Johnsonville Earns Silver Effie Award

SHEBOYGAN FALLS, WI (May 23, 2025) — Johnsonville was honored with a Silver Effie at the 2025 US Awards Gala in New York City. The brand shared this distinction with its creative agency, Milwaukee-based boutique Hold Fast, whose unique approach to uniting a divided America was credited as one of the most effective marketing efforts of 2024.

Outrage is all the rage today, but on a hunch that America was more unified than traditional polls told us, Johnsonville stepped out of its sausage lane during a charged election year to run a political poll of its own. The Johnsonville National Temperature Check, conducted last year with The Harris Poll, confirmed that America agrees on a lot. Data underscored Americans’ desire to reconnect and revealed that 80% of Americans felt exhausted by the anger and negativity in the country. Inspired by this commonality, the brand team embraced the tonal shift with a call to action to turn down the temperature and “Keep It Juicy.”

The unique approach to unity marketing earned Johnsonville and Hold Fast a winning spot in the 2025 Effie US Marketing Disruptor product category, marking Hold Fast’s first major award win.

“A political poll from a sausage company was unexpected and fun for media to talk about,” said Jamie Schmelzer, vice president of marketing at Johnsonville. “But being fact-based also allowed our brand to make a larger cultural point. Consumers appreciated us trying to turn down the temperature during a contentious election year, and we have been thrilled with the results. Threading this needle with Hold Fast was nonstop fun.”

As a global authority on marketing effectiveness, the annual Effie Awards honor winners who deliver impactful business results. Following its Keep It Juicy launch, Johnsonville sales and household penetration grew, as did its brand awareness with consumers, who celebrated the unifying message Americans were hungry for. National news outlets praised the unexpected push for civility, while some playfully roasted America for needing a sausage company to set it straight.

“A sausage company making a cultural statement about America is sort of ridiculous, but that’s why it worked,” said Brian Ganther, Hold Fast executive creative director. “This campaign is proof that you don’t need a mammoth agency to do big work. At small shops like ours, there’s much less to distract you from the creative process.”

In addition to earned outreach and national TV spots, Johnsonville shared its National Temperature Check data through print ads and a social ambassador program. To learn more about the Johnsonville Keep It Juicy campaign, now in its second year, visit the brand page HERE. To learn more about Hold Fast, visit www.holdfast-co.com.

The list of 2025 US Effie winners and finalists is available HERE.

About Johnsonville, LLC

Founded in 1945, Johnsonville is the leading national sausage brand, with more than 80 varieties sold across 40-plus countries and served in over 75 sports stadiums in the U.S. The company remains family-owned and employs nearly 4,000 sausage-obsessed team members globally.

About Hold Fast

Hold Fast & Co. is a Milwaukee-based creative agency with independent partners across the country. Founded in 2021 by agency veterans, Hold Fast curates national-level strategic and creative talent to solve brand and business problems with disruptive, culturally aware thinking. The new-model shop is a direct response to traditional agencies that put the burden of bloated overhead on clients while giving those same clients limited access to the agency’s top talent.

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