What differentiates truly effective and creative advertising?

Kantar’s Creative Effectiveness Awards 2022 reveals that the age-old principles continue to hold true: when you combine clear marketing objectives with brilliantly executed creativity the result is effectiveness in action.

This year, Kantar’s TV winners span nine markets and eight categories, with all ads demonstrating the ability of TV content to generate sales and build brands. This year’s top TV ad is by FCB New Zealand for Mitre 10’s “With You All The Way”. The top digital ad is by Passerine (USA) for eBay’s “Rare Drops” ad, while the top print/outdoor ad is by Consigliere (USA) for Google and Samsung’s digital outdoor ad “The Future is Unfolding”.

The creative elements that set this year’s winners apart as the most creative and effective ads, says Kantar, can be encapsulated in five strategic sparks.

The first spark is having ad breaks that go social, with TV ads starting to infuse direct references to digital environments and themes. Some even adopt styles and features from digital platforms. Infusing digital tactics, says Kantar, undoubtedly makes TV ads more compelling and engaging to watch.

The second spark is making every second count. As some TV ads start to take on the characteristics of digital advertising, among the creative features that continue to differentiate the digital category is their short length. It is possible to tell a story in any ad length, but to stand out, every detail matters.

The third spark is using global strategies with local heroes. Kantar points out that most ads don’t travel well, which puts the onus on marketers and creative agencies to understand their audiences and make creative choices that are effective locally while supporting the global brand vision. Great campaigns, carefully adapted, can be true to the brand message and resonate around the world via different executions. Here Johnny Walker stands out for its ability to evolve the brand’s creative identity while adhering to its DNA.

The fourth spark is to show, not tell. Despite the myriad new developments and sophisticated ways to stretch the creativity of advertising boundaries, this year’s winning ads show that the product demo, done well, is still as effective as ever. Kantar says that with new techniques and more creative approaches to embed the product into the storyline, its winning ads reveal this.

The last spark is to make people smile, with laughter and humour continuing to be a staple in advertising. Kantar’s AdReaction study reveals that humour is the most powerful enhancer of ad receptivity across all generations and is a powerful tool that helps engage audiences. Its advice is therefore to be brave and join the brands that are boldly bringing humour back into their advertising.

The big take-out: Effective advertising is about combining clear marketing objectives with brilliantly executed creativity