For TBWA\Hunt Lascaris, two tongue-in-cheek campaigns for City Lodge Hotels and Savanna aim toturn humour into hardware at both this year's Effie Awards and Loeries Creative Week, says the agency.

At the Effies, which recognise effectiveness in marketing and advertising, City Lodge's, 'Save Our Stay (SOS)' campaign notches the Grand Effie, a Gold and two Silvers. Earlier in the year, at Africa and the Middle East's creative awards, the Loeries, the same campaign picked up a Gold Loerie for Comedic Impact, says the agency.

Savanna's trademark wit also delivers wins for Heineken Beverages, aiming to prove that humour, when grounded in sharp human insight, can continue to drive both creativity and commercial success, adds the agency.

The 'Save Our Stay' campaign takes aim at the unpredictable world of short-term rentals. It dramatises short-term stays gone wrong and offers a tongue-in-cheek solution: click the 'SOS (Save Our Stay)' button to geolocate the nearest City Lodge Hotel and get up to 30% off. It's a campaign aims to be about comfort in a chaotic world, celebrating City Lodge's promise of a perfectly predictable stay, says the agency.

Steph van Niekerk, Executive Creative Director of TBWA explains, the work was born from her own "memorable" experience. "I was in Copenhagen for work and booked what looked like charming accommodation with a private garden. But when I arrived, I discovered I was sharing the garden with a strip club," she adds.

Carl Willoughby, Chief Creative Officer of TBWA says that's exactly why the campaign landed so well, because it drew on the universal "too-good-to-be-true" experience everyone has had. "This is what made 'Save Our Stay' resonate. It's relatable, funny and grounded in a very human truth."

City Lodge has trusted TBWA for more than three decades, and humour has always been part of its overall mission. But behind the laughter is a serious point about value, adds the agency.

"Awards aren't just about applause. They're one of the few levers we can pull to prove worth in an industry that trades in the intangible. Creativity, when it's recognised through awards, isn't just art, it's a strategic business asset," says Willoughby.

The resurgence of humour isn't confined to South Africa. At this year's Cannes, humour was widely discussed by industry professionals, who noted its resurgence in advertising, its use in navigating a complex world, and the rise of a new "unhinged" or authentic comedic style — after years of purpose-driven seriousness, says the agency.

Global analysis shows that humorous campaigns are regaining their place as effective tools for building engagement, distinctiveness and brand memory. Studies referenced at Cannes found that 72% of people would choose a brand that uses humour over a competitor that does not, and 91% prefer brands that make them laugh. Reports from Kantar and Little Black Book confirmed that humour increases recall when it's tied closely to the brand itself, adds the agency.

Among the United Kingdom and United States winners, 75% at Cannes Lions 2024 used humor, a significant increase from 52% in 2023. Purpose-driven ads, in contrast, continued their decline, with one analysis finding they made up only 13% of winners in 2024, says the agency.

South Africans instinctively use humour as a coping mechanism, and brands that tap into that can be rewarded with connection and loyalty. Van Niekerk says that in an age of economic pressure, algorithmic feeds and AI-generated sameness, the ability to make people laugh is a powerful differentiator.

"We're not just competing with other brands; we're competing with TikTok feeds, memes and the entire internet. If you don't entertain, you're invisible. Humour cuts through; it's our superpower."

As the awards aim to recognisee, funny work is not lightweight work, it's work that can stick. The agency's wins with both City Lodge and Savanna aim to demonstrate that when humour is intelligent, brand-aligned and human, it can deliver what every marketer wants: attention, memorability and impact, says the agency.

In a world where purpose often overshadows play, TBWAs aims to make the point that funny isn't frivolous, it's effective, concludes the agency.

For more information, visit www.tbwa.com. You can also follow TBWA\South Africa on LinkedIn or on Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor