WARC Awards for Effectiveness 2023 in association with LIONS Announces Grand Prix & Gold Winners
Eleven Grands Prix, two Grands Prix for Good, and eight Golds were awarded for the year 2023.
Honoring the best ideas that deliver business results, the final and highest accolades of the third global WARC Awards for Effectiveness, in association with LIONS are now announced.
Eleven Grand Prix, two Grand Prix for Good, and eight Gold awards have been given. Campaigns for both global and local brands from around the world covering a range of product categories, are represented showcasing how marketers are driving growth across different sectors and audiences.
The US has picked up the highest number of awards (four Grands Prix). There are three multi-market campaigns for Germany/Hungary, India/Singapore and Lebanon/UAE. India and the UAE have also picked up a further two top accolades each. Both the UK and Canada have won two. Argentina, Australia, France, first-time winner Kenya, New Zealand, and Thailand, have all picked up one top award.
The seven international jury panels, made up of 80 illustrious industry experts, followed a rigorous judging process using the Creative Effectiveness and the B2B Effectiveness Ladders, unique tools providing a consistent approach and global language to benchmark effectiveness.
John Bizzell, Awards Lead, WARC, says, “This outstanding collection of work from around the world sets a new benchmark for effective marketing and will inspire our industry for future success. We thank our dedicated juries and congratulate all the winners.”
The Grands Prix and Gold accolades are awarded to:
- Grand Prix: See My Skin・Vaseline・Edelman, New York・USA
- Gold: H For Handwashing - How Lifebuoy Made Handwashing A Lesson That No One Forgets・Lifebuoy・Lowe Lintas, Mumbai / MullenLowe, Singapore・India / Singapore
The Grand Prix was awarded to Edelman New York for Vaseline. The skincare brand created the world's first and most diverse medical image library, ‘See My Skin’, to help people of color in the USA find images of people with skin complaints that matched their own.
- Grand Prix: The Hire・Indeed・DDB Mudra, Bangalore・India
DDB Mudra has won the Grand Prix for promoting recruitment platform, Indeed, by targeting small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with a humorous campaign about the pitfalls of informal hiring practices.
No golds were awarded in this category.
Channel integration category (new)
- Grand Prix: Pre-Loved Island・eBay・EssenceMediacom, London・UK
Online marketplace eBay, partnered with ITV's Love Island in the UK to drive reappraisal of second-hand clothing by getting the nation talking positively about it, leading to an increase in searches for pre-loved items and placing eBay as the destination for pre-loved fashion.
No golds were awarded in this category.
Channel Pioneer category (new)
- Grand Prix: The Last Performance・Partners Life・Special, Auckland・New Zealand
- Gold: Self Check-Out・K-Lynn・Leo Burnett, Dubai・UAE
The Grand Prix, a TV and digital winning campaign by Special Auckland for New Zealand-based insurance company, Partners Life, increased consideration, awareness and customer inquiries by partnering with a popular murder mystery show to demonstrate the risk associated with an unexpected death.
- Grand Prix: The Homecoming・Home Centre・Leo Burnett, Dubai・UAE
- Grand Prix for Good: How a Campaign About Nudes Got the Government to Change the Law・ Brook・Grey, London・UK
- Gold: Lesso Lessons・Roto Tanks・Ogilvy Africa, Nairobi・Kenya
Grand Prix winner Leo Burnett Dubai, launched The Homecoming initiative in the UAE for Home Centre, a furniture and furnishings retail brand, to propagate and support the adoption process, and create a tangible human impact in culture, which resulted in 7,300 children being adopted.
Jennifer Healan, VP, US Marketing, Brand Content & Engagement, McDonald's (jury chair): "What made this campaign so special was that it drove awareness of child adoption in a culture where it was a cultural taboo. This brand action made a cultural impact not only for the parents who so longingly wanted to have children but for the children themselves who needed homes. More than cultural impact, this action demonstrated emotional impact, and you can't put a price on that."
The Grand Prix for Good, awarded to Grey London, saw Brook, a sexual health and wellbeing charity, install OOH with QR codes to call for unsolicited nude pictures to be debated in parliament in the UK and successfully change the Online Safety Bill to include cyber flashing.
- Grand Prix: Wear ‘Em Out Store・eBay・Edelman, New York・USA
- Gold: Amazing Thailand - Culture to Commerce・Tourism Authority of Thailand・Ogilvy, Bangkok・Thailand
The Grand Prix was awarded to Edelman, New York, for the launch of the Wear 'Em Out Store in the US, placing eBay at the center of cultural conversation and standing out from the competition. They tapped influencers to get customers in the store, wear their sneakers and share on social media. This resulted in a 25% increase in sales over the previous year.
- Grand Prix: Dream Drop・Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation・FCB, Toronto・Canada
- Grand Prix for Good: #Flutwein - Our Worst Vintage・Flutwein・Seven.One AdFactory, Munich / White Rabbit, Budapest・Germany / Hungary
- Gold: No Fear is Too Small・PepsiCo・Flibbr Consulting Services, Mumbai・India
To attract younger players, the Grand Prix winning entry saw The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation partnering with designer, Mr. Saturday, to release an exclusive clothing line with a LOTTO MAX ticket attached, increasing positive perception, consideration, online registrations, and ticket sales.
The Grand Prix for Good was won by Seven.One AdFactory, Munich / White Rabbit, Budapest for a crowdfunded campaign, which increased donations and awareness about flooding in the Ahr Valley in Germany by bottling and selling a wine that was made in the region.
- Grand Prix: New Is Old・Back Market・Marcel, Paris・France
- Gold: Tonight, I’ll Be Eating…・Uber Eats・Special, Sydney・Australia
Marcel, Paris, won the Grand Prix for tech startup Back Market. The campaign led the company to become the leading online refurbished smartphone seller in France thanks to a three-year TV, OOH, and digital campaign.
Partnerships & Sponsorships category
- Grand Prix: Future Baller$・iShares・DDB, San Francisco・USA
- Gold: The Not Hot Periodwear Collection・Always・Leo Burnett, Beirut / Leo Burnett, Dubai・Lebanon / UAE
The Grand Prix is awarded to Edelman New York for iShares Exchange-Traded-Funds (ETFs). Working with NBA players, they positioned them as the antidote to the cultural problem of dangerous risk-taking among young investors in the USA.
- Grand Prix: The Self-Love Bouquet・Doordash・GUT, Los Angeles・USA
To grow its flower delivery service, DoorDash in the US turned “singleness” on Valentine’s Day into a positive by crafting The Self-Love Bouquet. As well as creating a huge buzz among people and in the press, sales doubled from the year prior.
No Golds were awarded in this category.
- Grand Prix: Real Street Style・Mercado Libre・GUT, Buenos Aires・Argentina
- Gold: The Black Elevation Map・Black & Abroad・Performance Art, Toronto・Canada
GUT Buenos Aires has won the Grand Prix for the Latin American online marketplace Mercado Libre. The data-driven campaign promoted its fashion category Moda Libre to increase view-through rate (VTR), engagement, and clicks and grow its social media following.
The Gold and Grands Prix winners were announced today at the WARC Effectiveness Show part two, broadcast online from Cannes Lions and available to view here. The Silver and Bronze winners were revealed last week during the WARC Effectiveness Show part one, shown here.
A WARC podcast will follow with Wendy Walker, Business-to-Business Chair, and Jennifer Healan, Cultural Impact and Customer Experience Chair, who will share insights into the winners.
More information on the WARC Awards for Effectiveness is available here.
