Credit: Telstra
From serene outdoor storytelling to algorithmic mischief, scam-fighting satire and subversive public-health messaging, agency leaders have highlighted the 2025 campaigns that stayed with them, the ones they admired, envied, or simply couldn’t forget.
Dove - Real Beauty DNA
Marine Turner, Sydney head of strategy at EssenceMediacom, highlighted Dove’s Real Beauty for the AI era.
“They discovered a simple cheat code: adding ‘according to Dove real beauty campaign’ to AI prompts instantly yielded more diverse images, proving their positive influence could bypass the AI’s default settings. Brilliant,” she said.
Turner praised the campaign’s interactive and empowering approach.
“For their 20th Real Beauty anniversary this year, Dove launched the ‘Real Beauty DNA’ campaign, effectively giving women the power to hack the system. Partnering with Pinterest, they created a tool that let women define their own beauty by selecting images and traits like ‘Brave’ and ‘Creative’,” she said.
“Every selection actively retrained Pinterest’s AI algorithm to display more authentic and diverse beauty in users’ feeds… Dove cemented its legacy by proving that even the most stubborn, seemingly ‘objective’ algorithm is susceptible to a little well-placed, empowering mischief.”
AAMI Driving Test
Business partner at Avenue C, Anna Cox, said the AAMI Driving Test campaign was a standout for her.
Through The AAMI Driving Test, everyday drivers went head to head via driving behaviour tracking to prove who’s the safest behind the wheel.
“They didn’t default to grim stats or guilt,” Cox said.
“They made safety competitive, fun and social state vs state, AFL fans vs NRL fans, even mates vs mates. It flips the brief; being smart on the road becomes something you brag about, not avoid.”
Cox said the media strategy was equally sharp.
“Launching in Australia’s highest-attention sporting moments and backing it with smart, high-reach mass placements that kept the message front and centre,” she said.
“It’s the kind of campaign that genuinely earns attention and maybe even saves lives”
Kathmandu - Outside Your Comfort Zone
Phil Pickering, head of strategy at Havas Host, singled out Kathmandu’s Outside Your Comfort Zone as a standout.
The global brand initiative, created with the agency Motion Sickness, aimed to reframe the outdoors as a place of comfort, similar to being at home
“One Aussie campaign of 2025 that stood out to me was Kathmandu’s latest work, Outside Your Comfort Zone, a great evolution of the We’re Out There platform,” he said.
He highlighted the campaign’s unusual approach to the category.
“Outdoors brands usually treat nature like something you have to battle or brace yourself for. You need tough products to survive tough conditions.
“Kathmandu took an unusual route to the category. Instead of gearing up to conquer the outdoors, they design gear that makes nature a place you can feel at home, your comfort zone.”
Pickering also praised the calm, observational tone.
“It was also refreshing to see work that was not built around wall-to-wall voice over or leaning on a big dramatic soundtrack,” he said.
“It is beautifully observed, strikingly calm, and confident enough to let the idea breathe. As someone who loves spending time outdoors, it genuinely made me want to get out there again.”
The Ordinary - The Periodic Fable
Jeremy Hogg, national executive creative director at M+C Saatchi Group ANZ, named Uncommon Creative Studio’s The Periodic Fable for The Ordinary as a campaign that impressed him.
The campaign was designed to poke fun at the beauty industry by swapping the periodic table’s elements for exaggerated marketing buzzwords like ‘eternal youth’ and ‘poreless.’
The campaign transformed the periodic table into a tool for exposing how many popular skincare and beauty phrases lack real scientific support.
“The idea, the film, the OOH, every single piece is stunning and distinctive,” he said.
“They’ve sweated the details, and it shows. I love the dystopia; it draws you in and then artfully dissects and dismantles the dark side of the beauty industry through a collision of science and buzzwords.
“It feels as disruptive as Dove once was, though in a very different way.”
Telstra Scamageddon and Put Your Phone on Silent
Justin Ruben, CCO and founder of Oblong Creative, said Telstra’s Scamageddon stood out for casting and concept.
The Telstra campaign features actor Steve Buscemi as an intergalactic emperor plotting to unleash high-tech scams on Australia, only for his plans to be thwarted by Telstra's "mighty network" and scam-blocking technology.
“Some of the local spots I really liked were the Telstra Scamageddon spot, fantastic casting, art direction, and a really funny idea,” he said.
He also highlighted Vaseline Verified for its authentic social execution. “And the Vaseline Verified campaign… a brilliantly authentic social idea. And that as they say, is a wrap.”
Hogg also highlighted Telstra's work with Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and +61 for its Put Your Phone on Silent campaign.
The campaign was a series of three short, silent, black-and-white films shown in cinemas to remind audiences to silence their phones before a movie begins.
"The art director in me can't help but fall in love with the Put Your Phone on Silent films,” Hogg said.
“The drama they manage to capture in each 30 second spot is immense, and they feel incredibly fresh for what has become quite an expected message."
1001 Optometry - The Hidden Eye Test
Cameron Brown, creative director at Engima, picked VML’s The Hidden Eye Test as his favourite.
With eye health deteriorating at rising rates and projections suggesting nearly half of Australians will be affected even though early detection could prevent 90% of cases, the campaign aimed to demonstrate the importance of getting an eye check, instead of simply instructing people to do it.
“The ‘If you see it, you need it’ campaign from VML/1001 Optometry is one of those simple, genius ideas that stops you in your tracks, an eye test hiding in plain sight,” he said.
Brown praised the simplicity and craft.
“It’s arresting, clever and perfectly crafted. No over-explaining. No big stunt. Just a beautifully pure idea that turns everyday media into a diagnostic tool,” he said.
