In total, the Middle East and Africa geography has 18 shortlisted campaigns.
The Warc Awards for Effectiveness 2025 in association with Lions, shortlist comprises 130 campaigns shortlisted across 26 countries and 12 categories.
Asia-Pacific has the most shortlisted entries (38), followed by North America (37), Europe (27), Middle East and Africa and Latin America (10).
The Awards honour the best campaigns that showcase how strategic thinking leads to effective impact for brands and business.
Campaign: Bread of the Nation
Agency: Ogilvy SA
Brand: AB InBev
Advertiser: AB InBev
Campaign: KFC's breakfast coup – How chicken disrupted the biggest conspiracy the world has ever seen
Agency: Ogilvy SA, Johannesburg
Brand: KFC
Advertiser: Yum
Campaign: Carling Cup 2023 – Fak'ugesi (Bring the Energy)
Agency: Ogilvy SA, Cape Town
Client: AB InBev
Advertiser: AB InBev
Campaign: How KFC reclaimed its fame by turning its taste from a sales killer into a business driver
Agency: Ogilvy SA, Johannesburg
Client: KFC
Advertiser: Yum
Campaign: Rwenzori Mountains Marathon – From Kasese to the world
Agency: Saladin Media Advertising, Kampala / Great Lakes Safaris and Uganda Lodges Limited., Kampala
Brand: Tusker Lite
Advertiser: Uganda Breweries Ltd. (Diageo)
Campaign: Blending tradition with innovation
Agency: Saladin Media Advertising, Kampala / The Quollective, Nairobi
Brand: Uganda Waragi Gin
Advertiser: Uganda Breweries Ltd. (Diageo)
See the full Middle East and Africa shortlist here.
Five regional juries made up of a total of 74 industry leaders from agencies and brands shortlisted the entries.
Category-wise, Strategic Thinking, has the most shortlisted campaigns (24), followed by Cultural Impact (16), Instant Impact (15), Long-term Growth (13), Partnerships & Sponsorships (12), Channel Pioneer (12), Customer Experience (10), Brand Purpose (8), Use of Data (7), Business-to-Business (6), Channel Integration (5), and Path-to-Purchase (2).
Commenting on this first stage of the judging process, John Bizzell, Awards lead, Warc, says, “Guided by the universal frameworks of the Creative Effectiveness and B2B Effectiveness Ladders, our five amazing regional juries have drawn on their expertise and knowledge to judge diligently and with rigour to select the shortlists.
“Winning a Warc award isn’t easy, so all shortlisted entrants should be hugely proud of their work getting to this stage.”
The winners of the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards across all five regions will be revealed from 29 April.
All Gold winners from the five regions will progress to compete at a Global level to be awarded the coveted Grands Prix, the ultimate recognition for marketing success.
The Grand Prix winners, to be announced online on 13 May via Warc’s Effectiveness Show, will be selected by a panel made up of all the regional jury chairs together with other regional judges.
Thes judges include Africa & Middle East jury chair Nthabi Motsoeneng, chief marketing officer Africa and Middle East, Pernod-Ricard, Africa and Middle East and Maurice Igugu, chief marketing officer, Sterling Bank, Nigeria.
The judges are:
Matt Che, chief marketing officer, Budweiser, APAC - APAC jury chair and chair of the Global grand jury
Christoffer Rönnblad, chief marketing officer, Nordics, McDonald's, Nordics - Europe jury chair
Diana Frost, global chief growth officer, Kraft Heinz, Global - North America jury chair
Gabriel Barrio, commercial manager, UNACEM, Peru
Marina Prieto, Sr director brand, insights, media and trade marketing Latam, PedidosYa, Latam - Latin America jury chair
Talitha Rutten, Global Client Partner, Meta, Global
Teman Evans, global chief of design, General Mills, Global
Venus Teoh Kim Wei, executive vice president - marketing, Suntory Pepsico Vietnam Beverage, Vietnam
View all the shortlists here.
