KFC’s Look on the Fried Side of Life by Ogilvy is the country’s favourite ad campaign, with Telstra’s This is Footy Country by The Monkeys and ALDI’s Good different by BMF taking second and third spot respectively.
The latest edition of the AU/NZ Top 10 Favourite Ads Survey by independent research and insights agency TRA has revealed the top 10 ads as voted on by Australians and New Zealanders. It is Australia’s inaugural Favourite Ads Survey conducted by TRA.
The Favourite Ads Survey gathers responses from over 1,250 people from Australia and New Zealand, aged 18 to 60, who are asked a number of open-ended questions geared at eliciting candid feedback including: “What’s your favourite TV ad right now?” and “Why do you like it?”
According to Alex Forrester, TRA’s business director, “the common theme across the Aussie ad winners was the ads were remembered and resonated because the brands strongly linked their brand to the creative idea. KFC’s Look on the Fried side of Life is a textbook example, a perfect combination of great human insight and brand truth.
“The human insight is so familiar, that sometimes we do feel defeated by life, and the brand truth works perfectly – KFC is good because it’s bad. It’s also a great example of category disruption, food can be unhealthy sometimes! This combination of novel and surprising elements makes the execution of the ad more remarkable and rewarding.
“In comparison, consider Telstra’s Footy Country ad, remembered because the brand is not obvious throughout the ad. That’s a bold decision which demonstrates that attribution – being ‘remembered’ – is more complicated than just repetition of a brand’s logo. When executed expertly, the use of deliberate subtlety can work.”
In New Zealand, ASB’s Ben & Amy nabbed top spot for the fourth year in a row, with ANZ’s We Do How in second, and Turners’ Tina from Turners in third place.
Forrester, along with Carl Sarney, TRA’s head of strategy, used TRA’s Creative Edge framework to evaluate the strength of ads’ creative execution and to explain why certain ads perform better than others.
The framework is based around the ‘three Rs’ – how likely an ad is to grab people’s attention (Remarkable), entertain (Rewarding), and how strongly the brand is linked to the creative idea (Remembered) – the analysis of which revealed some key differences between the two nations:
Character focus: In Australia, ads more frequently focus on branded storytelling and situational humour, such as Cadbury’s generosity theme and Toyota’s humorous take on a messy divorce, versus an identifiable, staple “character”. While in New Zealand, ads tended to be more character-driven and appeared to leverage familiar characters and ongoing stories, such as ASB’s Ben & Amy and ANZ’s Sharma family.
National Identity: While both countries presented their share of culture-wars and social polarisation – New Zealand ads appear more settled with the idea of “Kiwi-ness”, whereas in Australia, the idea of “Aussie-ness” is only approached indirectly by brands, for example through themes of sport or weather.
TRA suggested this may be a reflection of comparative unease among Australians regarding their national identity, versus versus the pride New Zealanders feel about being Kiwi.
In March, TRA made six hires to its teams in Sydney and Melbourne to support growth and new business across both markets.
Account lead Nana Kawaura, consultant Sam Stalley, and senior consultant Charlotte Saunders joined the Sydney team. Melbourne’s new hires included account lead Alexandra Fulton, qualitative lead Jemimah Gray, and senior qualitative consultant Claire Timmons.
Australia’s top 10 ads
1. KFC – Look on Fried Side of Life [and related ads]
2. Telstra – This is Footy Country
3. ALDI – Shop ALDI First (as part of the Good Different platform)
4. Cadbury – There’s a glass & a half in everyone (garage)
5. Woolworths – Packed with Pride
6. Toyota – HiLux ‘In the Middle’
7. AAMI –When Australia Happens
8. HBF – Quokka Series (example)
9. McDonalds – The Original Mouthful
10. Kia – Kia’s Getting a Ute
New Zealand’s top 10 ads
1. ASB – Ben and Amy
2. ANZ – We Do How
3. Turners – Tina from Turners
4. PAK’nSAVE – Stickman
5. Genesis – George and her family [+3 places]
6. New World – Find Your Wonderful [new to list]
7. McDonalds – It’s Good to be the Driver [-2 places]
8. KFC – General retail [-1 places]
9. Vogels – Neighbours [New to list]
10. Lotto – House Hunt returns to list
See also:
TRA makes six hires across Sydney and Melbourne
Ogilvy Health unveils latest for Bowel Cancer Australia