Mumbai: The Asia-Pacific region has demonstrated its creative prowess with 38 shortlisted campaigns in the 2025 WARC Awards for Effectiveness, in association with LIONS. These awards honour campaigns that fuse strategic insight with impactful execution to drive tangible results for brands.
Leading the charge from the region is Leo Mumbai (formerly Leo Burnett Mumbai), which emerges as the top-performing agency with a remarkable seven shortlisted campaigns across diverse categories, reinforcing its creative and strategic leadership.
Leo Burnett Mumbai’s Shortlisted Campaigns
1. Quaker – How baby showers gave birth to the importance of oats in rural households in Maharashtra
Category: Brand Purpose
Advertiser: PepsiCo
2. Lay’s – Re-engineering agriculture to make farms a level playing field
Category: Business-to-Business
Advertiser: Lay’s
3. Flipkart – Flipkart hijack
Category: Channel Pioneer
Advertiser: Flipkart
4. P&G Whisper – Period science for moms
Category: Cultural Impact
Advertiser: Procter & Gamble
5. Spotify – How Spotify created an artist movement to make India pay for music
Category: Partnerships & Sponsorships
Advertiser: Spotify
6. IKEA – Growing IKEA by shifting India’s lens on home furnishing
Category: Strategic Thinking
Advertiser: IKEA (in collaboration with IKEA Bangalore)
7. Gatorade – Turf Finder
Category: Use of Data
Advertiser: PepsiCo
Other Noteworthy Shortlists from India
Mindshare Mumbai / Castrol India
Campaign: Castrol – The School of Progress
Category: Brand Purpose
Advertiser: Castrol India
Ogilvy, Mumbai
Campaign 1: Mondelez India – My Birthday Song
Category: Customer Experience
Advertiser: Mondelez India
Campaign 2: Cadbury 5Star – Not just a funny brand
Category: Long-term Growth
Advertiser: Mondelez India
McCann, Gurgaon
Campaign: ESAF – Dabba Savings Account
Category: Strategic Thinking
Advertiser: ESAF Small Finance Bank
A Spotlight on Strategy and Storytelling
With Strategic Thinking as the most competitive category across all regions, it’s no surprise that campaigns like IKEA’s and ESAF’s are being recognized for their sharp focus on long-term brand growth and market transformation.
Leo Burnett Mumbai’s strong showing across nine categories — from Brand Purpose and Channel Pioneer to Cultural Impact and Use of Data — showcases the agency’s versatility in addressing complex brand challenges with creative ingenuity.
As the WARC Awards 2025 continue to celebrate effectiveness in marketing, Asia-Pacific, led by India’s dynamic agencies, proves that powerful storytelling rooted in strategy can make a lasting business impact.
Commenting on this first stage of the judging process, John Bizzell, Awards Lead, WARC, said: “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.”
All shortlisted work can be viewed here: Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, North America.
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.
