What it takes to win an IPA Effectiveness Award
For 45 years, the IPA Effectiveness Awards have set the standard for what great marketing can do. They are where imagination meets proof, and where the industry stops to remind itself why creativity matters in the first place.
And with 2026 being an IPA year, marketers everywhere are already sharpening their pencils.
In an industry where only 37% of people globally trust advertising to do what’s right, effectiveness is more valuable than ever. And there’s no place more revered than the IPA for asking the biggest question in marketing: did it work?
To explore what separates a strong entry from a winning one, we brought together Laurence Green, Director of Effectiveness at the IPA, and MG OMD’s Head of Strategy Matthew Philip, Emma Scoular, Head of Effectiveness, OmniGOV at MG OMD and Charlie Ebdy, Chief Strategy Officer at OMG UK. Between them, decades of IPA experience…and more than a few Golds.
Here’s what they had to share.
Lesson 1: Start with people
The best effectiveness stories start with people, not process. Winning work anchors itself in real human problems, the kind that shape lives, decisions and behaviour.
From tackling loneliness to inspiring people to take action, the strongest papers start by solving something real. They prove the work understood people first, and everything else followed.
That understanding is also what sets up the evidence later. When you define the human problem clearly, it becomes easier to measure what changed and why.
Emma spoke about the value of thinking early. “Start by understanding what data you have,” she said. “Bring together the best mix from clients and agency partners, and frame it through the 3Cs: Context, Clarity and Causality.”
That discipline helps turn results into something meaningful. It connects what the campaign achieved with what changed in the world around it.
As Laurence put it: “You’ve got to believe you’ve created more value for your client than you’ve spent on their behalf. Without that, you can’t win.”
Lesson 2: Clarity builds conviction
If understanding people gives a campaign meaning, clarity gives it strength.
Matthew spoke about how the best papers make ambition and achievement easy to follow. “With every case throwing out numbers, clarity stands out,” he said. “When objectives are simple and transparent, the whole case holds together. It makes it easier for juries to see the link between ambition and achievement.”
Clarity isn’t about stripping things back. It’s about being deliberate, deciding what really matters and measuring against that. When goals are sharply defined and logic is easy to trace, even complex stories feel simple.
For a judge, or any senior stakeholder, that clarity builds confidence. They can see the path from challenge to change.
Lesson 3: Insights unlock the work
Every great case has a flash of understanding, a cultural or behavioural truth that reframes the challenge and lights the path to a breakthrough idea.
Charlie explained: “Strong entries often hinge on a small but sharp audience truth. That shift in perspective makes the strategy feel obvious in hindsight, and that’s a powerful thing.”
The best insights are clear and human. They come from curiosity, not just data. They take a complex problem and show it from a fresh angle that makes sense to everyone in the room.
That’s what gives a case its spark. It shows how an insight can open the door to an idea that feels both original and inevitable.
Lesson 4: Connection magnifies impact
The strongest entries show how creative, media and execution combine into something greater than the sum of their parts. Integration is what scales ideas into outcomes.
Matthew explained: “What impresses is when the creative idea and the media execution feel inseparable. When they build off each other naturally, the result tends to travel further.”
That kind of cohesion doesn’t happen by accident. It takes open collaboration, shared ambition and trust between teams.
When the idea, the plan and the delivery move together, the effect multiplies. Each element amplifies the next and the story lands with more force.
Lesson 5: Proof underpins everything
The strongest cases prove impact through causality. They connect activity to outcomes with rigour and create value that’s impossible to ignore.
Laurence said: “Every IPA paper is, in the end, a persuasion job. Would this convince a CEO or CFO to keep investing in marketing? That’s the bar.”
Charlie added: “Technical judges love experiments. Anything that validates causality beyond the black box of econometrics makes a case stand out.”
Proof turns results into belief. It builds confidence in the work and shows how creativity, investment and impact come together to deliver measurable change.
Beyond the paper
Whether you’re entering the IPA or making the case for marketing in your own organisation, the same principles hold true.
The best entries:
- Solve urgent, human problems
- Set clear and defensible objectives
- Unlock the work with sharp insights
- Build impact through smart connection
- Prove outcomes with rigour
But beyond frameworks and lessons, every great paper has something else in common; they show care. For the craft, for the evidence and for the people they’re trying to reach.
As Emma said, “Effectiveness isn’t about chasing trophies. It’s about sharpening how we measure, learn and improve.”
That’s why the IPA Effectiveness Awards continue to set the benchmark for the industry. They remind us that marketing still has the power to change behaviour, drive growth and create lasting value, when it starts with people and ends with proof.