2025 Winners

Case Summary

CLEAR Men became the world’s number one men’s shampoo brand by leveraging Cristiano Ronaldo's god-like testosterone-driven image consistently for years. But Ronaldo’s recent on-field behaviour doesn’t appeal to today’s cultural sensibilities. Moreover, Gen Z men see men's care products that embrace a hyper-masculine image as “basic”. Some Gen Z men even go as far to see shampoos marketed to women as superior, given their focus on hair strength, volume, and shine. This case documents CLEAR’s successful brand refresh to become relevant to both Gen Z men and its existing consumers.

Case Summary

Mercedes-Benz claimed No.1 in luxury car sales at the Bangkok International Motor Show 2024 by moving beyond the traditional approach to celebrating the cultural affection Thai people have—so much so that many name their children after “Mercedes-Benz”. The campaign blended Thailand-only insight with creative storytelling, turning individuals named “Benz” into brand ambassadors. Their stories captivated the nation, garnering over 2 million views within two days and achieving the highest engagement amongst automotive brands during the Motor Show. What better testament could there be to the love for Mercedes-Benz than naming “Benz”?

Case Summary

Parents wear helmets while riding but believe their kids can go without, as their parental love is enough to protect them. TVS’ ‘Protect Little Riders’ campaign aimed at making parents aware of this glaring blind spot in their parenting by calling out their action as unparenting and walked the talk by launching a line of kids helmets. Although cultural behaviours take time to change, the campaign success can be gauged by online user engagement, safety imagery growth, increase in sales for children’s helmets, and TVS being honored by governing authorities.

Case Summary

How does a market leader grow in a universally penetrated category? For Colgate, the only solution was increasing brushing frequency, specifically at night – a monumental challenge as this habit isn’t practiced by over 80% of Indians. Indians also love post-dinner sweets, so using the established belief that sweets cause cavities, we told India a Sweet Truth – they were brushing their teeth with sweets at night, not toothpaste. Leading to a marked behaviour shift towards night brushing, growing brand volumes to its highest point in five years.

Case Summary

Vaseline turned adversity into opportunity, showcasing a unique and innovative approach to influencer marketing in Indonesia’s challenging beauty market. Faced with declining market share, boycotts of Western brands, and competition from low-cost alternatives, Vaseline leveraged the authentic story of Gaby, an Indonesian woman with albinism, to demonstrate its sunscreen's superior efficacy. The campaign aimed to rebuild trust and justify our premium pricing. The results exceeded objectives: increased sales, regained market leadership, improved brand imagery, and unprecedented engagement, proving the power of authenticity and purpose-driven storytelling.

Case Summary

~732Mn Indians. Disrespected. Intimidated. Excluded. Denied access to organised credit due to a lack of documents. Piramal introduces a loan with fewer documents. We just needed to advertise the product, right? But the challenge? Too much residual baggage. What broke through? A human virtue our TG possessed in abundance – 'NEEYAT' (Character + Intent). The Results? Consideration increased by 190%. 1.8Mn people embraced the world of organised credit. Disbursals increased by 47%. Branch productivity increased by 49%. Disbursal to login ratio improved by 41%. Empanelled direct selling agents grew by 210%.

Case Summary

The "Sasa Food Feud" campaign revitalized Sasa Santan (coconut milk) by tapping into Indonesia's love for debate and the generational divide in cooking. By pitting two prominent food influencers – one young and one old, against each other, we showcased Sasa Santan as a versatile ingredient for both traditional and modern dishes. The campaign achieved its objectives of increasing brand usage among young consumers while driving business growth. Results included increased value share, massive sales growth, and measurable penetration into younger demographics, proving Sasa Santan’s relevance across diverse culinary preferences.

Case Summary

Within the polluted landscape of public health information, it’s harder than ever for governments to have a persuasive conversation with citizens about their health. That difficulty is magnified when the conversation revolves around ‘reducing sexually transmitted infections’, and the section of the public you most need to influence is young people who are highly sensitive to cringe and sceptical of the government. By shifting our audience's entire approach to STI testing, we slowed an unprecedented spread of infections, and proved that governments can still be the most powerful health messenger.

