The Top 100 Ad Campaigns–And The Best Practices Behind (Some Of) Them
From taking on cultural norms to inviting consumer participation, WARC’s top-ranking ad campaigns share a handful of common approaches to capturing audience attention.
An older man watches as his daughter arrives home from work. She then prepares dinner while talking on the phone, making tea for her husband, and talking to a client on the phone. In a voiceover, the man–her father–apologizes for setting the wrong example.
“Sorry I never stopped you when you were playing house. I never told you that it’s not your job alone, but your husband’s, too. … What you saw, you learned.”
This ad, for Procter & Gamble’s Ariel detergent, was the most effective in 2016, according to WARC, a U.K.-based ad industry researcher and consultant. For the fourth year, WARC has produced a ranking of 100 best campaigns based on a weighted average of some 80 global advertising awards given for effectiveness. The organization doesn’t reveal the exact methodology by which it awards its “WARC points,” but some awards are worth more than others.
David Tiltman, WARC’s content chief, outlined five common best practices among this year’s winners, past winners, and successful campaigns he has witnessed among some 12,000 case studies that WARC has documented.
Take On A Cultural Norm
This is the approach that P&G’s Ariel ad (ranked No. 1) took in India. A 2014 survey found that Indian men spent an average of 19 minutes a day on routine housework, one of the lowest rates in the world, versus 298 minutes for Indian women. Pointing out this imbalance struck a chord worldwide. Most notably, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg praised the ad in a Facebook post.
“We knew the campaign had struck a chord as soon as it was launched in February 2016,” Priuyanka Goyal, brand manager for fabric care for P&G India, told CMO.com. “With an outpouring of personal stories, anecdotes, and letters across social media platforms, we got 22 million views on the film coming from across the globe within just 10 days–and from there it went on to become viral.”
WARC’s Tiltman said campaigns that question cultural norms are especially prevalent in India and China, where “the speed of cultural change is so rapid.” However, marketers in North America have had success with taking on cultural norms as well. WARC put Honey Maid’s “This is Wholesome” campaign, which showcased non-traditional families, including same-sex couples, on its 2015 top 10 list. WARC has also singled out Procter & Gamble’s “Like a girl” campaign (No. 8) for its Always feminine hygiene line, which challenged the negative connotations of that phrase, for “helping drive social conversations and shift perceptions.”
In each case, the brands “found their own cultural tension and sought to resolve it,” Tiltman said. That has often had an oversize effect on results. In Ariel’s case, the campaign prompted 2.1 million men to pledge to #sharetheload, and Ariel Matic sales grew 60% year over year.
Use Data To Fuel Creative
Marketers have largely viewed data as a means to aid the distribution of advertising. But Tiltman said brands can get attention by using data to inform their creative, as well.
For example, one of this year’s top 10 ads, for The Economist (No. 5), used programmatic technology to identify news story contexts. A story about dogs, for instance, would generate a dynamic ad reading “Dog. Best friend or best fried?” which led to a story related to the topic. A story about use of the Confederate flag prompted an ad asking “Beloved flag? Red rag?” The attention-getting campaign was designed to get consumers to stop thinking about The Economist as a boring business publication. It worked. The campaign helped bring on 64,000 subscribers.
In another example, Narellan Pools in Australia (No. 6) heavied up its buys during hot days and then leveled it off when the weather cooled down. “It allowed them to find optimum conditions for advertising a swimming pool,” Tiltman said. “They really refocused their media spend around those opportunities.” Though it cut its budget by 30%, the marketer increased its sales by 23%.
Lead With TV
Tiltman said it may seem out of step with the times, but data shows that campaigns that lead with a TV component are on the rise. “You’d think the traffic would be the other way,” he said. “But we’re not finding that. The use of digital and the use of social is all increasing overall, but if you look at the lead media, where the core spend is going, TV is becoming more prevalent.”
Tiltman said research has shown that TV is effective, with a lot of changes in the way social media algorithms work so “people are using social to support TV rather than doing social-led campaigns.” Many of the top campaigns, including Ariel, John Lewis (No. 2), and Always’ “Like a Girl,” were led by TV.
Add A Consumer Participation Component
Another mainstay of the top ads was an invitation for consumer participation. A campaign from MediaMarkt (No. 4), an electronics retailer in Germany, for instance, featured rabbits racing on TV. Consumers tuned in to see whether their store receipt matched the number on the winning bunny. If so, they got 50% of their money back. Some 21 million people tuned in to watch the live competition. That’s more than the soccer World Cup semifinal in soccer-mad Germany.
“It’s a sense of advertisers creating an event or a stunt–some kind of focal point–and they get consumers to engage and interact with it,” Tiltman said.
Employ Australians
Tiltman pointed out an unusually high number of top campaigns either originated in Australia or were first tested there. “There must be something about Australian advertising that’s very powerful,” he said. This year, four of the top 10 ads–Double Robotics’ “Lucy the Robot” (No. 3), Narellan Pools, SPC’s “My Family Can” (No. 9), and Tigerair’s “Infrequent Fliers” (No. 10)–made the top 10. Not bad for a country with 0.33% of the world’s population.
The country’s cultural similarities between the U.S. and England and its proximity to Asia may give it a unique window into both cultures. That dichotomy is also useful for tests and pilot launches. Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign originated Down Under, and McDonald’s and KFC have tested launches in Australia first as well. Two Australian campaigns also made the top 10 in 2014, and one made the list in 2015.