Last night, TikTok hosted the TikTok Ad Awards 2025 at KAFD Conference Center, in Riyadh, bringing together brands, agencies, and creators from across the METAP region including UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to celebrate the year’s most creative and effective campaigns on TikTok.
From big-brand storytelling to performance-driven creativity, creator collaboration, and sound-led ideas, this year’s winners demonstrated how brands that utilize TikTok and its on-platform tools f are able to tap into cultural moments, build deeper community connection, and deliver business impact.
Without further ado, here are the TikTok Ad Awards winners and medalists for 2025.
The G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)
The highest accolade recognizes the single campaign that best combined creativity, effectiveness, and cultural impact on TikTok.
“Om Bdr – 12th Ingredient”, KFC Arabia & TBWA\RAAD, Saudi Arabia
KFC Arabia brought the brand’s playful, culturally relevant identity to life by turning food rituals into sharable, platform-native moments that resonated deeply with TikTok audiences. By leaning into local humor, experimentation with taste, and remix-friendly creative formats, the campaign encouraged users to reinterpret and engage with the idea of what makes KFC distinctive, treating the “12th ingredient” as both a cultural metaphor and a conversation starter.
Through trend-based creative execution, lively sound cues, and participation-driven content, the campaign amplified community participation while delivering measurable performance outcomes rooted in authentic TikTok behaviour.
Big Branding Energy
“The Unstoppable Network”, du, TBWA\RAAD + Mindshare, UAE – Silver
Storytelling that builds strong brand recall through TikTok-first creativity.
du used TikTok as both the stage and the proof point of its idea, passing a single smartphone from creator to creator over an uninterrupted, on-the-move TikTok livestream that lasted more than 30 hours and broke the Guinness World Record for the longest promoted livestream. The campaign showcased du’s 5G network reliability across all seven Emirates, from kayaking in Abu Dhabi to zip-lining in Ras Al Khaimah, while leaning into TikTok’s live, interactive culture to keep audiences engaged in real time.
By blending creator participation, audience interaction, and platform-native storytelling, du demonstrated how TikTok can turn a technical network story into an entertaining, community-driven moment that felt organic to the feed.
Goal Digger
“Team Chris vs. Team Elsa: The Travel Debate That Broke TikTok”, Experience Abu Dhabi & Memac Ogilvy, UAE – Gold
A culture-led campaign that converted entertainment into measurable performance.
Experience Abu Dhabi sparked participation with a debate-led TikTok narrative that invited audiences into the conversation and kept engagement high through playful creator dynamics. The campaign leveraged the globally recognisable personalities of Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky to showcase Abu Dhabi’s diverse attractions within an action-style storytelling framework built for TikTok consumption, driving high levels of user interaction and remixing.
By positioning the destination as both aspirational and shareable, the campaign translated entertainment into intent, inviting viewers to explore Abu Dhabi’s experiences through culturally relevant, creator-friendly TikTok content that encouraged duets, comments and trend participation.
“Om Bdr – 12th Ingredient”, KFC Arabia & TBWA\RAAD, Saudi Arabia – Gold
Performance-driven creativity rooted in cultural relevance.
“14 Feb: Judgement Day!”, Floward & Habbar, Saudi Arabia – Silver
A timely, engagement-led performance campaign.
Floward turned Valentine’s Day into a playful TikTok-native moment by leaning into the universal dilemma of gift decisions with “Judgement Day!”, a creative concept that invited users to weigh in on what makes the perfect gift. Through a series of quick-cut videos, creator collaborations, and trend-driven formats designed for sharing and commenting. By tapping into TikTok’s culture of real-time response and social debate, Floward successfully drove engagement and consideration, reinforcing its position as the go-to gifting destination for culturally relevant moments.
Community Core
“The Unstoppable Network”, du, TBWA\RAAD + Mindshare, UAE – Gold
Community-led storytelling that strengthened brand connection.
“My Like First!”, Lux, (Unilever MENA), UAE & Saudi Arabia – Gold
Beauty-community-driven engagement built around creator authenticity.
Lux’s campaign flipped the script on social media validation by encouraging women to hit “like” on their own posts first, not for the algorithm, but as a bold declaration of self-confidence and self-love. The social-first idea drew directly from TikTok’s culture of expressive, participatory content and encouraged users to reclaim the meaning of the like button as a statement of empowerment rather than judgement.
Through creator collaborations, trend-relevant formats, and the hashtag #MyLikeFirst, the campaign resonated across beauty-focused communities and inspired a wave of user-generated engagement as women embraced a playful yet powerful message about owning their beauty on their own terms.
“Om Bdr – 12th Ingredient” KFC Arabia & TBWA\RAAD, Saudi Arabia – Silver
Community-powered participation that amplified performance.
Sound On, Please
This category recognizes ideas where sound is central to storytelling and drives memorability on TikTok.
“How I Crunch It”, Bugles, MRM Menat & UM, Saudi Arabia – Bronze
A sound-led creative idea designed for memorability.
To reintroduce Bugles to Gen-Z in Saudi Arabia, the brand embraced TikTok’s culture of sound, meme formats, and humorous, shareable content to create How I Crunch It, a campaign crafted to feel organic within users’ feeds rather than like traditional advertising.
The creative strategy centered on a catchy musical motif and vertical, TikTok-ready visuals that leaned into meme language, high-energy performance, and relatable moments that echoed the everyday experiences of younger audiences.