Case Summary

In Thailand, intimate health is a taboo topic, leaving women too embarrassed to discuss or understand their bodies. Many ignore their symptoms or attempt self-treatment, unaware of specialist solutions. Canesbalance, a bacterial vaginosis gel, aimed to accelerate category growth by raising awareness about women’s intimate health. We launched Kiki Voice, a multi-sensorial art exhibition designed for learning, talkability, and shareability, encouraging women to “listen” to “Kiki” (their vagina) without shame. The campaign sparked nationwide conversations, achieving 8.2M reach and 7.2M engagements, and breaking both sales and visitor records!

Case Summary

Buckaroo: Reimagining Footwear Solutions Through Local Expertise. For millions living with clubfoot, traditional footwear remains inaccessible and unaffordable. By transforming local cobbler workshops into specialized centers, Buckaroo bridges this gap, bringing expert orthopedic solutions to those in need. Our innovative approach combines traditional craftsmanship with modern orthopedic design, empowering 4,500 local cobblers to become change-makers. Through these partnerships, we've transformed 228,000+ lives, helping individuals stand taller, walk confidently, and participate fully in life. Each pair of shoes represents not just mobility, but dignity restored.

Case Summary

How do we launch a 100% online health insurance brand in a market where only 2% is bought online? Our solution was to turn cultural capital into economic capital. We used Bollywood to raise the right question and roped in Munna & Circuit (two Iconic Bollywood movie characters) to question the state of health insurance in the country. By selling insurance policies worth 7.97Mn USD (2 times more than any other health insurance brand), ACKO set the new record for the highest premiums generated in the 1st year of launch.

Case Summary

Japan’s McGriddles has always been the most asked-for overseas McDonald’s product in Hong Kong. To launch the product, we created "MaccyLeaks", a covert campaign to stir fan conversation and hype. We first fuelled buzz with micro-influencers confessing their love and even creating DIY recipes. Once hype was at its highest, we “leaked” an internal memo announcing McGriddles’ arrival, creating a citywide frenzy. The campaign drove the most successful product launch in McDonald’s Hong Kong history, selling 1 million units within three days in a city of 7.4 million people.

Case Summary

We’ve seen many combats in the history of brands and advertising. Cola v cola; Burger v burger; Mac v PC But… this case talks of a new combat. Ritual v ritual. The ritual of ‘twist-lick-dunk’ versus… Read on. JimJam Pops launched with a new anti-ritual, and despite being priced higher than its competitors, it grew faster. Not just that, it’s advertising also made its 18 year old elder sibling, the base variant JimJam, grow faster than the category. Here’s to the real power of a ritual combat.

Case Summary

What do you do when a new product doesn’t fit the category norms? You re-invent the category. While whitening toothpastes tout science for impactful, permanent whitening, Colgate Optic White Purple delivered instant, but temporary visual effects. So instead of selling oral science, we launched it as a cosmetic beauty hack. We targeted instant gratification obsessed Gen Z with social-first lifestyle demos, bringing a whole new group of users into the whitening category. By re-imagining product disadvantage as disruption, we took whitening from the bathroom sink to the vanity table.

Case Summary

Late by two decades, with haphazard marketing, and battling behemoths like Naukri and Monster whose shares crossed 90%, Indeed had a fight on its hands. To grow, we needed to throw the rulebook out the window. We began with disruption in audience: in a white-collar fixated category, we spoke to SMBs: an overlooked, unyielding audience hiring (almost exclusively) from their social circles. To change behaviour, we disrupted communication, choosing humour-driven storytelling over classic stock-imagery-led B2B codes. Consequently, we drove Indeed’s biggest-ever revenue spike, increasing year-on-year share by +40%. Disruption? Indeed.

Case Summary

You may be sceptical of a fried chicken brand bragging about launching a fried chicken restaurant in a country obsessed with fried chicken. But launching a new QSR brand in a highly competitive market is hard at the best of times. Add in limited budget and ambitious sales targets and the challenge compounds. This is the story of launching Popeyes in NZ. With a creative platform that harnessed bragging rights and turned early adopters into influencers. Trumping over 35 countries to deliver the #1 Popeyes launch IN THE WORLD.

