LAIF 2025: X3M Ideas Reclaims Agency Of The Year Title As Leo Burnett, Noah’s Ark, Others Put Up Impressive Performances

The Nigerian advertising industry came together in spectacular fashion yesterday, as the Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) celebrated its landmark 20th edition at the Lagos Marriott Hotel in Ikeja. The glittering awards ceremony, which capped a two-day creative festival befitting the milestone occasion, saw X3M Ideas emerge as the undisputed champion of the night.

In what can only be described as a triumphant return to form, X3M Ideas clinched the coveted Agency of the Year title, amassing an impressive 336 points (over 50% gap ahead of the nearest agency) from 12 Gold, 26 Silver, and 24 Bronze medals. The stellar performance reaffirms the Steve Babaeko-led agency’s position as one of Nigeria’s most formidable creative powerhouses and marks a comeback after being edged out by Insight Publicis in 2024.

Leo Burnett Lagos secured second position on the medals table with 153 points, earned from 2 Gold, 11 Silver, and 23 Bronze medals, while Noahs Ark Communications rounded out the top three with 141 points (7 Gold, 9 Silver, and 8 Bronze). Up in the Sky put up a very impressive showing along with TBWA Concept to complete the top five with 78 and 48 points respectively.

The awards covered a broad spectrum of creative categories including press, outdoor, radio, television, digital, and craft categories, with the 2025 edition marking the first time LAIF expanded beyond traditional advertising to celebrate creativity in film, tech, gaming, and other innovative sectors through newly introduced Non-AAAN categories.

A Stark Contrast from 2024

The 2025 results present a fascinating shift from the previous year’s standings. In 2024, Insight Publicis dominated the awards with a record-breaking 327 points from 7 Gold, 26 Silver, and 36 Bronze medals, more than double the scores of its nearest rivals. X3M Ideas had finished second that year with 10 Gold, 10 Silver, and 8 Bronze, while Noahs Ark took third place with 3 Gold, 10 Silver, and 15 Bronze.

The 2025 edition witnessed X3M Ideas not only reclaiming the top spot but doing so with a commanding lead that shows the competitive spirit and ever-evolving landscape of Nigeria’s advertising ecosystem. Interestingly, it appears like last year’s champions, Insight Publicis, sat this year’s edition out as it did not feature on the 2025 medals table.

Other notable performers in 2025 included Imaginaruim (18 points), Playhouse (18 points), Spice 360 (18 points), and The RedWolf Company (18 points), all tied at sixth position. Among non-AAAN agencies and brands, Media Reach OMD led with 5 Gold medals, while All Seasons Zenith followed with 3 Gold and 1 Silver.

“Twenty Years of Crazy”

The 2025 LAIF Awards, themed “20 Years of Crazy,” was a befitting celebration of two decades of recognizing and championing creative excellence in Nigeria. LAIF was born out of a bold vision by the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) to celebrate and elevate creativity within Nigeria’s marketing communications industry. Formally launched to the public on April 21, 2006, at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Ikeja, with the maiden awards ceremony held on June 9, 2006, at the Expo Hall of Eko Hotel & Suites, LAIF set out with the clear objectives to recognize creative excellence, improve the quality of creative craft, promote healthy competition using global best practices, and establish a credible, proudly Nigerian platform for peer recognition and industry benchmarking.

Over the past two decades, LAIF has evolved from a modest beginning into Nigeria’s premier creative awards platform, attracting hundreds of entries annually and commanding the respect of the entire industry. The festival has witnessed the rise and dominance of various agencies over the years: DDB Lagos emerged as an early powerhouse in 2009-2010; Insight Communications (now Insight Publicis) established itself as a dominant force from 2012 onwards, winning multiple Agency of the Year titles; while newer agencies like X3M Ideas and Noahs Ark emerged in the 2010s to challenge the established order, bringing fresh creative perspectives and international recognition to Nigerian advertising.

The awards have not only celebrated individual agencies but have also charted the evolution of Nigerian creativity itself from the early days of traditional print and broadcast advertising to today’s integrated, digitally-driven, socially-conscious campaigns that compete on the global stage.