Kantar's North America Creative Effectiveness Awards celebrated the most creative and effective digital/social and TV ads which we tested in the U.S. and Canada.
The winners were evaluated based on their ability to drive brand predisposition both in the short and long term, using Kantar's independently validated LINK+ ad testing solution.
The awards highlighted four key themes that contribute to the effectiveness of great creative advertising: gaining attention, creating engagement, delivering meaningful difference, and elevating for channel context.
Gaining Attention: Retaining viewers in a consumer-controlled environment
In today's consumer-controlled environment, capturing and maintaining attention is more challenging than ever. Effective ads must minimize the likelihood of viewers skipping or scrolling past them. Techniques such as fast cuts, unexpected imagery, movement, color, and sound are employed to grab attention. For example, the Motrin ad "Strength and Speed" uses fast-moving graphics and bright colors to ensure maximum attention.
Creating Engagement - Driving emotional involvement to influence memories
Beyond gaining attention, ads must also captivate the viewer emotionally. Ads that evoke an emotional response—whether it be a smile, a laugh, or even a tear—are more likely to leave lasting memories and associations. This emotional engagement is crucial for influencing future decision-making. Great storytelling, shared connections, and humor are common elements in ads that successfully create engagement.
According to Kantar’s analysis, LG Electronics, L.L.Bean, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Kahlúa, and Hershey’s all demonstrate how to create high engagement.
Delivering Meaningful Difference - Building long and short-term predisposition for brand growth
Ads that communicate a meaningful difference are more likely to drive brand growth and command premium pricing, according to Kantar BrandZ data. These ads tap into underlying consumer aspirations and build strong mental connections. Effective messaging that resonates with consumer needs creates a meaningful difference, predisposing more people to buy the brand more often, in more places, and for a higher price. Delta Air Lines, Safelite, Coca-Cola and Dove Men are all prime examples of campaigns that drove meaningful difference home with their audiences.
Elevating for Channel Context - Principles for strong digital creative
Digital advertising is no longer confined to a single channel but spans an ecosystem of fragmented platforms, formats, and styles. Effective digital ads are customized to fit the specific context of each platform, optimizing ad length and ensuring contextual relevance. Successful digital content captures the essence of the target audience and blends seamlessly into the platform's environment.
Winners that exemplify "Elevating For Channel Context” include Johnnie Walker, Aveeno Baby, Perrier-Jouët, Absolut, and JBL.
The Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards underscore the importance of creative quality in driving brand impact. According to Kantar normative data, creative quality is the single biggest driver of growth in brand impact, driving 49% of brand impact across ad campaigns.
“Great creative doesn’t come easily. It’s not good enough for an ad to simply be noticed or funny and engaging,” said Kerry Benson, SVP Creative Lead at Kantar, “The best ads do so while keeping the brand at the heart of their story. This year’s Kantar Creative Effectiveness winners stand out for creating clever brand memories that stick and contribute to sales and brand equity. Congratulations to all the teams behind these fantastic campaigns.”
To access the full learnings from Kantar's 2024 North America Creative Effectiveness analysis and all of the 2024 North American winners, click here.