Revealing the world’s
most creative and
effective ads
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INTRODUCTION
CONTENTS
WELCOME TO THE THIRD YEAR OF KANTAR’S
CREATIVE EFFECTIVENESS AWARDS.
TV TOP 104-5
At Kantar, we are privileged to test the best creative content,
brought to us by advertisers and their agencies all around the world.
DIGITAL TOP 106-7
In 2021, advertisers increased their advertising and media
investments post-pandemic. We saw further investment in digital
platforms and more media channels becoming digitalised.
These dynamic trends create great opportunities for new types
of creative expression in advertising, online and offline.
However, the age-old principles still hold true;
when you combine clear marketing objectives with
brilliantly executed creative, we see effectiveness in action.
PRINT/OUTDOOR TOP 108-9
5 STRATEGIC SPARKS FOR CREATIVITY 10
1. AD BREAKS GO SOCIAL12
Last year we tested over 13,000 ads across 75 markets, and
we are pleased to bring you the best of them, as judged by
consumers. In this booklet we will showcase the top 10 TV, digital,
and print/outdoor ads, and share what makes them great.
2. EVERY SECOND COUNTS
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3. GLOBAL STRATEGIES, LOCAL HEROES
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This year we have identified five ‘strategic sparks’ which can ignite
your creative, on top of the foundational themes we observed in 2021.
And we investigate how these sparks can contribute to effectiveness.
4. SHOW, DON’T TELL18
Channel fragmentation means there’s a greater need than
ever to understand ad effectiveness. The enhanced and more
granular insights provided with the integration of Behavioural
Science techniques, and faster, better automation means
there are fewer reasons not to test your creative content.
5. MAKE THEM SMILE20
FINAL THOUGHTS22
We hope you find our learnings useful.
Congratulations to the winning
advertisers and their agencies.
Jane Ostler
EVP, Creative and Media Solutions
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TV TOP 10
This year’s TV winners span nine markets and eight categories,
from Nigeria to New Zealand, from lollipops to double glazing.
All demonstrate the ability of TV content to generate sales and build brands.
#5
#6
McCann Paris
Digitas/Soapbox Films
L’Oréal Men Expert
Whirlpool/Disney
One-Twist Hair Colour
Care is Magic
United Kingdom
USA
#1
#2
#7
#8
FCB New Zealand
BBH London
Ogilvy
La fábrica de sombreros
Mitre 10
Martell Cognac
Chupa Chups
With You All The Way
Be The Standout Swift
Cadbury
Chocobakes Cakes
New Zealand
Nigeria
Cadbury ChocoBakes
Cakes - Night Time
India
Chupa Chups XXL
Flavour Playlist
Spain
#3
#4
#9
#10
Anomaly
CYW
BBH
Eleven
Johnnie Walker
Prime Video
Samsung
Pella
Keep Walking Anthem
Prime Video –
#VolaConNoi brand
campaign - Hero
Spot 60s- IT 2021
Galaxy Book
Pro_Launch_BR
Stormy Heights
Mexico
Brazil
USA
Italy
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DIGITAL TOP 10
Our digital winners celebrate creative content across nine markets
and six categories. From Colombia to China, from finance to food.
Content that not only makes people stop what they are doing to pay
attention, but also contributes to the brand in the short and long term.
#5
#6
GSD&M
LIT
Capital One
BBC
Magic
En busca de la
grandeza, capítulo 6
USA
Colombia
#1
#2
#7
#8
PASSERINE
Digitas
eBay
KitchenAid
BBH India, Publicis
Groupe Indonesia
VIRTUE (Creative Lead)
and STORY TELLER
(Production Lead)
Rare Drops
Make to Stand Out
USA
Australia
Heinz
Heinz, Perfect Match
Indonesia
Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker
Love for the Street
Thailand
6
#3
#4
#9
#10
Ogilvy
Redwood
BBH
CPB London
Rappi
Dulux
Mentos
The Glenlivet
Las cervezas déjaselas
a Rappi YT
Colour of the Year:
Brave Ground Teaser
GL Mentos - Yes to Fresh
Against the Tide
Mexico
United Kingdom
Japan
Chinese mainland
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PRINT/OUTDOOR TOP 10
Covering six markets and four categories, our print and outdoor
winners come from the UK to the USA, from search engines to soft
drinks. For the first time they include moving digital outdoor ads.
