Effie Awards South Africa unveiled the 2025 winners at The Venue, Melrose Arch, in a spotlight-soaked celebration of ideas that deliver real business results. 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.
After months of rigorous judging sessions, spirited debate, and tough calls, it all came down to one pivotal day in Johannesburg. On September 16, a panel of South Africa’s most respected marketing leaders gathered behind closed doors to determine the country’s most effective marketing campaign of the year — the 2025 Grand Effie winner.
The Grand Effie—the highest honour recognising South Africa’s most effective campaign of the year—was awarded to City Lodge Hotel Group and TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris for “Save Our Stay (SOS)” in the Travel & Tourism category.
View highlights from ‘Inside the Judges’ Room with the 2025 South Africa Grand Effie Jury’ HERE
“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.
2025 Effie Awards South Africa — Winners
| AWARD | AGENCY | CLIENT | BRAND | CAMPAIGN | CATEGORY |
| Grand | TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris | City Lodge Hotel Group | City Lodge Hotel Group | Save Our Stay (SOS) | Travel & Tourism |
| Gold | TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris | City Lodge Hotel Group | City Lodge Hotel Group | Save Our Stay (SOS) | Travel & Tourism |
| Gold | Ogilvy | Volkswagen SA | Volkswagen South Africa | Volkswagen Night School: Rewriting the Rules of the Road saving lives and building brand | Social Good – Brands / Positive Change |
| Gold | Accenture Song | Sanlam | Sanlam | Sanlam “The F-Show” | Finance |
| Gold | Halo | Pineapple | Pineapple | 100% Sustained Results: How Being Totes Honest Totes Helped Pineapple Soar | Sustained Success – Products, Services |
| Silver | Ogilvy | SAB (ABInBev) | Carling Black Label | From Decline to Dominance: Carling Black Label’s 8-Year Journey of Purpose-Driven Sustained Success. | Sustained Success – Products, Services |
| Silver | Joe Public | Amnesty International | Amnesty International | Faeces Ink: Reigniting Attention Around a National Shame | Small Budgets – Non-Profit, Products, Services |
| Silver | M+C Saatchi Abel and Razor PR | Gun Free South Africa | Gun Free South Africa | Firing A Silver Bullet That Turned Apathy into Policy Action | Small Budgets – Non-Profit, Products, Services |
| Silver | TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris | City Lodge Hotel Group | City Lodge Hotel Group | Save Our Stay (SOS) | Media Innovation / Commerce & Shopper Effies |
| Silver | Ogilvy | KFC SA | KFC | Block Booked | Media Innovation – Emerging & New Channels, Existing Channels / Media Effies |
| Silver | TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris | City Lodge Hotel Group | City Lodge Hotel Group | Save Our Stay (SOS) | Marketing Disruptors |
| Silver | Ogilvy | Volkswagen SA | Volkswagen | #ShouldaGotaVivo: How VW used competitor drivers to sell their Vivos | Automotive – Vehicles |
| Bronze | Joe Public | Uber Eats South Africa | Uber Black | Uber Black: So good you’ll find a reason | Transportation |
| Bronze | M+C Saatchi Abel | Mr D | Mr D | How Mr D got South Africa’s vote of approval during elections | Timely Opportunity |
| Bronze | TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris | Savanna Cider | Savanna | Try January | Timely Opportunity |
| Bronze | Ogilvy | Mondelez SA | Mondelez: Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate | Selfish to Shareable: Cadbury’s South African Success Story | Sustained Success – Products, Services |
| Bronze | Joe Public | Amnesty International | Amnesty International | Faeces Ink: Reigniting Attention Around a National Shame | Social Good – Brands / Positive Change |
| Bronze | 99cents | Shoprite Group of Companies | CHECKERS | Little Shop Goes Xtra | Omni-Channel Shopper Solution / Commerce & Shopper Effies |
| Bronze | Joe Public | Amnesty International | Amnesty International | Faeces Ink: Reigniting Attention Around a National Shame | Media Innovation – Emerging & New Channels, Existing Channels / Media Effies |
| Bronze | TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris | Savanna Cider | Savanna South Africa | Savanna Neat: It’s Giving | Marketing Innovation Solutions |
| Bronze | Ogilvy | Volkswagen SA | Volkswagen | #ShouldaGotAVivo: VW’s Masterclass on end-of-product-life-cycle marketing disruption. | Marketing Disruptors |
| Bronze | Ogilvy | The Gates Foundation | The Gates Foundation | Influence With Impact: #ForeverWena’s Culture-Driven Approach to Youth HIV Awareness | Influencer Marketing |
| Bronze | Joe Public | Nedbank | Nedbank | Bank Your Time – How Nedbank reframed digital banking by turning time into a currency | Finance |
| Bronze | Ogilvy | The Gates Foundation | The Gates Foundation | FROM SHAME TO SELF-LOVE: How #FOREVERWENA Revolutionised HIV Prevention. | Disease Awareness & Education: Non-Profit |
| Bronze | M+C Saatchi Abel | Mr D | Mr D | How Mr D got South Africa’s vote of approval during elections | Current Events |
| Bronze | Ogilvy | SAB (ABInBev) | Carling Black Label | From Decline to Dominance: Carling Black Label’s 8-Year Journey of Purpose-Driven Sustained Success. | Beverages – Alcohol |
Effie South Africa recognises the contribution of its 2025 partners and sponsors, including Nedbank, SAB (ABInBev), Vodacom, Unilever, SPAR, GIB Insurance, Investec, with communications support from Lobengula Advertising. With thanks to the 2025 media partners Bizcommunity, Modern Marketing, and The Lead Creative. Effie South Africa also thanks the 2025 Effie Awards contributing organisations – Alt Studios, PepsiCo, Ipsos, Mondelēz, Hennessy and Tiger Brands.
View the 2025 Effie Awards South Africa e-zine HERE.
Effie South Africa looks forward to continuing to celebrate ideas that work — and to the 2026 programme.