The MMA SMARTIES MENA 2025 winners were revealed at a ceremony held at Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai, recognising marketing effectiveness and innovation across the region. The annual programme honours impactful work that reflects the evolving nature of modern marketing – from AI integration and real-time engagement to storytelling and purpose-led initiatives.
Publicis Groupe agencies led the tally, securing a number of Golds across categories, alongside work from independent and network agencies, platform partners, and brands.
Among the standout campaigns was “Pay With Your Trend” by Yum! Brands and Publicis ME (UAE), which earned Gold in four categories: Instant Impact / Promotion, Social Media Marketing, Creator / Influencer / Celebrity Marketing, and O2O / New Retail / Innovative & New Tech Sales Channels.
Landmark Group and Publicis ME won two Golds for “See What They See” in Brand Purpose / Activism and Brand Experience. The group also secured Gold for “How a ‘Creature’ Celebrated Those Who Stepped Up” in Brand Purpose / Activism with Leo Burnett Middle East. Another purpose-led campaign, “Sound Affects”, developed by Sixieme Son and Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East, received Gold in both Brand Purpose / Activism and Small Budget, Big Impact.
Protype and Leo Burnett ME earned Gold in Social Impact Marketing for “Zael: The Disappearing Font”, while “Taboo Totes” by Essity and Saatchi & Saatchi ME won in both Diversity and Inclusive Excellence and Creator / Influencer / Celebrity Marketing.
In Product and Service Launch, Nestlé and Publicis ME were awarded for “Traditional Recipes Made Easy and Enjoyable”, and Puma and Leo Burnett ME won for “Puma’s SPF: Sun Protected Fans”. McDonald’s Qatar and Saatchi & Saatchi Qatar took home Gold for “McDonald’s Redemptions Campaign” in Customer Journey Marketing – Lead Generation / CRM.
Alshaya Group and Blis MENA were recognised with Gold for “Brewing Success: 2024 Starbucks Campaigns” in both Real-Time Marketing and Data Insights / Contextual Marketing. In Social Media Marketing, Stellantis and Publicis ME received Gold for “Original Copies”.
Adidas and EssenceMediacom / Smartifai earned Gold for “Generative Commerce, Engineered by Adidas” in Personalisation, while Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, Mediaplus, and Smartifai won in Gaming, Gamification & E-Sports for “We Didn’t Enter Esports. We Set It on Fire”.
Wavemaker and Perfetti Van Melle secured Gold in AI-Powered Audience Engagement for “The AI World of Lollipops”, while Qatar Tourism, Mindshare Qatar and Smartifai won in Innovative Use of AI in Advertising for “Qatar Goes Wild! 5M Visitors, No Brakes!”. National Bank of Oman and Radix Media LLC were awarded in AI-Driven Creative Excellence for “NBO AI Family”.
Mashreq and Almost Impossible Agency took Gold in Customer (CX) / User Experience (UX) & Design for “Cards of Hope”. Dosy and Leo Burnett ME earned recognition in Short or Long Form Video for “Dosy – Fear”, alongside Emirates NBD and Leo Burnett ME for “Report Fraud, So Fraudsters Won’t Survive”.
The event also spotlighted innovation champions through its Industry Awards, honouring both creative excellence and technological enablement.
- Advertiser of the Year – Landmark Group
- Advertiser of the Year – Unilever
- Brand of the Year – Pizza Hut
- Creative Agency of the Year – Publicis Groupe – Leo Burnett Middle East
- Media Agency of the Year – Publicis Groupe – Publicis Middle East
- AI Marketing Enabler of the Year – Smartifai
- AI Integrated Media Agency of the Year – Mindshare
- AdTech Platform of the Year – Blis
- AdTech Provider of the Year – InMobi
- Marketing Platform of the Year – ArabyAds
- Best in Show – “Pay With Your Trend” – Yum! Brands | Publicis Groupe – Publicis ME (UAE)
Commenting on this year’s awards, Melis Ertem, CEO of MMA MEA, said: “SMARTIES MENA 2025 has showcased not just innovation, but true effectiveness. The campaigns honoured tonight didn’t just make headlines, they moved the needle. The work reflects a region that’s setting global standards in marketing.”
The full list of winners, including the silver and bronze winners is included on the MMA Global website.