Our winners illustrate the power of creative in conveying a message
and delivering a lasting impression of the brand. In just a few seconds.
#5
#6
AKQA Paris
St Lukes
Chromebook
Tanqueray 0.0%
Chromebook FR
DOOH “Apps”
Tanqueray
0.0% Libra Lady
France
United Kingdom
#1
#2
#7
#8
Consigliere
VMLY&R (London)
R/GA Berlin
Anomaly
Samsung Galaxy Z
Fold3 5G with Google
Zespri
Chromebook
Johnnie Walker
Kiwi brothers
Chromebook DE
Print “Speed”
Keep Walking
Google + Samsung
DOOH “The Future
is Unfolding”
Spain
Germany
United Kingdom
USA
#3
#4
#9
#10
St Lukes
Gangstères (Anaïs
Novembre - photographe)
Emotive
Leo Burnett & Prodigious
HelloFresh
Smirnoff Seltzer
Chicken and Chips
There’s Seltzer Then
There’s Smirnoff
Vodka Seltzer
Tanqueray
Blackcurrant Royale
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Lillet
Tanqueray Royale
OOH - Blindfold Lady
Lillet. L’Apéritif
à réinventer
Germany
France
Australia
Australia
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5 STRATEGIC SPARKS
FOR CREATIVITY
This year, we’ve identified the creative elements that make our winners
truly sparkle, setting them apart as the most creative and effective
ads. We’ve unpicked what differentiates them from other ads to make
them stand out. We saw creative elements from social media appearing
on TV, ads ranging from 6 to 136 seconds, and strategies that have
enabled ads to successfully spread around the world. We’ve seen new
and inventive ways of using more traditional approaches, including an
increase in showing the product, and making people smile. Advertisers
have used ingenuity to make their ads stand out from the crowd.
Let’s take a closer look at how our 5 strategic sparks have
ignited creative effectiveness for this year’s winners.
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1. AD BREAKS GO SOCIAL
Last year we saw TV ads starting to infuse direct
references to digital environments and themes.
Some even adopted styles and features from
digital platforms, like tight editing to music that is
often used in social media platforms. This infusion
is exemplified in many of our 2021 TV winners.
The ‘Chupa Chups XXL Flavour Playlist’
ad from Spain, (#8), is a great example.
#8
La fábrica de sombreros
The Martell Cognac ‘Be the Standout Swift’
ad (#2), features the well-known NigerianAmerican singer/songwriter/producer Davido.
#2
BBH London
Martell Cognac
Be The Standout Swift
Nigeria
Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups XXL
Flavour Playlist
Spain
It includes Animoji-type graphics overlaying the
footage of real characters, extreme close-ups
tightly edited with the music, one section with
three dancers in portrait format (à la TikTok),
visual humour (which works without sound in
digital environments), and a knowing ‘fourth wall’
look from one of the protagonists at the end.
Whirlpool/Disney’s ‘Care is Magic’ ad, a co-branded
partnership in the USA with Disney’s Encanto movie
(#6) includes a light sprinkling of digital techniques.
#6
Digitas/Soapbox Films
Whirlpool/Disney
Care is Magic
USA
It’s a tightly edited interchange between the
two environments of the Whirlpool ad with
animation from the movie and seamless edits
and closeups between the two. This means
the two stories are inextricably interlinked.
There’s even a clever mini-animation of the
tiles at the end under the washing machines.
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It starts by breaking the fourth wall, with Davido
speaking straight to camera. It uses dramatic
swooping shots, extreme close-ups, and very tight
editing to his music. Most notably it also introduces
metaverse-like graphic environments (an infinite
corridor, an endless wall of gold discs) as part
of the protagonist’s journey into other worlds,
ending in a Star Trek-like leap onto a stage, and a
swooping shot, finally landing at a rooftop party.
This digital infusion could be a deliberate attempt
to make TV ads acknowledge the existence of
digital environments, which many of us are
immersed in for hours each day. It could also be
that creative teams and directors enjoy playing
with digital themes, creating new possibilities,
and enlivening TV editing and storytelling styles
by adopting digital techniques. It also creates
difference, which we know is important to success,
can engage younger audiences, and means we
can avoid some of the category tropes in TV.
We expect to see more ads set in immersive
metaverse and gaming environments with the use
of branded avatars as characters. This gives rise
to more possibilities with branded NFTs. And as we
see more mainstream ads for cryptocurrencies,
this infusion won’t go away. Advertisers will
continue to introduce new digital concepts to
mainstream audiences in more literal ways on TV.
Infusing digital tactics undoubtedly
makes TV ads more compelling
and engaging to watch.
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2. EVERY SECOND COUNTS
With TV ads taking on some of the characteristics
of digital advertising, it is interesting to look at the
creative features that still differentiate the digital
category. The most obvious is length. With the 5
second YouTube skip, a very short digital ad is much
more likely than the 5 second TV ad, an artefact
so rare we have only a handful (0.1%) in our Link
database of 230,000+ ads. And these are mostly
bumper ads, with two running in an ad break.
Digital ads are designed to work within the
digital attention span. They need control. We see
much faster, tighter editing than is used for TV
ads, using close-ups and music for maximum
impact. We have two very short winning digital
ads this year that communicate their brand and
message in a clever, effective and succinct way.
#5
GSD&M
Capital One
Magic
USA
Similarly, our (#7) winner from Indonesia ‘Heinz,
Perfect Match’ tightly but overtly, conveys its
new variant message by simply sliding the new
variant bottles into view in time with lively music.
#7
BBH India, Publicis
Groupe Indonesia
Heinz
Heinz, Perfect Match
Indonesia
It uses visual brand cues to ensure we know this
ad can be for none other than Heinz. Our two
winning short digital ads cleverly and effectively
convey their messages and branding.
Fame and virality also
differentiate our digital winners.
Likes, thumbs down and instant
commentary leave digital
advertising at the mercy of the
masses. It can be a high-risk
space, but at the same time
gives opportunities that have
never been possible for TV
ads. Similarly, with regulations
on TV ad length in some
markets, digital advertising
shows a freedom of expression
beyond what we see on TV.
Our winners show
you can tell a story
effectively in any ad
length. But to stand out,
every detail matters.
In contrast, our digital (#6) ‘En busca
de la grandeza, capítulo 6’ is the
longest at 2 minutes 15 seconds.
#6
LIT
Our (#5) digital winner, ‘Magic’, for Capital
One, uses two well-known USA celebrities
humorously via a play on words, smoothly
linking the brand’s message - ‘an app that
works like magic’ - to their celebrity, former
professional basketball player Magic Johnson.
They achieve this in the space of 6 seconds.
BBC
En busca de la
grandeza, capítulo 6
Colombia
This ad for the Colombian beer brand Bogotá
Beer Company known as BBC, is part of an
ongoing series that judging by the comments is
truly loved. The ad has an unusual and distinct
graphic style with music at its heart, a cool
jazz track that draws you in and keeps you
with the ad all the way as the BBC beer story
develops as it goes ‘in search of greatness’.
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3. GLOBAL STRATEGIES, LOCAL HEROES
Building a global brand is no easy task, and creative
plays a huge role in building a brand’s image.
Many brands want to build a consistent perception
amongst viewers globally, but achieving it with the
same creative copy can be a challenge. Most ads
don’t travel well. This 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.
Johnnie Walker has scooped awards in all three
categories, across three markets. Famous for its
’Keep walking’ slogan, Johnnie Walker shows how
to evolve a brand’s creative identity while adhering
to its DNA. All three ads have strong roots in
the Keep Walking theme, while simultaneously
bringing a fresh and timely take on life. As the
world returns to a life with fewer pandemic
restrictions, the campaign inspires people to get
back out there and have a positive outlook.
The Mexican TV ad ‘Keep Walking Anthem’
(#3) opens with a quote “Paths are made by
walking” and shows lively scenes of people
socialising, with remakes of famous songs that
reference walking playing in the background.
#3
Anomaly
Johnnie Walker
Keep Walking Anthem
Mexico
The ad ends on a bar sign of boots with
‘Keep Walking’ flickering away, making the piece
an unmistakable Johnnie Walker creative.
