Andrex wins IPA Effectiveness Awards President’s Prize for Creative Effectiveness

The prize was introduced by IPA President Karen Martin as part of her agenda to celebrate the contribution creativity makes to business success, the economy and UK culture. The full case study, in partnership with PHD Media, also won IPA Effectiveness Awards Gold.

Andrex took home the prestigious accolade for their ‘Get Comfortable’ campaign, which both challenged the British public’s bathroom taboos and sought to increase the value people place on both toileting and, in turn, their choice of toilet paper. Within two years, the activity had helped reinvigorate the brand and return Andrex to sustainable growth after a decade of decline.

This was achieved through a series of TV spots showcasing people taking pride in carrying their toilet paper on the way to having a poo in potentially embarrassing situations: at school, the office or their in-laws. Each of the TV adverts also featured a nod to previous Andrex advertising with a cameo from their famous puppy mascot.

Print, OOH and social activations used contextual opportunities and cultural events to keep Andrex relevant and engaging. This included showcasing the amount of time Brits are ‘paid to poo’ each year and celebrating Oasis’ comeback with a ‘roll with it’ mural in Manchester.

In addition, a partnership with ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother and Bowel Cancer UK saw Sharon Osbourne address the nation from a toilet roll throne to encourage viewers to get comfortable checking their poo to detect life-threatening diseases earlier.

The Prize was adjudicated by a special panel of leading creatives, chaired by Felipe Serradourada Guimarães, Chief Creative Officer at BBH London & Dublin. The judges reviewed 19 entries before picking the winner from a strong shortlist of five that also included Currys, Great Western Railway, Lurpak and Specsavers.

Commenting on the President's Prize for Creative Effectiveness:

Felipe Serradourada Guimarães, Chief Creative Officer at BBH London & Dublin and Chair of the Creative Judging Panel, said:

“The Creative Effectiveness award is designed to prove that brave work works. Work where creativity itself drives commercial impact. Andrex is the perfect example of this. It shouldn’t work, but it does, and brilliantly. A clear winner.”

Karen Martin, CEO of BBH London & Dublin and IPA President, said:

“I wanted the President’s Prize for Creative Effectiveness to explore the role that the best creative can have in the most effective advertising campaigns. It’s really exciting to see that each of the campaigns shortlisted for this award have done so well within the other IPA Effectiveness Awards categories. It tells me that creativity truly is the driving force behind everything that we do, and it is something that we need to keep celebrating.

“Congratulations to Andrex and Omnicom for winning the inaugural President’s Prize for Creative Effectiveness. Their work is a wonderful example of how brilliant creativity, even around something as seemingly mundane as toilet paper, can power incredible results for brands.”

All winning case studies are available to download from the IPA website or from WARC. The IPA Effectiveness Awards are sponsored by Analytic Partners, System1, Thinkbox and WARC.

2026 IPA Effectiveness Awards winners:

Special Prizes:

Grand Prix:

• Currys by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry: The Superpower In-store

Effectiveness Agency of the Year:

• PHD Media

Effectiveness Company of the Year:

• Omnicom

The Broadbent Prize for Best Dedication to Effectiveness:

• Specsavers

Best Not-For-Profit:

• Alzheimer's Society by Medialab, New Commercial Arts and Alzheimer's Society: How a 'cultural multiplier' generated the short and really long-term income to fight dementia

Best Small Budget:

• NHS Blood and Transplant by VML: Waiting to live: Shining a light on children waiting for a transplant

The President’s Prize for Creative Effectiveness:

• Andrex by Omnicom and PHD Media: Getting Andrex back on a roll: How confronting toilet truths unlocked a bold new chapter of growth

The Channon Prize for Best New Learning:

• Nationwide by Mother and Wavemaker London: Marketing and finance: Pioneering a new kind of alliance

Gold Awards:

Global Market:

• Specsavers by MG OMD and Specsavers Creative: The serious value of humour

Not-For-Profit:

• Alzheimer's Society by Medialab, New Commercial Arts and Alzheimer's Society: How a 'cultural multiplier' generated the short and really long-term income to fight dementia

Single Market:

• Andrex by Omnicom and PHD Media: Getting Andrex back on a roll: How confronting toilet truths unlocked a bold new chapter of growth
• Currys by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry: The Superpower In-store
• Lurpak by Wieden+Kennedy London and Arla: How Lurpak has led a category for 19 years, by thinking outside it
• Nationwide by Mother and Wavemaker London: Marketing and finance: Pioneering a new kind of alliance

Silver Awards:

Not-For-Profit:

• NHS Blood and Transplant by VML: Waiting to live: Shining a light on children waiting for a transplant

Single Market:

• AJ Bell by Pablo London: Clear as a bell: The stupidly simple strategy that made AJ Bell the talk of the town
• Great Western Railway by adam&eve\TBWA: Consistency starts here: How committing to a single campaign idea paid back for Great Western Railway
• Volkswagen by adam&eve\TBWA and PHD Media: The power of people like you: How popularity paid back for Volkswagen

Bronze Awards:

Not-For-Profit:

• Capita, for the British Army by Droga5 and EssenceMediacom: You Belong Here: Sharpening belonging for the next generation of Army recruits

Regional Market:

• Škoda by AMV BBDO and PHD Media: Škoda Elroq: From complexity to confidence – how Škoda unlocked Europe’s EV market

Single Market:

• Admiral by McCann Bristol: Ahoy Admouth! The power of a fluent world to create emotional connections
• Confused.com by Leo UK and Zenith UK: From chasing efficiencies to growing efficiently: How Confused.com made the whole system work harder
• easyJet by VCCP, T&P London and Kepler: Not a campaign, a creative system for the modern era of algorithmic media
• Gousto by the7stars: Gousto rewrote the rules of DTC growth by building a brand before chasing performance
• Jaffa Cakes by adam&eve\TBWA and MG OMD: How a modern brand-building strategy reignited an age-old debate about Jaffa Cakes
• Madrî Excepcional by Ogilvy UK and Carat: “You don’t need history, to make history”: How Madrí Excepcional became a £1bn brand in 5 years
• SMARTY mobile by The Gate London, Zenith UK and VodafoneThree: Less Malarkey. More SMARTY: How a flanker brand reignited growth in a shrinking market
• Vitality by VCCP: Life, not death