North American Effie Awards Results Announced

The 2014 North America Effie Effectiveness Index rankings were revealed last night at the 46th annual Effie Awards Gala in New York. Starcom MediaVest Group was named both the most effective agency network and individual agency office, the first time a media agency has topped the North American Effie Index rankings since it was launched in 2011.  Its parent company, Publicis Groupe, was named the most effective holding company.  For the gala finale, Dove Real Beauty Sketches - Winning back Dove Love for Unilever by Ogilvy Brasil and Edelman was revealed as the North American Grand Effie winner (best in show) for the 2014 Effie Awards competition. PHD UK and Mindshare contributed to the win.

Since 1968, Effie Worldwide has honored marketing ideas that work.  The Effie Index identifies and ranks the marketing communications industry’s most effective agencies, marketers and brands by analyzing finalist and winner data from worldwide Effie Award competitions.

For the fourth consecutive year, Procter & Gamble is the most effective marketer in North America.  Dove is the most effective brand and Cramer-Krasselt is most effective independently held advertising agency.

The North American Grand Effie Award winner was debated hours before the Effie Awards ceremony by the Grand Effie Jury.  Finalists (the top scoring Gold Effie Award winners) included the Grand Effie winner, along with Generation Know for Kimberly-Clark’s U by Kotex by Ogilvy & Mather New York (with Geometry Global, Organic, Inc., Marina Maher Communications and Mindshare), It's Not Complicated for AT&T by BBDO Atlanta and BBDO New York, (with FleishmanHillard), Pantene Weather Program for Procter & Gamble by Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide and Starcom MediaVest Group (with Grey New York and DeVries Global), Pedophile Deterrence Program for Thorn by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Recalling 1993 for the New Museum by Droga5 and ZzzQuil Sleep-Aid Launch for Procter & Gamble by Publicis Kaplan Thaler, (with Starcom MediaVest Group).

According to the Dove Real Beauty Sketches Effie entry, “only 4% of women believe they are beautiful. How could Dove inspire the other 96% to think differently? We discovered the barrier to her feeling beautiful had fundamentally changed, and launched Dove Real Beauty Sketches: a social experiment that introduced women to her inner critic, proving they were more beautiful than they thought. It won back Dove Love by lifting women esteem; it returned Dove to culture and drove $24 million incremental sales, a 550% ROI, and $52 million in earned media-in under 5 months, with a spend of $925,000.”

“There were strong contenders for this year’s North American Grand Effie Award, but the jury agreed that Dove Real Beauty Sketches seemed to have it all,” said Judy John CEO and Chief Creative Officer Leo Burnett, Canada and member of the 2014 Grand Effie Jury.  “The work demonstrated how the power of ideas can influence society and lift brands.” 

According to the 2014 North America Effie Effectiveness Index, the top ranking most effective marketers are Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Unilever, while the highest ranked effective brands are Dove, U by Kotex and IBM.  The most effective advertising holding companies in North America are: Publicis Groupe, WPP Group and Omnicom, and the most effective agency networks are Starcom MediaVest Group, Ogilvy & Mather and BBDO Worldwide.  The three most effective agency offices are Starcom MediaVest Group (Chicago), Ogilvy & Mather (New York), Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide (Chicago), and the most effective independent agencies are Cramer-Krasselt, Droga5 and Wieden+Kennedy.

"There are a number of familiar names in the winners list but what is striking, and exciting, is to see a media company at the top of the Effie Index.

It's indicative of just how much our industry landscape has changed,” said Carl Johnson, Effie Worldwide Chairman and Founding Partner of Anomaly. “A brand’s success can be driven by any form of marketing communications executed with excellence, whether that be all things digital, PR, brand activations or even advertising!"

In order to be included in the Index, North American winning and finalist cases were rigorously evaluated by senior industry leaders over at least two rounds of judging.

The complete list of gold, silver and bronze winners for the North American Effie Awards, as well as the opportunity to read the winning case studies is available on www.effie.org.