Ariel’s ‘Dads #ShareTheLoad’ is WARC’s effectiveness awards campaign of 2017
Researcher WARC has released its Top 100 list of most successful campaigns in more than 70 global, regional and national marketing effectiveness and strategy competitions.
The top-ranked campaign, ‘Dads #ShareTheLoad’ by BBDO India for Ariel Matic, Procter & Gamble’s premium laundry detergent, built on its previous ‘Share the Load’ campaign by persuading dads to do more laundry in order to promote gender equality. Ariel Matic generated a 42 per cent increase in unaided brand awareness and $12.3 million in earned media coverage.
In second place is ‘The Swedish Number’ by INGO Stockholm for The Swedish Tourist Association, which manages hotels and hostels across Sweden. The purely PR-driven approach saw more than 32,000 Swedes sign up to take more than 200,000 calls from abroad helping STF boost its renewal figures and attract new members.
Ranked third is the ‘Care Counts’ campaign for Whirlpool by DigitasLBi Chicago. The appliances manufacturer installed washers and dryers in schools to give disadvantaged students access to laundry facilities, resulting in 90 per cent of the participants increasing their school attendance rate. The programme has been expanded to nearly 60 schools across the US.
BBDO Worldwide remains the most awarded network for the fifth year in a row, having retained this rank since WARC 100 began in 2014. Its agencies contributed to four of the top 10 campaigns and 19 of the top 100. BBDO also topped WARC’s Gunn Report for most creatively-awarded network.
BBDO Worldwide CEO Andrew Robertson says: “Smarter thinking unleashes the power of creativity to make greater impact. That’s why leading the WARC 100 is so meaningful.”
Starcom Chicago returned to the top of the media agencies for effectiveness ranking with almost triple the points of the second-placed agency.
Eight of the top digital/specialist agencies for effectiveness are from the US, with Chicago-based agencies making up the top three. DigitasLBi Chicago takes poll position.
For the second time Omnicom Group is the most awarded holding company, having previously held top position in 2014. Omnicom Group owns four of the top teh agency networks.
CEO John Wren says: “Producing great work that drives results for our clients is why we come to work every day. It is especially gratifying to see Omnicom recognized by WARC as having five of the top ten individually ranked agencies, three of the top five networks, and being the top-ranked holding company. I could not be prouder of our teams.”
Burger King improved its ranking by 30 places to be top brand for effectiveness, with the ‘McWhopper Proposal’ campaign in the top ten and ‘Backyard Burger King’ in the top 100. Ariel’s ‘Share the Load’ campaign contributed to the brand retaining its second place.
Unilever was the most effective advertiser for the third time, having previously led in 2015 and 2014. Unilever has four campaigns in the top 100 – Lifebuoy’s ‘#HelpAChildReach5’, Knorr’s ‘Love At First Taste’, ‘The Vaseline Healing Project’ and ‘The radicalisation of Persil’ – with a further 50 campaigns across all competitions contributing to its tally.
Unilever CMO Keith Weed says: “It’s a great honour to be recognised by WARC as Most Effective Advertiser again. I’m hugely proud of our marketers, working hard to drive campaigns with purpose that cut through to consumers and make a real impact.”
USA retains its place as the top country in the world with 36 of the top 100 campaigns, compared to 12 from the UK and 12 from Australia.
The most highly ranked campaigns and companies in WARC 100 are: (1) Dads #ShareTheLoad – Ariel, BBDO Mumbai; (2) The Swedish Number – Swedish Tourist Association, INGO Stockholm, (3) Care Counts – Whirlpool, Ketchum Chicago, (4) Meet Graham – Transport Accident Commission, Clemenger BBDO
Melbourne (5=) The McWhopper Proposal – Burger King Y&R Auckland and Van Gogh BnB – Art Institute of Chicago, Leo Burnett Chicago.
