In the fifth instalment of The Interesting Index, a collaboration between The Public House, Bounce Insights and Adworld.ie, Sarah Walsh looks at what ads caught the attention of the nation.
The Interesting Index is back to understand which ads people in Ireland remember and why. Now in its fifth edition and celebrating its first birthday, it lists the top 10 most remembered brands and ads from the past quarter with the research carried out in September.
This time out, recall of specific ads and elements within them was poorer than in previous waves, with some people only managing to remember the brand itself rather than particular campaign details. As a result, some brands made it into the top 10 based on recall from multiple executions… instead of one standalone piece of work.
These results are likely indicative of the seasonality effect within advertising, with typically lower advertising spend during summer months, as reported by Nielsen.
That said, here are the brands and ads that grabbed attention over the past quarter.
- Tesco, Clubcard
- SuperValu, Real Savings
- Guinness, 0.0, Lovely Day for a Guinness and Premier League
- Lidl, Go Full Lidl
- Sky TV
- Aldi’s Back to School campaign
- Dunnes, weekly oers and back to school
- Cadbury, There’s a glass and a half in everyone
- Fairy washing detergent
- RSA Lose your licence. Lose your independence.
As usual, retailers dominated the top 10 list, with ‘back to school’ offer advertising across all brands being the biggest talking point. Tone and humour tended to be the elements that stood out most for people within these ads.
“An ad for Aldi’s back to school offers. I remember this ad because it was bright and eye-catching and it used memorable things like characters reading each other’s minds and the grandfather character in a sand mermaid.”
“Go Full Lidl ad. There is a boy with his mother doing the shopping in Lidl. The boy says smoothies, then picks up strawberries and says they look very juicy and the mother asks where strawberries come from and he says a strawberry tree.”
Guinness clearly had an active quarter, with advertising across 0.0, Lovely Day for a Guinness and their Premier League sponsorship campaign all keeping the brand top of mind. Similarly, Sky’s mentions were mostly spread across tv, film and sport rather than any particular ad or campaign.
“An ad from Guinness showing a football match on a small island o the Irish coast. It was on during Premier League games half time break so was targeting football fans. I remembered it because the setting was very quirky.”
Cadbury demonstrated that with great creative comes great longevity. Many participants still spoke fondly about their ‘Glass & A Half’ ad which has been running for many years, although slightly refreshed to celebrate their 200th birthday.
“Cadburys, chocolate. The small girl buying chocolate in the shop who says “I would like to buy a bar of chocolate please ” . I remember it because the ad is full of nostalgia,it’s very cute and has a nice meaning behind it. The small girl is buying the bar of chocolate for her mother.”
Finally, RSA’s presence in the top 10 is a useful reminder that even the most serious topics can benefit from a light-hearted, humorous approach. The use of a memorable analogy for losing your licence clearly stuck in people’s minds, helping the campaign eke out the 10th spot.
“The ad was for the RSA, it showed people who lost their licences and how they had to literally get a lift (get carried) by other people. I remember this ad because I think it’s really funny and well-acted and I think using the flute cover of ‘Flying Without Wings’ is just hilarious.”
That said, overall there was a slight decline in positive feelings such as amusement in relation to recent advertising, dropping by 4% since the last wave – another reminder that broadly speaking, humour in advertising, done well, is in decline.
When asked to describe their opinion of advertising over the past quarter on a scale from brilliant to terrible, most (42%) described it as ‘OK advertising, nothing great or bad’, a drop (-5%) from what we saw 3 months ago.
With our next wave of research to be conducted in December, we wait with baited breath to see what Christmas will bring to advertising this year, a time when feelings towards advertising usually improve.
Sarah Walsh is Head of Strategy with The Public House