The digital ad ‘Johnnie Walker Love for the
Street’ (#8) brings this vibe across using similar
scenes but in an explicitly Thai context. Again, it
ends with a Keep Walking bar sign, albeit with
sneakers instead of old-school cowboy boots.
#8
VIRTUE (Creative Lead)
and STORY TELLER
(Production Lead)
Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker
Love for the Street
Thailand
The intended positioning comes across strongly
in print too. The UK print piece, our (#8),
encourages people to get back out there in
a clever way that is unique to the brand – the
copy reads ‘Progress starts with a step’ and
then we see the famous ‘Keep Walking’ slogan,
again positioning Johnnie Walker as the
source of inspiration behind the message.
#8
Anomaly
Johnnie Walker
Keep Walking
United Kingdom
Hats off to getting it right across media channels
and markets – with a cohesive global vision
giving rise to local creative stand-outs.
Great campaigns, carefully
adapted, can be true to the brand
message and resonate around the
world via different executions.
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4. SHOW, DON’T TELL
With all the creative possibilities that digitisation
brings, some classics still hold true. Even with the
myriad of new developments and sophisticated
ways to stretch the creativity of advertising
boundaries with advancements in visual and
audio techniques, our winning ads show that
the product demo is still as effective as ever.
However, it is difficult to show a demo that feels
empathetic, natural and maintains the flow of
the ad. Demos can break the spell if they feel
artificially placed just to convey the message.
Our (#1) TV ad ‘With You All The Way’ for Mitre 10
is an exceptional example of this. Throughout the
ad, the ebb and flow of the products, the shopping
experience and the finished results are all cleverly
woven into a sensitive storyline addressing male
stereotypes in a gentle and humorous way.
#1
FCB New Zealand
Mitre 10
With You All The Way
New Zealand
The whole brand experience is demonstrated
with empathy, it builds a strong emotional
connection, and shows that the brand is there
to help, advise, support and celebrate with us.
In contrast, (#5) TV ad ‘One-Twist Hair
Colour’ for L’Oréal, on the surface tackles
the product demo in a traditional way.
#5
McCann Paris
L’Oréal Men Expert
One-Twist Hair Colour
United Kingdom
A closer look reveals that its success revolves
around the cleverly entwined demo into the
dynamic, action-styled, ‘mission’ of the ad,
making it a pivotal part of the story. This ensures
the brand is the focus of the ad whilst at the
same time, entertaining and connecting on
a humorously emotional level, with a likeable
celebrity confidently addressing the image of
male stereotypes - a popular theme this year.
Without a physical product to demonstrate,
our top digital winner, the ‘Rare Drops’
ad, for eBay, found a great way to
demonstrate the brand experience.
#1
Our top Print/Outdoor ad, Google + Samsung
DOOH “The Future is Unfolding” is another
successful example of product demonstration,
this time working seamlessly across the
collaborating brands of Google and Samsung.
#1
Consigliere
Samsung Galaxy Z
Fold3 5G with Google
Google + Samsung
DOOH “The Future
is Unfolding”
USA
Our first digital outdoor winner smoothly
demonstrates in a few simple yet sleek
movements how the folding feature of the
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G supports and
enhances the Google content. An effective ad,
that conveys a clear message via demonstration.
Across the thousands of ads we test globally,
we see that those incorporating product
benefits are more persuasive, with a ten point
increase in persuasion. Also, if you show the
product in use or consumption, we see a ten
point increase in brand affinity, so these types
of demos make us feel closer to the brand.
PASSERINE
eBay
Rare Drops
USA
With new techniques and more
creative approaches to embed
the product into the storyline,
our winning ads show that the
product demo - when done
well - is very much thriving.
The well-known ‘ping’ of a sale appeals to our
audio sense and the emotional connection builds
visually from character to character, deliberately
diverse, to highlight the broad global reach of
the brand. The ad engages us on a journey of
emotions from relief, excitement, delight and
satisfaction as the ‘drops never stop’. At the same
time, we come away from the ad with a very
clear picture of what this brand can do for us.
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5. MAKE THEM SMILE
Laughter is the best medicine, so the saying goes.
And it has long been a staple in advertising.
