Motion Sickness, Special and dentsu win big at Effies

The 2025 Effie Awards saw Motion Sickness, Special and dentsu take home the top prizes.

Of the executive awards, Motion Sickness was awarded the Grand Effie for Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to have Herpes for The New Zealand Herpes Foundation.

Special was named Most Effective Agency of the Year for the second time in three years.

Dentsu won the Hardest Challenge award for its Change is Possible campaign for the Ministry of Social Development.

Top achievements

The 2025 Effie Awards was run by the Communications Council in association with TVNZ. Other sponsors include commercial partner oOh!media, gold partners Meta, silver partners Cartology, NZME and Stuff and Bronze partners The Radio Bureau.

The awards celebrate New Zealand’s top achievements in advertising and marketing, spotlighting campaigns that set new standards in effectiveness.

The 2025 awards ceremony was held at the Auckland Town Hall on October 23 and recognised winners across 26 categories of effective advertising.

It’s all about the learning

Convenor of judges for the 2025 Effies Murray Streets says 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”.

The Commercial Communications Council extends its congratulations to all finalists and winners at the 2025 Effie Awards Aotearoa in association with TVNZ.

Driving real results

Special founder and CEO Tony Bradbourne is incredibly proud of the agency’s recognition.

“Awards like the Effies matter because they recognise 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 analysed. 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.”

A slew of accolades

Special went into the evening with a total of 31 finalists across 19 categories, 11 different clients and 14 independent campaigns. It was the most awarded agency of the night, receiving 17 campaign awards, including nine bronze, six silver and one gold.

Those awards included work done for KFC, Export Ultra, University of Otago, SPORTS New Zealand, Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, Kiwibank, Wellington City Mission and Tourism New Zealand.

Grand Effie winner Motion Sickness took home four gold awards and one silver for make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to have Herpes.

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