A new benchmark for brand experience: Playmakers wins Gold with Jameson’s spread the cheers

At the heart of these wins is the groundbreaking Jameson Spread the Cheers campaign, a festive-season campaign that redefined how South Africans engage with whiskey.

The industry took notice with Jameson Spread the Cheers winning a Gold in the Food & Beverage category, two Silver’s in Experiential and Consumer Products & Services and Bronze in Special Branded Content at the 2025 Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards. The campaign also won a Gold Smarties Award in the Brand Experience Marketing Impact category at the MMA sub-Saharan Africa’s 2025 Smarties, celebrating campaigns that create meaningful human connection.

The festive period is one of the most competitive moments for food and beverage brands, a time when promotions dominate and consumer attention is stretched. Jameson faced a clear challenge: how to rise above promotion-heavy messaging and connect with consumers in a way that felt authentic, memorable and experiential. Playmakers solution was rooted in a simple but powerful idea that shifts whiskey from something consumers buy to something they truly experience.

Whiskey moved beyond the bottle and into a fully immersive flavour playground at Nelson Mandela Square where innovation and experience took centre stage giving consumers a chance to taste, sample and connect with Jameson in new ways and interact with the brand in a multi-sensory environment designed to engage both loyal fans and curious newcomers.

The results exceeded expectations with over 10,000 tastings, far surpassing the campaign’s objectives. Most importantly, Jameson became the dominant voice in the whisky category over the festive period, proof that when brands connect through culture, impact follows, thereby elevating brand presence during a highly competitive time.

These wins sit alongside honours for other Playmakers and Future Play campaigns at the Assegai’s including, Dricus UFC 297 which was awarded Silver in the Multi-Language category and two Bronze’s in the Customer Acquisition and Channel Video Content categories. Queen Modjadji was awarded a Bronze Award in the Channel Influencer Marketing category and the Absa x Betway SA20 campaign earned the leader award in the Media & Sports category showing the versatility of the agencies capabilities across sport, entertainment, culture and lifestyle engagement.

Playmakers Sponsorship & Marketing continues to build work that places human experience at the centre. These accolades recognise the impact that is possible when insight, precision in execution, and creative strength come together.