But the last twenty years have seen a steady
decline in the use of humour in advertising.
The boom of purpose advertising caused some
advertisers to shift to a more serious tone.
And some shied away from using humour during
the pandemic. Kantar’s AdReaction study shows
that humour is the most powerful enhancer
of ad receptivity across all generations.
Humour comes in many shapes and sizes,
from making people chuckle, to leaving
them in stitches. This year’s winners
demonstrate this range brilliantly.
We all love a good belly laugh and surprise is a
great tactic for that. The (#3) digital winner hails
from Mexico and does exactly that. The ad
‘Las cervezas déjaselas a Rappi YT’, for the
on-demand delivery service Rappi, shows
two women watching a horror movie and
wishing they had beers to drink.
#3
Ogilvy
Rappi
Las cervezas déjaselas
a Rappi YT
Mexico
Another way for humour to find its way
into viewers’ hearts is to be relatable.
Chromebook has done a great job at this with
its ‘Speed’ ad, our (#7) for Print /Outdoor.
#7
And the (#2) print ad from Zespri in Spain,
showing the Zespri kiwi brothers sprinting
away from a giant hand aiming to ‘catch the
irresistible taste’, also demonstrate humour’s
power to make effective advertising.
#2
VMLY&R (London)
R/GA Berlin
Zespri
Chromebook
Kiwi brothers
Chromebook DE
Print “Speed”
Spain
Germany
A woman is so bored she’s waiting for her laptop
to boot whilst holding a pen between her nose
and lips. The text reads ‘Does your laptop boot
at the speed of walking? Switch to Chromebook.’
It clearly illustrates a scenario that many people
can relate to, in a slightly exaggerated yet
witty way. It delivers a clear message about
the pain points Chromebook can solve.
Humour is a powerful tool to
help engage your audience, so
be brave and join the brands
that are boldly bringing humour
back into their advertising.
These are just some of this year’s winners that
brought a smile to viewers. Our (#4) TV ad from
Amazon.com in Italy, featuring a hilarious line-up
of characters from new releases joining in song.
#4
CYW
Suddenly, the actress Karla Souza emerges from
the sofa to let them know they can leave it up to
Rappi. The women scream in shock and before
they manage to recover another character
emerges, passing them a phone with the Rappi
app where they order beers for delivery. This is
a classic use of humour to deliver a message
about the convenience of the service. It also
creates an association with a specific occasion.
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Prime Video
Prime Video –
#VolaConNoi brand
campaign - Hero
Spot 60s- IT 2021
Italy
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Our Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards prove that
agencies and clients are supremely adaptable to a
changing world: they continue to apply creativity in
new media formats and in channels which are fast
being digitised. Our strategic sparks illustrate some
interesting trends in how advertising can stand out.
Of course, the basic principles still apply, as
outlined last year in our ‘5 habits of highly effective
advertisers’; be distinctive, brand intrinsically,
be meaningfully different, trigger an emotional
response, and talk with your consumers.
These foundational principles are vital, of course,
but they do require an added extra strategic
spark to make the idea resonate. The KitchenAid
ad from Australia, our (#2) digital winner, is an
example of intrinsic branding done with a spark.
#2
Digitas
KitchenAid
Make to Stand Out
GET IN TOUCH
We’d love to talk to you about how to put the
spark in your next campaign and how Link
ad testing can help optimise your creative in as few as 6 hours with Kantar Marketplace.
www.kantar.com/creative-awards
ABOUT KANTAR
Kantar is the world’s leading evidencebased insights and consulting company.
We have a complete, unique and rounded
understanding of how people think, feel
and act; globally and locally in over 90
markets. By combining the deep expertise
of our people, our data resources and
benchmarks, our innovative analytics
and technology, we help our clients
understand people and inspire growth.
Australia
The product is at the centre and is brought
to life with an energetic execution and
excellent branding throughout. This ad led
to a healthy sales uplift, showing you can
build brand equity and achieve ROI.
We hope you find inspiration from our winners.
To capture attention in a meaningful and
different way while solving a business problem
is no small feat, and we congratulate all our
winning clients and agencies. The science
behind our insights doesn’t deny the art – it
enhances it, and makes it work harder.
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