WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness has released the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners for the WARC Awards 2025 – Middle East and Africa. Now in their fifth year, the awards, in association with LIONS, honour marketing and strategic effectiveness.

According to the organization, four gold, three silver and five bronze accolades have been awarded for the Middle East and Africa. Campaigns for both global and local brands, and for a range of product categories covering consumer packaged goods (CPG), technology and telecommunications are represented showcasing how marketers are driving growth across different sectors.

The United Arab Emirates has won the most awards (7), followed by South Africa (4), and Saudi Arabia (1).The MEA jury, made up of top industry experts from across the region, 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.

Commenting on the winners, John Bizzell, Awards Lead, WARC, said: “The jury for the WARC Awards 2025 for Middle East & Africa were impressed by the technological innovations and data-driven insights shaping strategic marketing across the region, but what truly dazzled them in the winning work was the power brands are finding for business and society in pushing to truly understand and empathise with customers and citizens.”

Below is the list of the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners are:

Brand Purpose category:

Gold

Bread of The Nation · AB InBev SA · Ogilvy South Africa, Cape Town · South Africa

Channel Pioneer category

Gold

Sounds of stands: Turning culture into channel · Vodafone Oman · Memac Ogilvy, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Silver

Oops, AI caught you craving – The world’s perfect non-traditional meal ambush · Coca-Cola · EssenceMediacom, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Cultural Impact category

Bronze

Moving the nation without moving the budget · Saudi Sports for All Federation · Webedia, Jeddah · Saudi Arabia

Selling the best car from the worst seat · Chevrolet · Commonwealth McCann, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Customer Experience category

Bronze

Colors through Lexus · Lexus Al-Futtaim · Memac Ogilvy, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Instant Impact category

Silver

KFC’s breakfast coup: How chicken disrupted the biggest conspiracy the world has ever seen · KFC South Africa · Ogilvy South Africa, Johannesburg · South Africa

Long-term Growth

 

Silver

Underdog to Unstoppable: How MG Motor Conquered UAE’s automotive market · MG Motor · C2 Communications, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Partnerships & Sponsorships category

Gold

Carling Cup 2023 – Fak’ugesi (Bring the Energy) · AB InBev SA · Ogilvy South Africa, Cape Town · South Africa

Strategic Thinking category

Bronze

Baity battle · STC Telcom · VML, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

How KFC reclaimed its fame by turning its taste from a sales killer into a business driver · KFC South Africa · Ogilvy South Africa, Johannesburg · South Africa

Use of Data category

Gold

The new president · AnNahar · Impact BBDO, Dubai · United Arab Emirates

No metal was awarded in the Business-to-Business and Channel Integration categories.

The Gold winners will automatically progress to compete at a Global level where a Grand Prix awarding jury made up of all the regional jury chairs – Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, North America – and other regional judges will award the coveted WARC Grands Prix, the ultimate recognition for marketing success. The Grands Prix will be revealed on 13 May via the Effectiveness Show screened on warc.com.

 

ABOUT WARC: The global authority on marketing effectiveness

For over 35 years, WARC has been powering the marketing segment by providing rigorous and unbiased evidence, expertise and guidance to make marketers more effective. Across four pillars – WARC Strategy, WARC Creative, WARC Media, WARC Digital Commerce – its services include 100,000+ case studies, best practice guides, research papers, special reports, advertising trend data, news & opinion articles, as well as awards, events and advisory services. WARC operates out of London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai, servicing a community of over 75,000 marketers in more than 1,300 companies across 100+ markets and collaborates with 50+ industry partners.

WARC is part of Informa Festivals, part of Informa PLC.

 

WARC Creative

WARC Creative helps marketers create work that actually works by understanding what makes creative campaigns effective using best practices, benchmarks and unique frameworks.

Marketers can harness the force of creativity in their work by staying on top of best practices, benchmark outcomes with WARC Rankings, set goals with the Creative Effectiveness Ladder, and work out whether creativity is getting the backing it needs using our Creative Commitment tool.

 

By Amos Oladele