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Oldies still goodies this Christmas according to System1 ad scores

Some ads don't 'wear out' they 'wear in'

Reused ads or those using recurring elements at Christmas score strongly according to new data from measurement firm System1.

System1 says so-called ‘wear-out’ claiming ads lose effectiveness over time is largely a myth and that many ads are actually more likely to ‘wear in.’

This year brands including M&S Food and Aldi are using recurring characters in their annual Christmas ads, joined by brands re-using complete ads, with Cadbury and the National Lottery running their 2022 ads again.

*Aldi brought Kevin The Carrot back for the eighth time and again scored a 5.9–Star maximum on Test Your Ad. Every year for the past five years Aldi ads featuring Kevin the Carrot have been 5-Star ads.

*M&S Food brought back their M&S Fairy, voiced by Dawn French, for the third year running and achieved their first maximum, 5.9-Stars, on Test Your Ad.

*The National Lottery re-released their 2022 ad, directed by Oscar-winning Tom Hooper, about a romantic encounter on a train. Last year it scored 5.7-Stars and this year it stayed in the elite 5-Star bracket with 5.1-Stars.

*Cadbury re-released their 2022 ad in their Secret Santa campaign, and it scored 5.3-Stars this year after scoring 5.2-Stars last year.

*Coca-Cola are running their ‘Holidays Are Coming’ ad again this year. System1 retested the most recent creative in the 28-year-old campaign and it scored a maximum 5.9-Stars once again.

System1 chief customer officer Jon Evans says: “Traditionally brands have felt pressure to come up with something new at Christmas. Each Christmas we give them our hearts but the very next day they give them away, scrapping 5-Star characters and ideas as soon as the season ends.

“But the evidence shows that effective ads and characters are effective every year, with 5-Star ads retaining their effectiveness when re-used. Christmas ads don’t usually wear out, and festive characters actually wear in. Neither M&S Fairy or Kevin The Carrot scored 5-Stars on their first appearance – but marketers invested in them and had a long term plan, and now they’re getting our maximum score for long-term effectiveness.”

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