Ascential plc, the owner of the Cannes Lions, has announced that it will acquire the commercial assets of Effie. Known as the ‘global benchmark for marketing effectiveness’, Effie hosts the most prestigious marketing effectiveness awards in the world. Now, pending regulatory approval, it will join Ascential’s LIONS Division, which includes the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WARC, Contagious and Acuity Pricing.
In addition to this, the not-for-profit organisation Effie Worldwide, Inc., will be transformed into The Effie LIONS Foundation, Inc. This new global foundation will reportedly create new education opportunities for the next generation of marketers. Furthermore, it will house LIONS’ existing not-for-profit initiatives and provide access to some of its digital products.
Philip Thomas, CEO of Ascential, commented in a press release: ‘The coming together of LIONS and Effie is a powerful testament to the fact that effectiveness and creativity in marketing are inextricably linked. All enlightened businesses know that creative, effective marketing drives growth. This historic partnership will complement the insights and intelligence on marketing and creative effectiveness LIONS already offers via WARC, The Work and Contagious, providing marketing leaders worldwide with the data and evidence they need to make the case for creative marketing that matters.’
Traci Alford, President and CEO of Effie Worldwide, will continue to lead Effie. In a statement, she said: ‘We are excited to join LIONS with such a complementary, yet distinct, portfolio of brands. Closer collaboration between Effie, as the definitive marketing effectiveness benchmark globally, and the LIONS brands is an exciting prospect for the industry as our ability to share insights and find synergies in our data will help to dissect the role creativity plays in driving marketing effectiveness overall.’
Featured image: Effie x Ascential