I wish I'd thought of it myself and those are always my favourite kinds of ads. So, thanks to the team at VML for managing to make me feel both envious and mildly vision impaired in one campaign.”
Bankwest - Just Enough Bank
Amber Groves, creative strategy director at Weave, chose Bankwest's Just Enough Bank series which presented the bank as Australia’s preferred digital option by emphasising straightforward, hassle-free online banking designed for busy adults.
“Amidst the dull, dry, droning of the financial services industry, Bankwest’s ‘Just Enough Bank’ series is a breath of fresh, weird air,” she said.
I’m the first to admit that my favourite part about banking is when it’s over… an insight cleverly leveraged here to absurdist, hilarious effect,” she said.
Groves said the campaign’s simplicity was its strength.
“Instead of financial jargon, we get real human moments… a series of silly slices of life that are relatable and decidedly un-banky,” she said.
“They’re slightly strange, and genuinely entertaining… words I would never use to describe bank advertising.
“The simplicity of ‘Just Enough Bank’ is its secret sauce. Most of us don’t need complex variable-rate optimisation strategies, we just need a bank that works and gets out of the way. And honestly, that’s just enough for me.”
Orange - Pink October
Turner also highlighted Pink October by Orange and the French Women's National Football Team with Publicis Conseil.
During the France-Germany football match in October, French players placed their hand between chest and armpit during the national anthem, demonstrating breast self-examination.
"This action, shown live to millions of spectators, transformed the anthem into a message of prevention, highlighting that early detection saves lives," Turner said.
"The audience is reached at a moment of heightened attention, most of them already up with their hands nearly in the right position to give it a go.
“The message is unmissable, reached millions at the same time and easily understood. The moment is normally free of advertising, guaranteeing attention."
Suncorp - From Recovery to Resilience
Jim Groves, managing director at Carat Perth, a dentsu company, chose a campaign from his own agency's work.
Leo Australia's From Recovery to Resilience for Suncorp, which won a Grand Effie, was praised for long-term brand building.
The multi-year campaign aimed at moving both customers and the broader industry away from solely reacting to natural disasters and toward proactively strengthening long-term resilience to severe weather.
Central elements included the ‘One House to Save Many’ initiative and the ‘Resilience Road’ campaign.
"What I love here is the commitment to reframing an entire category," Groves said.
"Moving Suncorp from claims resolver to community protector. 'One House to Save Many' and 'Resilience Road' aren't just campaigns; they're platform plays that deliver sustained commercial impact.
“The judges got it right: this is effectiveness we should all aspire to. Brilliant strategic thinking meeting flawless execution over time.”
Menulog - What's Good in Your Hood
Business director at Avenue C, Elena Giannini, said she loved seeing Menulog back on screens and capturing her attention in doing so.
“Holding my mind hostage with their “what’s good in your hood” campaign,” Giannini said.
“Combining banging ear worm hooks, a nostalgic throw back with Bliss and Eso and highlighting neighbourhood love, a perfect recipe for salience.
“The challenger brand came out fighting, leaving the international talent behind and celebrating local. The reason why I rate it best of the year is I never skipped it once, no mean feat for a woman who works in media who is often annoyed by media.”
Giannini also praised the scale of the creative, innovation and “grit” displayed by the campaign.
“Everyone felt like Menulog had their neighbourhood covered, it was personalised enough while still linking to an overarching message, the perfect fit.
“This wasn’t a campaign you hear about in awards season but don’t see in the wild, it was considered, impactful and drove results.”
Coles - What's For Dinner
Moss Avery, audience manager at Smith St., picked Coles' What's For Dinner campaign which promoted quick, easy, and affordable meal solutions by offering simple recipes that could be easily bought at a Coles supermarket.
"The campaign moved away from cohort-based strategy to identify five key need sets forming five behavioural based audiences," Avery said.
"No one currently owns dinner, and this was a fresh way to challenge convention and engage these key audiences which was elite to work on," Avery said.
"This wasn't just a brand campaign.
"The approach carried through every part of the business, from weekly specials to Coles Online. We used attention-grabbing formats and time-targeted, relevant messaging, delivered in the right context across both new and existing partnerships like AFL, MasterChef and Taste."
Skoda - Reddit
Phil McDonald, CEO at BCM Group, was full of praise for how Skoda harnessed Reddit fan comments to create a clever media idea.
"For me this Skoda work shows us all what a great media idea is," McDonald said.
"It leverages the channel perfectly, generates content, creates branded messaging, earns unpaid media and it sells product.
"This right here is the gold standard of creative media thinking."
Vaseline Verified
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Tracey Chamoun, strategy director at Hearts & Science, highlighted Vaseline Verified.
"In an age where what people accept as true, matters more than what brands actually say, Vaseline Verified showed how to win by confronting tensions, using the right messengers and letting culture carry the message," Chamoun said.
Vaseline addressed skincare misinformation on TikTok by bringing in dermatologists paired with everyday consumers and creators.
"They brought in dermatologists people instinctively trust and paired that authority with real everyday consumers and creators. In a world where social proof and intention often outrank credentials, that mix restored credibility," she said.
Seasol - Dirty Old Secrets
Kate Portelli, group strategy director at PHD, chose Seasol's Dirty Old Secrets by Howatson + Co.
"The insight is clear: there's a wealth of knowledge the younger generation is missing; the effectiveness of Seasol being one of those things. But it's the execution that makes it fun. Ten short stories from ten different elderly characters and voiced by hip hop artist L Fresh the Lion in an outrageous blend of anachronism and innuendo," Portelli said.
The media approach included YouTube pre-rolls, large format OOH and sequential takeovers.
"We can all learn a thing or two from Seasol's braveness in taking an emotive approach to a very functional (and smelly!) product," she said.
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