Case Summary

Often thought as a global fast-food giant, we sought to make McDonald’s feel like Macca’s, a proudly local, and loved Kiwi restaurant chain. Centred around a universally relatable truth, our ‘Driver Tax’ film was Macca’s most effective brand-building asset (Kantar), and it ranked 5th in the nation’s favourite ads (TRA). Kiwis engaged in the brand in new ways as passengers calculated their taxes in the app, and 495k passengers received ‘Bonus Fries’ to help them pay. In challenging times, which included a contracting category, Kiwis were lovin’ it more than ever.

Case Summary

In 2023, ALDI tackled Australia's cost-of-living perma-crisis with ‘Good Different’ value, challenging competitor dominance. Instead of predictable category “ham wars”, ALDI’s Christmas campaign, ‘Go Big On The Little Things’, celebrated the many little things that make Christmas special, proving that ALDI’s quality seasonal sides at everyday low prices can help Aussies afford big Christmas value, whilst liberating them from their Christmas compromise deja vu.

Case Summary

In Japan’s aging society, many seniors struggle with shukatsu—the emotionally fraught process of end-of-life decluttering. Parting with cherished belongings, especially clothing, feels like letting go of memories and confronting mortality. Safari, a vintage clothing brand, launched Second Life, a platform that transforms garments into living stories. Seniors donated clothing, which was paired with personal histories and visualized through generative AI. By positioning itself as a purveyor of stories rather than just a retailer, Safari reimagined shukatsu, proving that letting go can spark new beginnings.

Case Summary

Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in 2022. Tourism was key to Sri Lanka’s GDP, but by 2024 it became oxygen. However, there were no funds for a tourism campaign. The nation’s fate lay on the wings of the national carrier SriLankan Airlines. To resuscitate the nation’s economy, SriLankan Airlines zeroed in on India, its largest tourist source market. But sun-sea-sand wasn’t enough to lure Indians to Sri Lanka. This is the story of how an Indian mythology offered the proverbial tailwind to SriLankan Airlines and the nation.

Case Summary

Gut health is finally booming—but the simplest truth got lost in the hype: a healthy gut starts with a daily yogurt. Instead, gut pretenders pushed flashy yet misleading claims, luring people away from the real gut O.G., Dutchie! Dutchie must ‘Fight for Thais' Gut!’ to snap people’s senses back—a soap opera showdown exposing one hard truth: "Your gut will never be healthy if you keep letting pretenders steal your gut-truth!" The campaign put yogurt back as the gut’s true daily essential—boosting daily consumption by +18%.

Case Summary

How does a brand manage to sell as many cars as the previous top-seller sells in a year under 3 days – without a single test drive? For in-a-hurry electric-vehicle (EV) maverick VinFast who was seeking to secure first-mover advantage with the launch of its affordable VinFast VF 3, the breakthrough was seeking inspiration from the world of pop-culture drops rather than the standard drawn-out car buying marathon. By collapsing the funnel, driving hype typically reserved for fashion or music drops, and making purchase effortless, VinFast sold 27,649 VF 3's in 66 hours.

Case Summary

Not a fan. Not an A.C. It’s an air-cooler. Air-coolers have cooled the dry, scorching Indian summers for the last 30 years. Symphony created this category, became the leader, and became legacy, but was now in extreme danger of becoming a fading star. Why? Consumer durables giants entered at the top-end. Discounted players were commoditising an undifferentiated category. We unearthed air-cooler’s ‘distinctive cooling experience’. Strangely, never ever claimed in the category’s existence. Our work drove 76 % growth in a single-digit growth category. More importantly, it brought Symphony back.

Case Summary

For Savlon, growth meant winning over kids to win over households. But kids hate being forced to obey. So, Savlon reframed handwashing from a mandatory chore to a cool cultural act. Instead of ads, Savlon used branded content with rapper Emiway Bantai, to turn hip-hop’s hand-rub action into a handwashing cue. Our content turned handwashing into entertainment – trending at #1 on YouTube, amassing 80Mn minutes of watch-time, and earning 26hrs of UGC. The efforts fuelled a 23% jump in household penetration and an 18% sales surge for Savlon Handwash.

