How much can marketing strategy contribute to business results when a brand decides not to follow dominant market trends? At this year’s Effie Awards UK, held on November 10 at Christ Church Spitalfields in London, the highest honour went to a campaign that emphasised product quality rather than price competition.
The competition, which is part of the international Effie Worldwide system operating across 130 markets, evaluates marketing effectiveness based on the results campaigns achieve. This year, 400 judges assessed the submitted entries, and 31 Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were presented from 52 finalist cases across 27 categories. Eight entries won Gold.
The Grand Effie went to M&S Food and agency Mindshare for the campaign Farm to Foodhall – Using Quality to Grow in a Cost-of-living Crisis. At a time when rising living costs and increasing consumer price sensitivity favoured discount offers, M&S Food continued to emphasise quality as its key advantage. The award-winning campaign demonstrated that such consistency in brand positioning can contribute to growth even in a category dominated by price competition.
The recognition carries additional significance for the media industry, as Mindshare became the first media agency to receive the UK Grand Effie.
However, the success of media agencies was not the only defining feature of this year’s results. Among the eight Gold winners, the Sustained Success category was particularly prominent, recognising effectiveness achieved over an extended period. Winners included KitKat and VML for The Value of Have a Break, Lurpak and Wieden + Kennedy for How Lurpak Has Led a Category for 19 Years by Thinking Outside It, as well as M&S Food and Mindshare for Farm to Foodhall.
Gold in the same category also went to Nurofen and McCann London for From Fast Fixes to Fighting Bias, and Sainsbury’s, New Commercial Arts and PHD for How Sainsbury’s Went from a Bit Spenny to Money Well Spent. KitKat, Lurpak, M&S Food and Nurofen were awarded in the Sustained Success (Products) category, while Sainsbury’s won Gold in Sustained Success (Services).
While these results demonstrated the value of a long-term approach, several campaigns stood out for their success across multiple categories. Andrex, together with agencies PHD UK and Omnicom Advertising, won Gold in the Renaissance category and Bronze in Home Goods & Services for Getting Andrex Back on a Roll. Waitrose & Partners and Wonderhood Studios won Gold in Retail and Silver in Seasonal Marketing for the holiday campaign The Perfect Gift.
Volkswagen UK won Gold in the Automotive category and Silver in Marketing Disruptors for The Power of People Like You, developed with agency adam&eve\TBWA. In addition to these awards, Volkswagen was also named Brand of the Year.
For adam&eve\TBWA, this was part of a much broader success. The agency won a total of six Gold, Silver and Bronze awards: Gold for Volkswagen UK, three Silvers for Campaign Against Living Dangerously, Volkswagen UK and Avanti West Coast, and two Bronzes for Jaffa Cakes. This made it the most awarded agency of the evening, while it also received the special Agency of the Year recognition for its ongoing commitment to effectiveness across its client base.
Other agencies that received multiple awards included Droga5, with Silvers for British Army and Lidl GB and Bronzes for British Army and Tourism Australia, as well as McCann, with Gold for Nurofen and Bronzes for CrossCountry Trains and Admiral. Awards also went to BBH London, Leo UK, PHD and VML.
South African PR agency Joe Public also achieved a notable result, receiving the special Newcomer of the Year recognition. The agency additionally won Silver in the Positive Change: Social Good (Non-profit) category for the campaign Street Nipples, developed for Breast Cancer UK.
Rachel Emms, Managing Director of Effie UK, highlighted that this year’s results demonstrated a high level of marketing effectiveness at a time when proving the results of investment is more important than ever. She attributed the higher number of finalists and winners to the quality of the submitted entries, with particular emphasis on the success of media agencies.
This year’s winners represent different approaches to marketing effectiveness, from long-term investment in brand value to campaigns that demonstrated results in highly competitive categories. Their success was evaluated based on achieved marketing results, rather than creative execution alone.
The complete list of winners is available in the official Effie Awards UK 2026 document.
