Ipsos research shows 61% of South African Effie winners break the mould

Creative effectiveness is no longer a contradiction in terms when it comes to modern marketing and the 2024 South African Effie Awards are gearing up to be a vital barometer of return on investment in the South African advertising and marketing sector.

As the entry gates swing open for this year’s much-anticipated awards, the Association for Communication and Advertising in collaboration with Ipsos, will host a webinar on 8 May 2024 to share key insights from the 2023 Effie South Africa Trends Report, and the Global Best of the Best Effie Awards. This will provide an excellent opportunity for brand teams, marketers, and agencies to draw inspiration from major learnings and gain valuable insights into the evidence-based framework, ‘Misfits’, developed and used by Ipsos to harness the power of creativity in delivering effective advertising.

Ipsos has also released a book on creativity in advertising, titled ‘Misfits’, which offers a data-driven perspective to help marketers deliver entertaining, unique experiences with an empathetic approach to their target audience. Drawing from extensive research spanning various advertising sectors and global landscapes, it underscores the pivotal role of creativity and empathy, showcasing a remarkable 20% increase in average effectiveness when these elements are thoughtfully combined.

Creativity that provides value to the audience

Looking at the broader methodology behind the awards, Ipsos Creative Excellence Manager Quantin Montello comments; “Getting to effectiveness requires brands to rise above the culture of conformity and differentiate from category codes that are too similar. Breaking free from the sea of sameness requires meaningful creativity in advertising.

“At Ipsos, we define creativity in advertising as a unique or different experience that provides value to the end audience. We believe creativity is a journey. A journey on which we partner with clients and creative agencies to evaluate, optimise and test assets, to deliver advertising that is both impactful and effective.”

Key findings from 2023 to shape this year’s entries

The webinar will also elaborate on other findings from the 2023 Effie South Africa Trends Report including:

• Effie-winning campaigns show a deep understanding of the current context and challenges of consumers. Optimising for context also plays a key role in performance and highlights the nuance in untangling media and creativity in a system.
• Large budgets don’t guarantee success; creative quality does. In a cluttered and fragmented media landscape, creative quality is increasingly crucial for cutting through and capturing attention.
• Winning campaigns leverage their distinctive brand assets to facilitate recall and association with the brand’s advertising. Distinctive assets are a driving force for creative effectiveness and the Effie Trends Report reveals that high-performing creative use 57% more brand assets.

Cutting through a sea of sameness

Overall, key findings from the 2023 Effie SA Report, and the Global Best of the Best Effie Awards, underscore that advertising strategies that challenge category norms are impactful and drive results.

Montello points out;” Following category conventions leads to a sea of sameness. Safe changes nothing. Creativity cuts through. Our mission is to help brands harness creativity in advertising to spark brand growth. Both Ipsos and Effie share the same vision in that it is those ideas that work, which requires insights, passion, rigour, analysis, and creativity with a clear focus on effectiveness.”

The Effie webinar aims to inspire creative and brand teams to unleash their creativity to drive effective advertising and demonstrate how adopting a ‘Misfits’ mindset can lead to impactful and effective advertising.

To register for the Effie webinar taking place on 8 May 2024, or delve into the world of ad research, contact: Quantin.montello@ipsos.com or call 072 6906 179.