Case Summary

Motherhood is often called the “most important job in the world”. …But real moms feel anything but. Research tells us 95% still feel unappreciated, unacknowledged, or unseen in their roles as mothers. In Vietnam, Grab discovered that pregnant / new moms felt like “solo soldiers”, facing physical mobility barriers that tech brands rarely empathise with. We launched a new opt-in service “Grab4Mom assisted comfort rides”, designed specifically to support moms through multiple medical check-ups, additional grocery / baby supplies shopping, and more.

Case Summary

Gatorade was built to fuel play, but in Mumbai, urbanization and disappearing spaces put that purpose at risk. Without play, hydration had no role. Instead of pushing consumption, Gatorade created Turf Finder—a data-driven tool that unlocked playable spaces in the city’s most crowded areas, enabling access to sports. By activating 150+ play locations, the campaign provided 10,000+ man hours of play and engaged 1,000+ participants. Turf Finder wasn’t just marketing—it was a brand-led service that reinforced Gatorade’s core belief: before hydration can fuel play, play must exist.

Case Summary

The footwear industry has long overlooked India's 1.3 million individuals with clubfoot, forcing them to struggle with ill-fitting shoes or rely on expensive custom options. Most resort to uncomfortable modifications of regular footwear, seeking help from neighbourhood cobblers. Enter Buckaroo, a small, innovative brand that transformed this challenge into an opportunity. Recognizing local cobblers as trusted allies and influencers of the clubfoot community, we developed a groundbreaking partnership model. By equipping these skilled craftsmen with specialized materials and training, Buckaroo empowered 228,000 clubfoot individuals to become co-creators of their footwear solutions.

Case Summary

Warning: this is an unusual Effie case. It’s not about one campaign's effectiveness but how Grab enhances effectiveness across ALL campaigns. A team of in-house marketers, analysts, and engineers created Mystique, a proprietary tool leveraging ChatGPT. Mystique saves time, boosts engagement rates, and delivers business uplift across EVERY Grab campaign. Today, Mystique saves 99% of hours spent on developing thousands of marcomm assets while generating higher conversions.

Case Summary

After a failed launch the previous year, Lee Kum Kee instant noodles was an un-noticed, distant No. 5 in a category where active consideration includes 3 brands at maximum. Building on the insight that really great food is gone before you remember to photograph it, we hijacked and reset "food porn" social behaviors with a shot of an empty bowl and the un-apologetic slogan "So F_ing Delicious". Selling noodles without showing noodles helped us leap into cultural and category relevance and catapult the brand from No. 5 to No. 2, with sales tripling year-on-year.

Case Summary

Oreo had 3 weapons. Twist-lick-dunk: its global brand platform, outrageously large media monies, and Dhoni: cricket superstar and Oreo pony. JimJam had 1 weapon: an idea. And 1/6th of Oreo’s budget, no less. Instead of leveraging the Cricket World Cup as just a media property, JimJam leveraged a superstition. With a Bold POV on India’s World Cup chances. JimJam partnered with ex-cricketing icons on social media and meme pages, creating a national movement among 1.4 billion Indians. Result? JimJam GREW 32.2%, 3.5 times the category growth.

Case Summary

In 1974, Big Mac jingle went viral before "viral" was a thing. Four generations of Australians knew it, but for Gen Z, the Big Mac was “Dad’s burger”. To reintroduce McDonald’s iconic burger, we launched The Original Mouthful: an experience-led campaign inviting Gen Z to co-create jingles on their platforms, with free Coke and fries as the prize. The result? Parents vs. kids, celebrities, even Australia’s Prime Minister joined in. With 41M seconds of jingling, 2.19M social reach, and 7:1 ROI, we reignited love for the Big Mac across generations.

Case Summary

Gatorade brought its core purpose to life through a live brand experience that fueled play instead of just selling hydration. In Mumbai, where space for sports was disappearing, it created Turf Finder—a tool that turned crowded streets into real sports arenas. By analyzing 20 years of Google Maps data, Gatorade identified low-traffic windows across 150+ locations, where physical turfs for football, basketball, and cricket were laid, making play possible. This enabled 10,000+ man hours of real sports participation. Sports became accessible again, with Gatorade fuelling every game.

