.

Looking ahead, Effie and Ipsos will present the 2025 Effie Awards South Africa Ipsos Trends Report, continuing the evidence-led series that examines what drives marketing effectiveness among South Africa’s Effie winners. Details will be announced soon.

All the winners

Bronze
Category	Lead agency	Client	Brand	Title	Contributing companies
Transportation	Joe Public	Uber Eats South Africa	Uber Black	Uber Black: So good you’ll find a reason	They Films, Phd (South Africa)
Timely Opportunity	M+C Saatchi Abel	Mr D	Mr D	How Mr D got South Africa’s vote of approval during elections	Razor PR, Listen Loft
Timely Opportunity	TBWA Hunt Lascaris	Savanna Cider	Savanna	Try January	Vision HQ, Dentsu Red Star, Urban Striker,
Sustained Success – Products, Services	Ogilvy	Mondelez SA	Mondelez: Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate	Selfish to Shareable: Cadbury’s South African Success Story	STARCOM, starcom south africa, hogarth worldwide cape town, Promidea
Social Good – Brands / Positive Change	Joe Public	Amnesty International	Amnesty International	Faeces Ink: Reigniting Attention Around a National Shame	Juno, Joe Public Engage
Omni-Channel Shopper Solution / Commerce & Shopper Effies	99cents	Shoprite Group of Companies	CHECKERS	Little Shop Goes Xtra	Rainmaker Media, PHD South Africa, Video Cartel
Media Innovation – Emerging & New Channels, Existing Channels / Media Effies	Joe Public	Amnesty International	Amnesty International	Faeces Ink: Reigniting Attention Around a National Shame	Juno, Joe Public Engage
Marketing Innovation Solutions	TBWA Hunt Lascaris	Savanna Cider	Savanna South Africa	Savanna Neat: It’s Giving	Vision HQ, Dentsu Red Star, Urban Striker
Marketing Disruptors	Ogilvy	Volkswagen SA	Volkswagen	#ShouldaGotAVivo: VW’s Masterclass on end-of-product-life-cycle marketing disruption.
Influencer Marketing	Ogilvy	Gates Foundation	The Gates Foundation	Influence With Impact: #ForeverWena’s Culture-Driven Approach to Youth HIV Awareness
Finance	Joe Public	Nedbank	Nedbank	Bank Your Time – How Nedbank reframed digital banking by turning time into a currency	The MediaShop
Disease Awareness & Education: Non-Profit	Ogilvy	The Gates Foundation	The Gates Foundation	FROM SHAME TO SELF-LOVE: How #FOREVERWENA Revolutionised HIV Prevention.
Current Events	M+C Saatchi Abel	Mr D	Mr D	How Mr D got South Africa’s vote of approval during elections	Razor PR, Listen Loft
Beverages – Alcohol	Ogilvy	ABInbev	Carling Black Label	From Decline to Dominance: Carling Black Label’s 8-Year Journey of Purpose-Driven Sustained Success.
Silver
Sustained Success – Products, Services	Ogilvy	ABInbev	Carling Black Label	From Decline to Dominance: Carling Black Label’s 8-Year Journey of Purpose-Driven Sustained Success.
Small Budgets – Non-Profit, Products, Services	Joe Public	Amnesty International	Amnesty International	Faeces Ink: Reigniting Attention Around a National Shame	Juno, Joe Public Engage
Small Budgets – Non-Profit, Products, Services	M+C Saatchi Abel (1st lead agency), Razor PR (2nd lead agency)	Gun Free South Africa	Gun Free South Africa	Firing A Silver Bullet That Turned Apathy into Policy Action	Strangelovepost, Listen Loft
Media Innovation / Commerce & Shopper Effies	TBWA\Hunt Lascaris	City Lodge Hotel Group	City Lodge Hotel Group	Save Our Stay (SOS)	PHD South Africa, OnPoint PR and Lifestyle Management, Instreem
Media Innovation – Emerging & New Channels, Existing Channels / Media Effies	Ogilvy	KFC SA	KFC	Block Booked
Marketing Disruptors	TBWA\Hunt Lascaris	City Lodge Hotel Group	City Lodge Hotel Group	Save Our Stay (SOS)	PHD South Africa, OnPoint PR and Lifestyle Management, Instreem
Automotive – Vehicles	Ogilvy	Volkswagen SA	Volkswagen	#ShouldaGotaVivo: How VW used competitor drivers to sell their Vivos
Gold
Travel & Tourism	TBWA\Hunt Lascaris	City Lodge Hotel Group	City Lodge Hotel Group	Save Our Stay (SOS)	PHD South Africa, OnPoint PR and Lifestyle Management, Instreem
Social Good – Brands / Positive Change	Ogilvy	Volkswagen SA	Volkswagen South Africa	Volkswagen Night School: Rewriting the Rules of the Road saving lives and building brand	Bonfire
Finance	Accenture Song	Sanlam	Sanlam	Sanlam “The F-Show”	Incubeta, Kintaro
Sustained Success – Products, Services	Halo	Pineapple	Pineapple	100% Sustained Results: How Being Totes Honest Totes Helped Pineapple Soar
Grand
Travel & Tourism	TBWA\Hunt Lascaris	City Lodge Hotel Group	City Lodge Hotel Group	Save Our Stay (SOS)	PHD South Africa, OnPoint PR and Lifestyle Management, Instreem