Effie Names Nike & Wieden+Kennedy's "Dream Crazy" Most Effective Campaign in the World

Nov. 16, 2021

Effie Worldwide has named Nike’s “Dream Crazy” the most effective campaign in the world. The Global Effie Celebration announced the winners of the first-ever Global Best of the Best Effies and the 2021 Global Multi-Region Effies, sponsored by Meta. 

The Global Best of the Best Effies invited all Grand and Gold Effie winners from 2019 and 2020 Effie Awards competitions around the world to compete head to head to determine the most effective marketing efforts of the year.  The competition has created two new tiers of recognition – the first-ever Global Grand Effies and the Iridium Effie, the single most effective marketing effort worldwide. 

In the competition, 62 campaigns were selected to contend for the Global Grand Effie in their categories, from which 12 winners emerged following two rounds of judging.

Global Grand Effie Winners

The inaugural Global Grand Effies were awarded to:

• Brand Experience-Services: IKEA Russia & Instinct (BBDO Group) “Apartmenteka,” with ZBRSK
• Commerce & Shopper Marketing: Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King, FCB New York & FCB/RED “The Whopper Detour,” with O Positive Films, Zombie Studio, Chemistry Creative & ABMC
• FMCG-Food & Beverage: Nestlé Mexico’s Nescafé & Bombay “Nescafé Tributo”
• FMCG-Other: Procter & Gamble’s Tide & Saatchi & Saatchi New York “It’s a Tide Ad,” with Hearts & Science, Taylor Strategy, MKTG & Marina Maher Communications
• Media, Entertainment & Leisure: The Walt Disney Company Latin America’s National Geographic and Wolf BCPP “Nat Geo Into The Dark. A trip to the eclipse,” with Agencia Opera Chile
• Positive Change: Social Good-Brands: Black & Abroad & FCB/SIX “Go Back to Africa,” with Initiative, Glossy Inc., Grayson Matthews, Rooster Post
• Positive Change: Social Good-Non-Profit: Street Grace & BBDO Atlanta “Gracie”
• Restaurants: KFC Australia & Ogilvy Australia “Michelin Impossible,” with OPR Australia, MediaCom & Infinity Squared
• Retail: Nike & Wieden+Kennedy “Dream Crazy,” with Park Pictures, JOINT Editorial, A52 & Publicis Sapient
• Seasonal/Current Events: Microsoft & McCann New York “Changing the Game” 
• Sustained Success: Aldi UK & Ireland & McCann Manchester “Like Brands’ 2011-2018,” with UM Manchester
• Transportation, Travel & Tourism: Tourism New Zealand, Special Group New Zealand & Special Group Australia’s “Good Morning World” 

Traci Alford, Global CEO, Effie Worldwide, said:

“The Global Grand Effie winners are truly the best of the best, proving exceptional across Effie’s 4-pillar framework for marketing effectiveness. This work has not only been celebrated locally, but has stood up to a jury of peers across the globe.  A big congratulations to all of this year’s winning teams.”

 

Iridium Winner

The Nike campaign “Dream Crazy”, created with Wieden+Kennedy Portland, also won the Global Grand Effie Award in the Retail category.  By showing how athletes could not only push themselves in sport, but also begin to change the culture around them, Nike captivated today’s youth generation – and American culture at large. The campaign provoked an enormous cultural conversation and added over $6 billion in value to Nike stock. 

Helen Luan, Corporate Vice President at Tencent and Global Best of the Best Effie Co-Chair, said:

“We have seen Nike following its sportsmanship and showing humanistic care and beliefs for diverse communities, even when encountering resistance and difficulties.  It is, indeed, a beautiful, powerful, and most importantly, an effective case that is worthy of the Iridium Effie.”

 

Carl Johnson, Founding Partner & Executive Chairman of Anomaly and Global Best of the Best Effie Co-Chair, added:

“This was the perfect case to win the first ever Iridium Effie – smart yet sensitive strategy, compelling creativity and superb results...all delivered in a context where real courage was required and displayed. I love the introduction of the Iridium Effie as it challenges the very best agencies and marketers across the world to scale new heights – in a way it’s the Everest of Awards.”

 

Global Multi-Region Effie Winners

Global Effie Award winners for the year’s most effective marketing ideas that worked in multiple markets worldwide were announced during the event.  The 2021 Global Multi-Region Effies were sponsored by Meta and kicked off the event with a panel about AR, VR and the new dimensions of connection. Restaurant Brands International and INGO Stockholm won a Gold Effie in the Restaurants category for Burger King’s ‘Moldy Whopper’; Unilever Singapore, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and MullenLowe Lintas Group won a Bronze Effie in the Positive Change: Social Good-Brands category for Lifebuoy’s ‘H is for Handwashing’; and Babyshop and FP7 McCann Dubai won a Bronze Effie for ‘Rephrasing “Parenthood”’ in the Retail category.

Alford said:

“Creating work that resonates across multiple regions worldwide is far from simple to navigate effectively. Congratulations to this year’s Global Multi-Region Effie winners on this achievement.”

 

Winners were celebrated at a virtual event on November 16. For more information about this year’s winners and to watch the show on demand, click here.