SA’s 10 best liked ads list sparks celebrations at 164 Katherine Street

South Africa’s list of 10 best liked ads in 2018, announced this week (July 10) by Kantar, sparked celebrations at 164 Katherine Street in Sandton, home to the two agencies responsible for three of the 10 TVCs making the list.

#IGotThis. Lunch for the squad is sorted with our NEW Phanda Ribster Meal for only R34.90. pic.twitter.com/Csu3RBCwjK

— Steers® South Africa (@SteersSA) July 17, 2018

McCann1886’s ‘Phanda Ribster Meal’ for Steers ranked 5^th while FCB Joburg’s ‘Big Nyana’ for Debonairs Pizza was ranked 4^th and its ‘Everybody Loves Mrs’ for Mrs Balls Chutney ranked 9^th. This made it the only agency with two TVCs in the top 10.

Adtrack™, Kantar’s proprietary advertising testing system, has been evaluating the impact and liking of all brand advertising in South Africa for over 35 years. The resultant database stands at over 100,000 TV adverts tested, and more than 1.1 million interviews conducted, making this database one of the largest of its kind in the world.

“Both agencies were celebrating on Wednesday after the news broke. Consumers are among our toughest critics and, when we connect them by creating work that truly resonates, that’s what really counts,” said Group CEO, Brett Morris.

Kantar described the list as having an overwhelming South African flavour. “The brands in the ranking reflect ‘a day in the life’ of our consumers, they are all very relevant and relatable, with some great South African humour coming through.”

It also said “The winning ads score high on enjoyment, involvement and positive emotions, connecting with the consumer on an emotional level – entertaining the audience and making the ads memorable and easily recalled, not always an easy feat.

“Analysis of the Adtrack database from Kantar shows that in 2016, 63% of ads failed to cut through. This year, between January and March, a massive 77% of all ads have failed to resonate effectively with consumers, with 49% of all new ads achieving below average cut through at launch. Effectively this means that every second ad launched on TV is a complete waste of media investment.”