Ogilvy Melbourne has dominated the APAC Effies over the weekend, with its Til It’s Done campaign The Grand Effie, along with winning 3 Golds and 1 Silver/. Ogilvy’s work with Football Australia drummed up support for the national football team The Matildas amid languishing interest, by showing the team’s grit and tenacity towards making its mark at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Ogilvy was also named Agency of the Year for the first time.

Ogilvy Network was also Agency Network of the Year for the sixth year running with 6 Golds, 7 Silvers, and 14 Bronzes coming out from Australia, China, India, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea.

Football Australia and The Matildas became Marketer of the Year and Brand of the Year for their success in the Til It’s Done campaign, which also marks the first time that a sports-based brand and marketer has made its appearance in the special awards.

Ogilvy Network ANZ CEO, Sally Kissane, commented, “While it’s an incredible achievement to win a coveted Effie, and in particular the most elusive of all – a Grand Effie – we’re also celebrating the industry recognition that great creativity is effectiveness.  Til It’s Done shook up the sports category, changed behaviours and solved a human problem by using empowering messages that we knew would stick. That’s what creativity can do.

“And we’re not just proud of the team that developed this culture-shifting work, but the partnership with our client Football Australia.  The fact that they also walked away with two awards – the first time a sports brand and marketer has won at APAC Effies – also speaks volumes about the power of collaboration.”

Ogilvy Melbourne head of strategy, Paul Arena, added, “As a die-hard football fan and dad of a mini-Matilda to be, getting to work on this campaign was a dream come true.  We always expected matches at the first FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia would be well attended. The real challenge was to leverage that opportunity for lasting change.  Seeing the Matildas go from half empty stadiums to 13 consecutive, sell -out home matches after the World Cup was pretty special. The ultimate knock-on effect of unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in additional government funding for women’s sport being the cherry on the icing of the whole football-themed cake.  Being able to say we played a small part in making it easier for girls to play football, for either fun or fame, has been the highlight of my career.”

88 awards were handed out in all – 1 Grand Effie, 15 Gold, 29 Silver and 43 Bronze. The Womb Communications was crowned Independent Agency of the Year, the second time the Indian agency has come out on top. Across 10 territories, India led the winner’s table with 34 Effies, followed by Australia with 15 Effies, and New Zealand close behind at 13 Effies.

The full list of winners can be accessed here. All winners and finalists will be accorded points towards the 2024 Effie Index, which ranks the most effective agencies, marketers, and brands globally. The index will be announced in 2025.