MAM
BP, Milka and HSBC top the tables in Kantar’s Creative Effectiveness awards
London: BP's Blind Date(Spain),Milka’s Christmas adGive to those who give the most(Germany) and HSBC’s CSR Birmingham(UK) are the most effective adsfrom around the world in2019, according to Kantar’s inaugural Creative Effectiveness awards.These new awards celebrate theworld’s best performing ads across the three key media channelsbased on actual consumer feedback.
Spanning three categories (digital,print/out of home and TV) andfrom 78different markets, the winners represent the most creative and effective work from over 10,000 ads tested with consumers in 2019 usingKantar’s Link creative testing, which measures any advert’s potential to deliver against short and long-term brand goals. Thesefirst award winners perform in the top 4% for short-term sales likelihood, and the top 1% for long-term brand building when measured against the Link database of over 200,000 ads analysed over the past 30 years. The winning ads are all at least twice as likely to drive sales than an ad that performs at the median evaluation score and ten times more likely than a weak ad.
The winners show that distinctive creativeis central to advertising success, falling in the top 15% of ads for distinctiveness in Kantar’s database. In a world flooded with content, brands need to ensure their advertising captures people’s attention.
Digitaleffectiveness: Engage don’t enrage
Analysis ofthe digital category revealed the most effective ads reward the viewer with entertaining content that breaks through the ‘ad filter’ in consumers’ mindsand compels them to view it. Milka’s Christmas adGive to those who give the most tops the digital ad awards, demonstrating the power of storytelling for driving engagement by evoking strong emotions. The beautifully touching film, centred around a strong, seasonally relevant message of thoughtful gifting, was created in partnership with the European Union of the Deaf and promotes inclusion in a very moving way.
|
Digital Ranking |
Brand |
Ad Name |
Agency |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Milka |
Milka Christmas: give to those who give the most |
Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam |
Germany |
|
2 |
Google App |
Search the lyrics with Google |
Zula Alpha Kilo |
Indonesia |
|
3 |
Dulux |
Let’s colour experiment: escalator |
Road 381 |
UK |
Print & Out of Homeads: Spark a response in seconds
The winners here illustrate the power of creative to deliver an instant impression about the brand. Immediate impact is essential as consumers give just seconds of their time to print and out of home (OOH) ads, in which the content needs to communicate its message or hook the viewer in for longer.
HSBC evokes an immediate emotional reaction through its winning OOH execution. The shocking statistic that 1 in 45 people living in Birmingham have no address, therefore can’t have a bank account, a job, or a home, helps highlight the work the bank is doing to support the local community.The impact of the message is heightened by delivering it in situ enabled by the medium of OOH.
|
Print and OOHRanking |
Brand |
Ad Name |
Agency |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
HSBC |
HSBC CSR Birmingham |
Wunderman Thompson |
UK |
|
2 |
Estrella Damm |
Silja |
&Rosàs |
UK |
|
3 |
Camden Hells |
Juicer static |
Forever Beta |
UK |
Top-performing TV ads tell great stories
TheTV winners demonstrate the continued sales-generating and brand-building ability of broadcast content, particularly whenstrong distinctive assets are weaved into great emotional story telling. Crowned as Kantar’s most powerful TV ad of 2019 globally, BP’s Blind Date is a great example of how a distinctive approach to a category can create differentiation. The ad shows how a functional message can be intrinsically sewn into an amusing, brand-centric story that is quite different to what you would expect to see from the category.
|
TV Ranking |
Brand |
Ad Name |
Agency |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
BP |
Blind Date |
Ogilvy&Mather |
Spain |
|
2 |
Tim Hortons |
Ask a Timbits Kid |
Zula Alpha Kilo |
Canada |
|
3 |
Unox |
Tijdenveranderen |
TBWA |
Netherlands |
The first ever Kantar Creative and Effective awards showcase some of the most impactfuladvertising workfrom around the world,” said Daren Poole, Global Head of Creative at Kantar. “The commonality across allthe winning ads is distinctiveness, and how strongly the brand is integrated into the narrative. Our winners – real consumers’ favourites – take on many forms and employ a range of creative tactics to convey their message; proving there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that can be employed to achieve great content. Interestingly, many of the winning ads in Kantar’s Creative Effectiveness awards are heart-warming stories or contain humour, in contrast to the broader industry trend, which is to incorporate humour less.” Just over one third (34%) of 2019’s adverts were intentionally light-hearted or funny, compared to more than half (54%) of ads evaluated by Kantar in 2000.
Poole added. “For content to drive brand impact and deliver ROI, it must be created with the consumer in mind, by understanding what will translate best to the audience, and how. Weaving intelligent and iterative research into the creative development process ensures the strongest ideas, and most effective executions end up seeing the light of day. We know that in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic consumers want advertisers to have authentic empathy and to be useful. Achieving this creatively and sensitively is incredibly difficult, making pre-testing as important as ever”
For more learnings about Link ad testing, advertising trends, and to review the full winners list, please visit :https://www.kantar.com/creative-effective.
Digital
India leads global adoption of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in first week
From anime avatars to fantasy covers, users turn AI visuals into culture
NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0, just a week after its launch by OpenAI, underlining the country’s growing influence on global internet trends.
While the tool was introduced as an advanced image-generation upgrade within ChatGPT, Indian users are quickly reshaping its purpose. Instead of sticking to productivity-led use cases, many are embracing it as a creative playground for self-expression, storytelling and online identity.
From anime-style portraits and cinematic headshots to tarot-inspired visuals and fictional newspaper front pages, the model is being used to create highly stylised, shareable content. Features such as accurate text rendering, multilingual prompts and the ability to generate detailed visuals with minimal input have helped drive rapid adoption.
What sets the latest model apart is its ability to “think” through prompts, generating multiple outputs and adapting to context, including real-time web inputs. But the bigger story lies in how users are engaging with it.
In India, trends are already taking shape. Popular formats include dramatic studio-style lighting edits, LinkedIn-ready headshots, manga-inspired avatars, soft pastel “spring” aesthetics, AI-led fashion moodboards, paparazzi-style visuals and fantasy newspaper covers. Users are also restoring old photographs, creating tarot-style imagery and experimenting with futuristic design concepts.
Local flavour is adding another layer. Prompts such as cinematic portrait collages and Y2K-inspired romantic edits are gaining traction, blending global aesthetics with distinctly Indian internet culture.
The surge reflects a broader shift in how AI tools are being used in the country, moving beyond utility to creativity. As younger users, creators and social media enthusiasts experiment with new visual formats, AI-generated imagery is increasingly becoming part of everyday digital expression.
If early trends hold, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may not just be a tech upgrade but a cultural moment, giving millions a new visual language to play with online.
