The 2025 Effie Awards Aotearoa celebrated New Zealand's most effective marketing campaigns last night at Auckland Town Hall in association with TVNZ, recognizing ideas that delivered proven results across 26 categories.
Motion Sickness won the prestigious Grand Effie and four Gold Effies for The New Zealand Herpes Foundation's 'Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes'. The work struck gold in Charity/Not for Profit, Content or Social-First Campaigns, Most Original Thinking, and Insights & Strategic Thinking.
Special continued its winning streak being named 'Most Effective Agency' for the second time in three years.
The agency went into the evening with a total of 31 finalists across 19 categories, 11 different clients and 14 independent campaigns and was the most awarded of the night, with 17 campaign awards in total including a Gold in Positive Change for Wellington City Mission's 'Wellington's Greatest Deed: Turning Donors into Owners' and a slew of accolades for its work with KFC, Export Ultra University of Otago, SPORTS New Zealand, Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, Kiwibank, Wellington City Mission and Tourism New Zealand.
Says Tony Bradbourne, Founder and CEO of Special: "We're incredibly proud to be recognised as the 'Most Effective Agency' in NZ for the second time in three years. Awards like the Effies matter because they recognize our belief that the best creative work is the most effective work. This recognition reflects the amazing relationships we have with clients who trust our vision and the relentless focus of our teams across Auckland and Wellington."
Special Chief Strategy Officer and Partner Rory Gallery says the recognition is a testament to the agency's enduring commitment to creativity that effectively cuts through to deliver commercial impact: "Effectiveness has always been at the heart of what we do and is what all clients are driven by, particularly in an economy where budgets are tight and every cent of business spend is being analyzed. A massive congratulations to all our clients, it's a real testament to their commitment to effective creative excellence."
"We're proud to be able to walk the walk and prove the work delivered by Special drives real results that shift the dial."
jnr. took home Gold in Short-Term Success for RotoruaNZ's 'Go On A Robe Trip to Rotorua'.
Reflecting on the win, jnr. founder and MD John Marshall shared on LinkedIn: "Less than two years ago jnr. was a logo and some hoodies. No clients, no briefs, not even a coffee lined up. Last night we picked up 2 x Silvers and 1 x Gold Effies for our very first campaign – RotoruaNZ's Robe Trip. Thank you to Marisa Balle, Andrew Wilson and all of the whānau at RotoruaNZ for trusting us with the exciting challenge of revitalizing a region. We're only just getting started."
The Hardest Challenge Effie was awarded to Dentsu Creative for The Ministry of Social Development 'Change Is Possible'.
Says Murray Streets, this year's Convenor of Judges: "The ultimate point of the Effie Awards isn't the rivalry or the metal. It's the learnings and insights we share into how to create great marketing and advertising. It's the case studies that become teaching tools. Entrants must combine storytelling, persuasion and quantified proof to demonstrate – beyond reasonable doubt – that it was their thinking and creative campaign that delivered the results."
Presented by the Commercial Communications Council in association with TVNZ, and supported by oOh!media, Meta, Cartology, NZME, Stuff, and The Radio Bureau, the 2025 Effie Awards Aotearoa once again celebrated the ideas that work.
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