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.”
