Bear Meets Eagle On Fire scores one Gold and two Bronze at 2025 EPICA Awards; 2045 scores Bronze
Winners of the 2025 Epica Awards, represented by Campaign Brief in Australia and New Zealand, have been announced.
Australian independent agency Bear Meets Eagle On Fire took home one Gold and two Bronze awards, while Melbourne-based independent agency 2045 secured a Bronze.
BMEOF’s Gold award was for Telstra’s “Blocking Villains”, with Bronze wins for Telstra’s “Silent Films” and “Together is for Christmas.” 2045 earned Bronze for 247 Represent’s “The Longest Runway.”
GRAND PRIX WINNERS:
FILM:
“No Project Without Drama”, HeimatTBWA\ Berlin, Hornbach (Germany)
“We Need to Talk About Eli”, Morgernstern, Maxbo (Norway)
RESPONSIBILITY:
“AXA – 3 Words”, Publicis Conseil, AXA (France)
“Miniatur Warmland”, Grabarz & Partner, Deutsche Telecom (Germany)
INNOVATION:
“Night Fishing”, INNOCEAN, IONIQ (Republic of Korea)
PR:
“The Final Copy of Ilon Specht”, McCann Paris, L’Oréal Paris (France)
DIGITAL:
“Camdom: The First Digital Condom”, INNOCEAN, Billy Boy (Germany)
PRINT:
“IKEA – Made For Life” campaign, TRY, IKEA (Norway)
NETWORK OF THE YEAR: Publicis
AGENCY OF THE YEAR: TRY (Norway)
INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR: TRY (Norway)
There was a first Epica Awards Grand Prix for South Korea at the Epica Awards 2025, awarded to INNOCEAN Korea, which won the Innovation prize for the film “Night Fishing”, shot entirely on the cameras of the Hyundai IONIQ car.
Na Ri Moon, Creative Director, INNOCEAN Korea, says: “It is especially meaningful to us that the project was recognized by the press jury not merely as an advertisement, but as a new approach to storytelling and a bold technical experiment. This acknowledgment has given our team greater confidence and set a new benchmark for our future challenges.”
Elsewhere it was a year of doubles as the jury decided to award two Grand Prix in a pair of closely-fought categories. In Film, which continues to shine in an era of multiple media platforms, two very different films for home improvement brands won big prizes.
The Film Grand Prix “No Project Without Drama”, from HeimatTBWA\ Berlin for long-running client Hornbach, transforms advertising into theatre with handcrafted sets and choreography that turn a leaky pipe into a “plumbing opera”.
Guido Heffels, co-founder and CCO of HeimatTBWA\, says: “This film was made from start to finish with bare hands, passion, and the best materials. That’s HORNBACH in its purest form.”
The second Film Grand Prix went to “We Need to Talk About Eli”, by Morgernstern for Maxbo in Norway. It hilariously portrays a little girl who’s picked up some seriously bad language from Dad. The jury felt that it was pure entertainment, perfectly pitched.
Creative team Bjørnar Buxrud and Torkild Jarnholt, says: “We are beyond proud to win the Epica Film Grand Prix for ‘We Need to Talk About Eli’. Recognition at this level from top industry journalists from around the world is a HUGE deal for a small independent ad agency like Morgenstern.”
The Responsibility Grand Prix – celebrating work for good causes – was also awarded to two different projects. “AXA – 3 Words” from Publicis Conseil in France takes victims of domestic violence into protection as part of a groundbreaking new insurance coverage.
The AXA team at Publicis Conseil commented: “We are deeply honored to receive this Grand Prix. ‘3 Words’ is more than a campaign, it is an initiative that engaged the entire company. AXA had to rethink the way it operates: while insurance contracts usually cover only named individuals and require proof of loss, this clause now protects the entire household, women and children, without requiring proof of domestic violence.”
Meanwhile, “Miniatur Warmland” from Grabarz & Partner, for Deutsche Telecom, combined technology with the world’s largest model railway, in Hamburg, to demonstate the potential impact of global warming to a young audience.
Ralf Heuel, CCO/Partner, Grabarz & Partner, said: “Receiving an award from fellow creatives is already fantastic. But receiving a Grand Prix from journalists is in a completely different league. Together with our friends at Telekom and all our production partners, we are overjoyed about this Epica Grand Prix. Special thanks go to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg for their cooperation and selfless and unconditional support. We could use all the help we can get to protect our small world from an impending catastrophe.”
The PR Grand Prix went to McCann Paris and L’Oréal Paris for “The Final Copy of Ilon Specht”. At the campaign’s core was a documentary about the copywriter behind the iconic line “Because I’m worth it.” But the agency used the film’s launch on International Women’s Day to provoke a far wider conversation about the ability of that single line to empower women and its importance in the battle for equality.
Charlotte Franceries, McCann Global Business Leader for L’Oréal and Ferrero, President of McCann Paris, says: “Winning the PR Grand Prix from a jury of journalists is an exceptional honor. We’re proud that ‘The Final Copy of Ilon Specht’ was recognized as a meaningful PR platform for L’Oréal Paris. This win is shared with our team at McCann Paris.”
The Digital Grand Prix was awarded to “Camdom: The First Digital Condom”, from INNOCEAN for condom brand Billy Boy in Germany. The unique application for mobile phones blocks the device, and all those nearby, from filming intimate encounters and the results potentially being used as “revenge porn”.
Jose Suaid and Sebastian Pattis, Creative Directors at INNOCEAN Berlin, commented: “Camdom is not just a product, but a statement for privacy and safety in a connected world. Journalists and professionals who see real impact, not just hype, validate our efforts. Their recognition is crucial as we confront this growing crisis. This isn’t just creativity – it’s necessity.”
The Print Grand Prix was awarded to the “IKEA – Made For Life” campaign, from TRY in Norway. The classic and beautiful print ads link two different IKEA products with a line of touching or humorous narrative. They combine copywriting and art direction to sublime effect.
Creative team Caroline Riis and Eirik Sørensen commented: “It’s such an honour to get the prestigious Grand Prix at Epica, and it means a lot that our campaign resonated so well outside little Norway as well.”
This year there were no Design or Media Grand Prix, as the jury felt that the candidates had equal merit and decided not to single out an individual project.
The Grand Prix debate took place in Paris. The President of the jury was Claire Bridges, founder of the Now Go Create consultancy, who hosts a podcast of the same name and is the author of the book In Your Creative Element.
Commenting on the awards, she said: “Much of the Grand Prix work, from the digital condom to AXA’s domestic violence lifeline, used creativity as a tool for solving problems and protecting people. Yet the tone of the two Film Grand Prix took a different route, celebrating imagination to cut through in ‘dry’ categories using storytelling. This contrast is what made the year so exciting: bold creative thinking that has the power to change a system, and the celebration of a thousand tiny craft decisions that come together to make us engage and care.”
Entries by Country
The highest number of entries overall this year came from Canada (138), followed by Germany (120) and France (101).
Results by Country
Canada was top in the country rankings with 51 prizes including 1 Gold, 17 silvers and 33 bronzes, followed by Germany with 42 prizes, including 3 Grand Prix, 10 golds, 18 silvers and 11 bronzes, and France with two Grand Prix, 15 Golds, 13 silvers and 11 bronzes.
Founded in 1987, Epica is the only global creative award judged by journalists covering the creative and communication industries, as well as specialist reporters in fields ranging from automotive to production.
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