LONDON, October 7, 2021 -- Effie UK, which recognises and celebrates the most effective marketing efforts of the year, is proud to unveil the winners of the 2021 Effie Awards competition.
 
Twelve winners were chosen this year by a jury made up of nearly 200 industry leaders.  They were chosen for being those that most effectively solved a marketing challenge, connected with the target audience, and achieved outstanding results. 
 
Aldi UK came out on top winning the Grand Effie. They were also awarded Gold alongside eve Sleep by Creature London & Goodstuff Communications and Rugby League World Cup 2021 by McCann Manchester. Aldi’s award came in the Sustained Success category, in recognition of the retailer’s phenomenal growth in the last 10 years, taking it from a tiny player with 2% market share to the UK’s No 5 supermarket.
 
eve Sleep and the Rugby League World Cup 2021 both won in the small budgets category.
 
Creature & Goodstuff’s campaign for eve sleep was selected as an impressive example of maintaining awareness and delivering short-term ROI, despite a significant budget cut and increased competition. While the Rugby League World Cup 2021 work by, McCann Manchester defied Covid to smash the sales target a year out from the tournament, generating much-needed revenue for the brand.
 
Juliet Haygarth, Managing Director, Effie UK, said: “The Gold winners this year were all in either the small budget or sustained success categories: they either got creative with limited resources, or – in line with Mark Ritson’s advice from last year’s summit – they stuck to their strategy and kept the lights on.
 
“We’ve never had a more diverse set of winners: the list includes everything from large financial services to scale-ups on a mission, and everything in between. The type of work is equally varied, ranging from sponsorships and event marketing to community management.”
 
MullenLowe London’s work for the NHS won three Silver awards, one for its NHS Covid-19 app launch (in partnership with OMNIGOV at Manning Gottlieb OMD), and two for its nursing recruitment campaign (in partnership with Mediahub UK). A fourth Silver went to Essity’s Cushelle toilet roll, for a campaign by Publicis Poke.
 
Five Bronze awards were handed out: one to Leo Burnett’s McDonald’s campaign for its success in rising to the challenge of 2020; one to Engine UK’s work for online car retailer Cazoo; and three to McCann Manchester – two more for Rugby World Cup 2021, and another for Aldi, this time for its Kevin the Carrot Christmas campaign.
 
Ipsos MORI opened the 2021 Effie Summit with a detailed report on this year’s finalists. The findings focus on the success of marketers and agencies in finding opportunity within the pandemic’s constraints on budget, production and media choice. The result has been an interesting balance of long-established brands with bigger budgets and smaller brands capitalising on the moment. 
 
The winners’ details in full:
 
BRONZE
Category: Entertainment & Sports
Brand: Rugby League World Cup 2021
Lead agency: McCann Manchester
Contributing companies: Goodform Ltd., Hatch PR
 
Category: New Product or Service Introductions
Brand: Cazoo
Lead agency: ENGINE UK
Contributing companies: Goodstuff, Kantar Millward Brown, Folk Research
 
Category: Rising to the Challenge of 2020
Brand: McDonald’s
Lead agency: Leo Burnett
Contributing companies: OMD
 
Category: Rising to the Challenge of 2020
Brand: Rugby League World Cup 2021
Lead agency: McCann Manchester
Contributing companies: Goodform Ltd., Hatch PR
 
Category: Sustained Success - Services
Brand: Aldi UK
Lead agency: McCann Manchester
Contributing companies: UM Manchester
 
SILVER
Category: Government, Institutional & Third Sector
Brand: NHS England
Lead agency: MullenLowe London & Mediahub UK
Contributing companies: Freuds, Manning Gottlieb OMD, 23Red, MMC
 
Category: New Product or Service Introductions
Brand: DHSC, NHS Test and Trace & HM Government
Lead agency: MullenLowe London & OMNIGOV at Manning Gottlieb OMD
Contributing companies: MMC, Topham Guerin, 23Red, Freuds
 
Category: Positive Change: Social Good - Non-Profit
Brand: NHS England
Lead agency: MullenLowe London & Mediahub UK
Contributing companies: Freuds, Manning Gottlieb OMD, 23Red, MMC
 
Category: Sustained Success - Products
Brand: Cushelle
Lead agency: Publicis•Poke
Contributing companies: Zenith Media, Blue Chip Marketing (UK) Ltd
 
GOLD
Category: Small Budgets
Brand: eve sleep
Lead agency: Creature & Goodstuff
Contributing companies: Pearl Metrics, Kode, Grand Central Recording Studios
 
Category: Small Budgets
Brand: Rugby League World Cup 2021
Lead agency: McCann Manchester
Contributing companies: Goodform Ltd., Hatch PR
 
Category: Sustained Success - Services
Brand: Aldi UK
Lead agency: McCann Manchester
Contributing companies: Universal McCann Manchester

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