The Australian Effies, one of the biggest events on the calendar for Australia's ad industry, were handed out last night. And there must have been mixed feelings for (former) creatives at Happy Soldiers. Having shut up shop earlier this year, the small Sydney-based independent agency won both the Grand Effie and a Gold in the Most Original Thinking category for its work with Tontine, a local manufacturer of pillows and blankets.

Happy Soldiers was praised by the Effie judges for its originality and the "outstanding" results it delivered for the client. From an agreed sales goal of a 30% uplift, the campaign actually achieved a boost of 345%.

Other Gold winning cases - soon to be available for subscribers to browse on Warc - include Clemenger BBDO Melbourne's "How human values can still win against price discounting" for Bega Cheese. The agency's Sydney shop also won Gold for its work for Wrigley's 5 Gum brand, and Clemenger BBDO was named as Effective Agency of the Year.

A total of eight Golds were awarded on the night. In all, the 2011 judges received 214 entries - higher than the year before.

You can browse a full list of winners (in PDF form) on the Australian Effies website, and view the Effies Effectiveness Index, ranking the top agencies and clients around the world in terms of Effies wins, here.

Our Australian Effies cases will also be published soon on our Awards Page. Watch this space!