Marketing is creativity with an objective: to grow a business, sell a product, or change the perception of a brand. When marketing moves the needle toward a goal, that’s effectiveness. It’s measurable. It’s powerful. And we believe it should be celebrated. Effie inspires and celebrates work that works, setting the bar for marketing effectiveness worldwide.
We began in 1968 in New York City as an award to honour the most effective advertising. Today, we are the benchmark of marketing effectiveness globally with 60 international programs, covering 125+ markets. Effie programmes are included in the Effie Index® and the Effie Case Database.
The Effie Awards Europe, organised by the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), brings together agencies and clients to spotlight the ideas that truly work across our region.
In 2026, the Effie Awards Europe mark their 30th anniversary, a milestone that highlights three decades of championing effectiveness, creativity, and strategic thinking across the continent. Over the years, Effie has become the gold standard for proven success, inspiring the industry to ask not just “Is it award-worthy?” but “Does it move the needle?” This long‑standing platform continues to foster innovation, collaboration, and excellence in European marketing. The 30th anniversary celebrations will be held in Brussels on 3 December.
We're more than an awards show
The Effie Awards Europe are known by advertisers and agencies in Europe as the pre-eminent award in the industry.
It's not just about advertising
We see advertising as a subset within marketing. We celebrate marketing effectiveness, a domain that includes but isn’t limited to advertising.
We recognise all forms of marketing effectiveness
Whether full campaigns or unique efforts within a campaign, we recognise all forms of marketing that contribute to a brand’s success. Entries can be one or any combination of media or be for efforts where media did not play a role (e.g. loyalty program change, product innovation, customer experience, etc.) — any examples of work that demonstrate how a brand effectively tackled its objectives through their marketing programs.
We define 'effectiveness' broadly
We recognise all forms of effectiveness—awareness, sales, behaviour, etc. The determining criteria for measuring effectiveness is not whether one case had a sales goal vs. another with an awareness goal, but how challenging were their objectives, and the significance of the results achieved against those objectives. We do not provide a single definition of effectiveness.
We believe in teamwork
We recognise the teamwork needed to create an effective campaign. Entrants are required to credit all creative and strategic partners who contributed to the effort. The strongest case studies are those created via collaboration from all key contributors.
We celebrate diversity
We celebrate all who contribute to marketing effectiveness, without regard to race, religion, colour, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability status. We are open to participation from companies of all types, all disciplines, and all sizes. We strive to create competitions that are representative of the industry.
