The Gold, Silver and Bronze winners are announced for the WARC Awards 2024 – Europe. Now in their fourth year, the awards, in association with LIONS, honour marketing and strategic effectiveness.
4 Gold, 4 Silver and 10 Bronze accolades have been awarded for Europe. Campaigns for both global and local brands, and for a diverse range of product categories covering consumer packaged goods (CPG), insurance and business software, are represented showcasing how marketers are driving growth across different sectors.
Sweden has won the most awards (4), followed by Spain (3) and the United Kingdom (3), Romania (2), Belgium (1), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Italy (1), and Slovakia (1).
The three jury panels for Europe 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.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze winners are:
Bronze
- Unfollow Self:Hate · ING Bank · Jam Session Agency, Bucharest · Romania
- Ronald McDonald House Roblox · Ronald McDonald House Charities · Nord DDB Stockholm · Sweden
Bronze
- How Sage took business software from B2B to human-to-human · Sage · VCCP, London · United Kingdom
Bronze
- I love you but… · IKEA · Ogilvy Social Lab, Brussels · Belgium
Gold
- Deals stuck in time · McDonald’s · Nord DDB, Stockholm · Sweden
Commenting on the Gold winner, jury chair Joost Hoppe, Global Media Lead, Heineken, said: “McDonald’s ‘Deals Stuck in Time’ had an exemplary connection strategy with the bridge from out-of-home to digital. The execution was very clever in how they linked touchpoints and drove purchase. Technology, creativity, and business impact all came together in one case study.”
Bronze
- Unexpected encounters · Lacoste · BETC, Paris · France
Silver
- Human meat plant-based burger · Oumph! · Lola MullenLowe, Madrid · Sweden
Silver
- Zlatý Bažant is not what it used to be · Zlatý Bažant · This Is Loco, Bratislava · Slovak Republic
Bronze
- The song that makes you strong · Barmer · Accenture Song, Hamburg · Germany
Gold
- Big enough to make a difference · McDonald’s · Nord DDB, Stockholm · Sweden
Silver
- Sardinian soul · Ichnusa · Le Pub, Milan · Italy
Bronze
- IF helps a lot · IF P&C Insurance · Akestam Holst, Stockholm · Sweden
- “This is ridiculous” – New Heinz pasta sauces, a case for winning in an adjacent category · Heinz · VML, Barcelona · Spain
Tanja Grubner, Global Marketing Director, Essity GmbH, Global, and jury chair of the Brand Purpose, Business-to-Business, Cultural Impact, Customer Experience, Instant Impact, Long-term Growth categories, said: “What all the winners had in common is that they had been very clear on objectives from the beginning and that was the red thread all the way through the insights and strategy to the results. Campaigns need clarity upfront of doing a proper situation analysis of the market and of the brand challenge. If you’re clear about that and then have a very tight brief and a tight target, it’s easier to hit that target and be successful.”
Partnerships & Sponsorships category
Gold
- Absolutely Heinz – Bringing two iconic household brands together to go absolutely viral · Heinz · VML, Barcelona · Spain
Silver
- McDrip · McDonald’s · Nord DDB, Helsinki · Finland
Bronze
- Your place is in the kitchen only when you want it to be · Tazz · Jam Session Agency, Bucharest · Romania
Strategic Thinking category (new)
Gold
- Me, my autism & I · Vanish · Havas, London · United Kingdom
Bronze
- Vaginas uncensored · Bodyform · Tangerine Communications, Manchester · United Kingdom
Commenting on the Gold winner, jury chair Kevin Mercer, Director, Brand Strategy, Expedia Group, United Kingdom, said: “What stood out about the Vanish campaign was the calibre of the case study, which had real depth. There was a line of strategic thinking running all the way through. The brand could have focused on making clothes last, but instead dug a layer deep to uncover the relevance to autism, and then took it further to champion autistic girls. It took time, care and craft to add each extra layer of strategic thinking to the campaign.”
No metal has been awarded in the Path-to-Purchase and Use of Data categories.
The Gold winners will automatically progress to compete at a Global level where a super-jury made up of all the regional jury chairs – Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, North America – will award the coveted WARC Grands Prix, the ultimate recognition for marketing success. The Grands Prix will be revealed on 13 June via the Effectiveness Show part one. The Effectiveness Show part two will include interviews and insights from the Grand Prix winners.