Auckland’s Motion Sickness was crowned 2025 Australia & New Zealand Independent Agency of the Year at the London International Awards, winning five Golds for its bold herpes awareness campaign. Leo Australia, Accenture Song, FINCH, Bigpop Studios, The Editors, One Green Bean, and Noisy Beast also earned major regional honours for creative excellence.
Auckland’s indie creative powerhouse Motion Sickness has made history by being named 2025 Australia & New Zealand Regional Independent Agency of the Year at the prestigious London International Awards (LIA) — a major global recognition that cements the agency’s place among the world’s most daring and innovative storytellers.
The announcement, part of the LIA’s 40th annual edition, saw Motion Sickness take the spotlight alongside some of the biggest names in the creative world. The independent agency’s humorous yet health-driven campaign for The New Zealand Herpes Foundation, titled “Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes,” swept five Gold Statues across multiple categories, including Branded Entertainment, Health & Wellness, Integration, Non-Traditional, and Online Film.
The campaign, which cleverly blended uncomfortable honesty with a disarming national pride, turned what could have been a taboo topic into an unforgettable piece of social commentary. Its viral success not only helped to destigmatize conversations around sexual health in New Zealand but also underlined Motion Sickness’s flair for culturally resonant creativity.
Working behind the scenes on the campaign’s distinctive audio was Bigpop Studios Auckland, which played a key role in its emotional and tonal impact. The studio’s contribution earned it the title of Regional Music & Sound Company of the Year, further highlighting New Zealand’s creative momentum on the global stage.
A Landmark Year for the Region
The 2025 LIA Awards also recognized a broad spectrum of creative excellence across Australia and New Zealand. Leo Australia was named Regional Agency of the Year, while Accenture Song took home the coveted title of Regional Network of the Year, underscoring its dominance across multiple markets and disciplines.
Production and post-production excellence from the region was equally celebrated. FINCH, known for its innovative storytelling and technical prowess, was crowned Regional Production Company of the Year, while The Editors Sydney took the top spot for post-production. The PR and media honors went to One Green Bean Sydney and Noisy Beast Melbourne, respectively — reinforcing the ANZ region’s growing influence in the global creative industry.
The Campaigns That Ruled
Among this year’s winning work, a few campaigns stood out for their ingenuity and emotional resonance. Motion Sickness’s herpes awareness project not only earned widespread media coverage but also demonstrated how humor and honesty can spark national conversations about public health.
FINCH, another standout from New Zealand, picked up a Silver for its work on The New Zealand Herpes campaign and a Bronze for Samsung New Zealand’s “Let Go” in the Production & Post-Production competition — a testament to its continued creative and technical excellence.
In Australia, Leo Australia’s partnership with Suncorp Insurance delivered stellar results, earning two Golds, two Silvers, and one Bronze for the “Suncorp Haven” campaign across categories such as Direct, Integration, Creative Use of Data, and Digital. The agency’s “Building a More Resilient Australia” campaign for Suncorp also took home a Silver in Creative Strategy, celebrating the brand’s commitment to community-focused storytelling.
Meanwhile, Droga5 ANZ, the Regional Network of the Year under the Accenture Song umbrella, showcased its characteristic flair for wit and cultural commentary. Its “Australian Lamb – The Comments Section” campaign won one Gold and two Silvers across Use of Social Media & Influencers and Branded Content, while “The Ad That Could Only Be Seen On SBS” for SBS Australia picked up a Silver in Creativity in Media.
Judging the Best in the World
The London International Awards, founded in 1986, has long been regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious creative competitions. Recognized in global rankings like WARC Creative 100, The Drum World Creative Rankings, ADC Germany, and Campaign Brief, the LIAs stand out for their rigorous and transparent judging process.
This year’s judging, marking the awards’ 40th anniversary, was held over ten days at Encore @ Wynn Las Vegas. In keeping with LIA’s hallmark of creative integrity, all jurors — comprising top global creative practitioners — participated onsite in discussions and deliberations across every category.
Unlike many other awards, the LIA has no pre-judging phase. Every juror reviews every piece of submitted work, ensuring that each entry receives equal attention. The result is a process that is “transparent, fair, and without favor or prejudice,” according to the organizers.
Creativity Without Borders
The 2025 results underline how Australia and New Zealand have emerged as global centers of creative excellence, producing ideas that transcend geography, genre, and tone. From Motion Sickness’s bold humor to Leo Australia’s empathetic storytelling and FINCH’s cinematic mastery, this year’s winners represent the breadth of the region’s creative talent.
In many ways, the “Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes” campaign captures the zeitgeist of the post-pandemic creative world — one that embraces discomfort, challenges stigma, and finds connection in unexpected places. The campaign’s global success suggests that the most powerful ideas are those that dare to go where others won’t.
A Legacy of Bold Ideas
As the LIAs celebrated four decades of recognizing the best in creativity, this year’s results reaffirmed that the ANZ region continues to punch far above its weight on the global stage. Whether through indie disruptors like Motion Sickness or established giants like Accenture Song, Australia and New Zealand are producing work that challenges conventions and pushes creative boundaries.
For the jurors, the takeaway was clear: the future of creativity is about authenticity, purpose, and risk-taking. And for agencies like Motion Sickness — which has now become a global name with a distinctly local voice — the message is even simpler: being small is no barrier when your ideas are big enough to make the world listen.
As the curtain fell on LIA’s 40th edition in Las Vegas, one thing was certain — creativity from Down Under is not just competing with the best; it’s redefining what “the best” can mean.
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