M&S Food and Mindshare win Grand Effie at the 2026 Effie Awards UK

Nov. 11, 2026

Effie UK, which recognises and celebrates the most effective marketing in the UK, has named M&S Food and Mindshare as winner of the Grand Effie at the 2026 Effie Awards UK Gala, which took place at Christ Church Spitalfields in East London earlier this evening. 

M&S Food and Mindshare were recognised for “Farm to Foodhall – Using Quality to Grow in a Cost-of-living Crisis”, which demonstrated how staying true to your brand and doubling down on quality, not price, can pay off in a sector dominated by discounting.

In total, 31 Gold, Silver and Bronze Effies were awarded this year. They were selected from 52 finalist cases spanning 27 categories.  

Of this year’s eight Gold winners, the most awarded were: 

• Andrex with PHD UK & Omnicom Advertising for “Getting Andrex Back on a Roll”, which won Gold in the Renaissance category and also Bronze in Home Goods & Services.
• Volkswagen UK with adam&eve\TBWA for “The Power of People Like You”, which won Gold in Automotive and also Silver in Marketing Disruptors, and went on to pick up Brand of the Year in the Special Awards.
• Waitrose & Partners with Wonderhood Studios for “The Perfect Gift”, which won Gold in Retail and also Silver in Seasonal Marketing. 

The other five Gold winners were: 

• KitKat with VML for “The Value of Have a Break”, in Sustained Success (Products).
• Lurpak with Wieden + Kennedy for “How Lurpak Has Led a Category for 19 Years by Thinking Outside It”, in Sustained Success (Products).
• M&S Food with Mindshare for “Farm to Foodhall”, in Sustained Success (Products).
• Nurofen with McCann London for “From Fast Fixes to Fighting Bias”, in Sustained Success (Products).
• Sainsbury’s with New Commercial Arts and PHD for “How Sainsbury’s Went from a Bit Spenny to Money Well Spent”, in Sustained Success (Services). 

The biggest agency winner on the night was:

• adam&eve/TBWA: Gold – Volkswagen UK; Silvers – Campaign Against Living Dangerously, Volkswagen UK, Avanti West Coast; Bronze (x2) – Jaffa Cakes. The agency also won Agency of the Year in the Special Awards – for its ongoing commitment to effectiveness across its client base.

Other agencies to win big included:

• BBH London: Bronzes – Tesco, F&F.
• Droga5: Silvers – British Army, Lidl GB (Droga5 London); Bronzes – British Army (Droga5 London), Tourism Australia (DRoga5 ANZ).
• Leo UK: Silver – Conused.com; Bronze – McDonald’s.
• McCann: Gold – Nurofen (McCann London); Bronzes – CrossCountry Trains (McCann Birmingham), Admiral (McCann Bristol).
• PHD (London): Gold – Andrex; Bronze – Andrex.
• VML: Gold – KitKat; Bronze – Kraft Heinz (VML The Cocktail).

Joe Public, a PR agency based in South Africa, was named Newcomer of the Year in the Special Awards. The agency also won Silver for its Street Nipples campaign for Breast Cancer UK in the Positive Change: Social Good (Non-profit) category.

Effie UK Managing Director Rachel Emms said:

"This year’s winners are a powerful demonstration of the talent, tenacity and innovation of marketers in the UK at a time when proving your marketing is working has never been more important. The standard of submissions was high – which explains the higher number of winners and finalists. It was also a strong year for media agencies, with Mindshare the first to win a Grand Effie. Many thanks to everyone involved in this year’s awards – especially the entrants who put together their cases and the 400 judges who assessed them."