Case Summary

Gamers in New Zealand feel left behind. The community is small, left off global event calendars, with little chance of being a serious gamer if you stay here. Through rigorous audience understanding and meaningful action, we helped to give New Zealand gamers a world-first experience, for a change. First, we launched the country’s biggest ever gaming festival. Then we infected it with a virus, turning the entire event into one giant playable co-op game, Killabyte. We drove enormous engagement, increased brand consideration, and gained commercial success in return.

Case Summary

Savlon made Handwashing a cultural movement. Savlon knew winning over kids meant winning over households. But kids don’t follow rules, they follow culture, so we reframed handwashing from a ‘chore’ to a ‘cool cultural act’. Partnering with rap icon Emiway Bantai, Savlon turned the hip-hop hand-rub action into a handwashing cue. The campaign trended at #1 on YouTube, amassing 80Mn minutes of watch-time and inspiring 26 hours of UGC, and earned media worth US$ 180k, leading to a 23% jump in penetration and an 18% sales spike for Savlon Handwash.

Case Summary

Vaseline turned adversity into opportunity, showcasing a unique and innovative approach to influencer marketing in Indonesia’s challenging beauty market. Faced with declining market share, boycotts of Western brands, and competition from low-cost alternatives, Vaseline leveraged the authentic story of Gaby, an Indonesian woman with albinism, to demonstrate its sunscreen's superior efficacy. The campaign aimed to rebuild trust and justify our premium pricing. The results exceeded objectives: increased sales, regained market leadership, improved brand imagery, and unprecedented engagement, proving the power of authenticity and purpose-driven storytelling.

Case Summary

How does a brand manage to sell as many cars under 3 days as the previous top-seller sells in a year – without a single test-drive? For in-a-hurry electric-vehicle (EV) maverick VinFast seeking to secure first-mover advantage with the launch of its affordable VinFast VF 3, the breakthrough was seeking inspiration from the world of pop-culture drops rather than the standard drawn-out car buying marathon. By collapsing the funnel, driving hype typically reserved for fashion or music drops, and making purchase effortless, VinFast sold 27,649 VF 3's in 66 hours.

Case Summary

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of McDonald’s Hong Kong. To celebrate 50 years of shared memories between McDonald’s and the people of Hong Kong, we identified the perfect device to stir nostalgia – the iconic Ronald McDonald Bench. We placed 50 benches at 50 symbolic locations across the city, turning each bench into a nostalgic "time machine" that launched a citywide gamified adventure. We invited Hong Kongers to discover these benches, unlocking prizes, learning fun brand facts, and celebrating cherished memories spanning five decades.

Case Summary

India's oral health crisis: 90% suffer from dental problems yet only 9% see a dentist. Colgate's Oral Health Movement campaign addresses this social need, transforming WhatsApp into a free AI dental screening tool. It overcomes barriers, bringing expert advice to millions, empowering them to take control and build a healthier nation. With 2.1M+ scans and 80% of them considering future dentist visits, OHM shows tangible impact, reaching underserved communities and promoting preventative oral healthcare. This aligns with Colgate's commitment to oral health for all, combining business goals with social good.

Case Summary

While others leaned on predictable sentimentality, KFC hacked tradition by turning its iconic bucket into a gift-worthy keepsake: Bucketware. Beyond packaging—it was part of the celebration, tapping into Thai moms’ love for practical, sentimental objects. Sentimental. Useful. Effective. The campaign doubled PR value, drove +269% YOY social engagement, and boosted bucket and total sales over last year’s Mother’s Day. Bucketware owned the cultural moment, sparked conversation, and drove real business impact. KFC didn’t just participate in Mother’s Day—it made the bucket an icon of it.

Case Summary

Kentucky Fly Chicken demonstrates that true value transcends discounts. The campaign seized the perfect moment to disrupt the discount-driven QSR category with an innovative value proposition. By spotlighting exclusive international KFC items and offering overseas trips to try them, the campaign created an immediate buzz that transformed app browsing into a gateway for adventure. This unexpected approach generated significant earned media and social sharing, driving a 13.7% increase in app users and 27% growth in digital revenue, proving that well-timed creative disruption can deliver remarkable results.