By intentionally minimizing overt branding and letting the playful sound and product usage take center stage, Bugles sparked organic participation, with audiences remixing and recreating content in ways that drove massive visibility, extended watch times, and strengthened brand relevance among a digitally native generation.
“Nuggets – Nugg it. Dip it. Crunch it.”, KFC Arabia & TBWA\RAAD, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar – Bronze
A sonic identity built around playful brand behaviors.
KFC’s campaign leaned directly into TikTok’s sensory-driven, participatory culture by making the simple act of eating chicken nuggets a rhythmic, sound-first creative hook. Built around a catchy audio loop that mirrored the physical gestures of dipping and crunching, the campaign used TikTok’s native music and sound tools to make the product itself the star of the soundscape.
By encouraging creators and users to interact with and reinterpret the sonic cue — whether through dances, POVs, or playful product reactions — the idea unlocked high levels of participation and remixing that felt natural to the platform. This TikTok-native approach amplified memorability and brand association, turning a simple food moment into a cultural beat that was enjoyable to watch, share, and replicate across feeds.
Bougie On A Budget
This category rewards campaigns that maximize impact through inventive production and smart use of resources.
“Pay With Your Trend”, Pizza Hut & Publicis Middle East, UAE – Bronze
Smart production with maximum creative impact.
Pizza Hut’s Pay With Your Trend campaign redefined how audiences “pay” for food by turning TikTok content into real-world currency, giving customers the opportunity to redeem a free My Box meal in exchange for creative TikTok videos that feature current trends and the product itself.
The promotion leveraged TikTok’s participatory culture by encouraging users of all follower sizes to film content using a trending format and tag @PizzaHutUAE with the hashtag #YourTermsYourConditions, democratizing social media engagement and celebrating everyday creativity.
By weaving the brand into user-generated content and leaning into TikTok’s trend-driven mechanics, Pizza Hut strengthened its presence with younger audiences and made the act of creation part of the value exchange, turning entertainment into tangible reward while amplifying organic reach across the platform.
“Abu Dhabi in IRL: Turning UGC into Destination Fame”, Experience Abu Dhabi & Memac Ogilvy, UAE – Bronze
UGC-driven storytelling that elevated destination perception.
Experience Abu Dhabi’s Abu Dhabi in IRL campaign redefined destination marketing by tapping directly into the creativity of TikTok’s community and harnessing user-generated content as the core storytelling engine. Instead of traditional polished ads, the approach spotlighted authentic creator-generated moments from real visitors, from hidden local gems to iconic attractions, and wove them into a cohesive narrative that amplified Abu Dhabi’s appeal in a way that felt native to TikTok’s format and culture.
By curating and elevating these real experiences within vertical video, trend-compatible formats, and participatory storytelling, the campaign made the destination itself feel discoverable and shareable. In doing so, Experience Abu Dhabi turned everyday traveler clips into collective destination fame, proving how UGC-centric creative can build both emotional resonance and measurable interest across TikTok’s global community.
It’s The Creative For Me
This category celebrates TikTok-first ideas that push creative boundaries and deliver results through platform-native storytelling.
“Pay With Your Trend”, Pizza Hut & Publicis Middle East, UAE – Bronze
Platform-native creativity that pushed boundaries.
Special brand recognition
A special recognition section was dedicated to honoring brands that truly stood out for their creativity, impact, and cultural relevance on the platform. This segment spotlighted advertisers who went beyond conventional approaches, setting new benchmarks for authentic storytelling and meaningful engagement with the TikTok community.
Best of Innovation, Born on TikTok
This award recognizes brands that innovate by building ideas natively within TikTok’s creative language.
Mobily, Starbucks, MENA – Gold
Consistent innovation built natively within TikTok’s creative language.
Best of Cultural Impact: It Became a Thing
This award celebrates campaigns that moved beyond advertising to become part of wider culture on TikTok.
STC, Laverne, MENA – Gold
A campaign that transcended advertising to shape culture.
Best of Brand Transformation, From Traditional to TikTok
This award honors brands that successfully reinvented how they show up by adopting TikTok-first creative approaches.
Al Matar, Almarai – MENA – Gold
A successful shift from traditional to TikTok-first brand expression.
Best of Creator Collaboration, Powered by Community
This award recognizes standout creator partnerships that unlocked community-led storytelling and measurable impact.
Samsung, Nice One – MENA – Gold
Creator-led storytelling that felt organic and native.
Best of TikTok-First Thinking, Native from Day One
This award celebrates campaigns built specifically for TikTok from the very beginning; creative, format, and execution.
MDLBEAST, Yaqoot – MENA – Gold
A brand built around TikTok-first thinking from the outset.
Best of Visionary Marketing, Seeing the Scroll Ahead
This award honors brands that anticipate what audiences will respond to and lead with future-facing TikTok creativity.
STA, Riyadh Air – MENA – Gold
Future-facing creativity built for the scroll.
“The Ad Awards winners of this year show what’s possible when brands embrace TikTok not just as a media platform, but as a creative canvas,” said Shadi Kandil, General Manager, Global Business Solutions, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Central and South Asia, TikTok. “From community-powered storytelling to performance-driven creativity, these campaigns created culture, inspired joy, and delivered meaningful business impact across the region and beyond.”
Congratulations to all the winners, medalists, and shortlisted entrants who raised the bar for creativity and effectiveness on TikTok this year. Full winner details for the broader METAP region are available on the official TikTok For Business LinkedIn page.