Case Summary

IKEA got Indians to prioritize function over aesthetics, throughout the home furnishings purchase journey. IKEA’s minimalistic designs were at odds with India’s vibrant aesthetic sensibility. Changing IKEA’s designs would mean changing the brand’s DNA. So instead, we shifted the cultural lens on home furnishings by targeting the home-runner and championing how organization is the mother of efficiency, while running a household. Results? Total revenue grew by +7%. Average purchase value per customer increased by +10%. Ecommerce sales rose by 24%. All of this, despite 0% growth in the furnishings category.

Case Summary

On a budget smaller than a single Mercedes-Benz car, “The Benz Effect” campaign topped luxury car sales at the Bangkok International Motor Show 2024 by celebrating the Thailand-only way of nicknaming after the brand they are so fond of–“Benz”. The campaign not only aimed to outperform sales and boast about its all-time iconic position, but recruited brand ambassadors from so many “Benzes” to invite people to the Mercedes-Benz booth at the event. It garnered over 2 million views within two days and the highest engagement among automotive brands.

Case Summary

Vaseline turned adversity into opportunity, showcasing a unique and innovative approach to influencer marketing in Indonesia’s challenging beauty market. Faced with declining market share, boycotts of Western brands, and competition from low-cost alternatives, Vaseline leveraged the authentic story of Gaby, an Indonesian woman with albinism, to demonstrate its sunscreen's superior efficacy. The campaign aimed to rebuild trust and justify our premium pricing. The results exceeded objectives: increased sales, regained market leadership, improved brand imagery and unprecedented engagement, proving the power of authenticity and purpose-driven storytelling.

Case Summary

Oreo had 3 weapons. Twist-lick-dunk: its global brand platform, outrageously large media monies, and Dhoni: cricket superstar and Oreo pony. JimJam had 1 weapon: an idea. And 1/6th of Oreo’s budget, no less. Instead of leveraging the Cricket World Cup as just a media property, JimJam leveraged a superstition. With a Bold POV on India’s World Cup chances. JimJam partnered with ex-cricketing icons on social media and meme pages, creating a national movement among 1.4 billion Indians. Result? JimJam GREW 32.2%, 3.5 times the category growth.

Case Summary

Between 2018-2020 Australian Lamb’s volume sales slumped –14%, per capita consumption -13% to a two decade low. A nation falling out of love with lamb. Staying true to the brand’s ‘unity’ essence, we shifted from niche topics to the biggest issues dividing Australia. Lamb’s fame soared, its four most viewed campaigns ever earning 4,656 pieces of media coverage and 1,248,000,000 OTS. Brand affinity and ‘worth paying more for’ hit decade-long highs. Resulting in four years of +3.9% annualised volume growth, increased per capita consumption and 36,854,799 more servings of lamb.

Case Summary

India’s sanitary pad market were at a crossroad: just 38% rural penetration and 23Mn girls drop out of school annually due to lack of period knowledge and infrastructure. A problem missing from public eye due to stigma around menstruation. Over a sustained 3-year effort, we tackled the problem by attacking different dimensions of the challenge each year – MISSING CHAPTER on periods in schoolbooks, MISSING KNOWLEDGE on periods among mothers and MISSING AWARENESS of seismic physiological shifts amongst young girls.

Case Summary

The scene was littered with evidence. To fuel ongoing growth, Budget Direct needed to broaden its appeal to customers who wouldn’t trade off quality for price. A new brand platform was born – Insurance Solved – featuring a team of insurance detectives who questioned why otherwise smart Australians willingly paid more for the same cover. In six years, Budget Direct doubled its salience, growing revenue on average by 26% per year. Thrashing category growth of 8% and proving that when it comes to outstanding results, consistent brand entertainment is the culprit.

Case Summary

For Savlon, growth meant winning over kids to win over households. But kids hate following rules and handwashing felt like a rule, not a choice. So, Savlon rewrote them: turning hygiene from ‘boring chore’ to a ‘cultural flex’. By partnering with rapper Emiway Bantai, it hacked hip-hop to turn the genre’s hand-rub action into a viral handwashing cue. The campaign trended #1 on YouTube, amassing 80Mn minutes of watch-time, and earning 26hrs of UGC. The efforts led to a 23% jump in household penetration and an 18% sales surge for Savlon Handwash.