What we’ve learned about great advertising from 100+ editions of AdMiration

Brands are endlessly striving to make their advertising creative more effective, because creative is one of the key controllable factors that drives return on media spend. In our effort to help brands create winning creative that drives sales and long-term brand impact, each week in our AdMiration newsletter we feature an ad the industry can learn from and explore what makes it work. 

After more than 100 editions, we thought it was a good time to reflect on everything we’ve learned. With over 100 3-2-1s (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection on each ad), what are the overarching takeaways? What can brands learn about creating winning advertising? 

Here are our most important learnings.

Strong emotional response is a key feature of nearly every top-performing ad we’ve featured in AdMiration. 

We’ve seen ads that score within the top 25% on overall emotion are twice as likely on average to drive immediate sales. 

Audiences are likely to forget the specific details of an ad, but it’s harder to forget how an ad made them feel. Strong emotions help make an ad stick in their memory, while an ad that made them feel nothing is likely to be forgotten. Plus, those positive emotions can rub off on the brand and make people feel more positive about the brand itself. 

Love is the strongest emotion there is, so it’s an important emotion to strive for. But we see that the combination of love and laughter is also a repeat winning formula. These are ads with funny moments people may laugh at, but they ultimately end on a high note that leaves people with a feeling of love. 

One example is Nature Valley’s “Jealousy.” This ad features an adorable raccoon puppet trying to get a bite of a hiking family’s Nature Valley bar. When the mom says, “This isn’t for you, little guy,” the raccoon abruptly straightens up and responds seriously, “Okay, okay! What if I did a little dance?”

This is obviously a ridiculous premise and very funny, but people also find it sweet and heartwarming — resulting in high levels of both laughter and love. 

Emotional journeys that make people feel many emotions also serve to keep people engaged. Dunkin’s holiday ad did this very well last year. The ad tells the story of a munchkin who was discarded after being removed from a donut, but ultimately was claimed by a young boy during the holiday season. 

The story evokes love, laughter, surprise and even some sadness — but ultimately resolves on a high note that leaves audiences feeling a lot of love. 

💡If an ad doesn’t make people feel something, they won’t remember it.

The best ads cue the brand almost immediately. 

With so much content competing for audiences’ attention today, brands can’t afford to bury their brands in their ads. Ads exist to drive short-term sales and/or long-term brand equity — and that can’t happen unless the brand is recognizable and memorable in the ad. Otherwise the brand doesn’t get the credit!

Introducing the brand in a seamless way is absolutely essential. It can’t feel forced or clumsy. 

The best way to do this is to give your brand or product a clear role in the story. Our advice: Summarize the story of the ad in a short sentence. Does the brand or product show up in that story? If not, it doesn’t have a role to play. 

Consider how your brand can be the hero or the enabler of the action. Skecher’s “Scary Fast” is a good example of this. In this ad, a group of zombies is trying to catch a group of teenagers, but the zombies are too slow! They buy the brand’s new AERO Burst sneakers from a nearby Skecher’s store and then they’re fast enough to catch the teens. The shoe is what helps the zombies accomplish their goal so it plays a key role in the story, and the story is executed in a funny and engaging way that holds attention. 

Distinctive brand assets like mascots, colors, jingles, slogans, etc. can also help you introduce the brand in a more subtle way immediately. 

Everything from the M&M’s candy characters, McDonald’s golden arches, the shape of the Heinz ketchup bottle, Mastercard’s association with the word “priceless,” and Netflix’s “ta-dum” sound all are DBAs. 

Consistent use of these elements over years is what builds associations. Over time, these act as stand-ins for the brands themselves. 

And many of them become loved in their own right. In Pillsbury’s “Big Biscuits” and PG Tip’s “At Home With Monkey” we see spikes of love every time the brands’ mascots are on screen!

💡If the brand isn’t recognizable or memorable, it won’t get the credit for (or the ROI from) the ad.

Clarity consistently outperforms cleverness. Trying to achieve too many objectives weakens impact, while simple ideas are easier to understand and remember. 

“Interesting but not complex” is a recurring theme across AdMiration ads. The idea might be simple, but the execution is engaging to watch. 

Keurig's "You Deserve Great Coffee Without the Grind" is a great example of this. The ad sets up a relatable problem (drive-thru experiences are not always enjoyable) and positions the product as a solution to it. The idea is simple and there’s one single message to convey, but the execution is fun with multiple peaks of laughter throughout. 

It might be simple, but it’s not boring or basic. 

💡If people have to think too hard, you’ve lost them. Discipline is a creative advantage!

The best ads tap into truths people instantly recognize but aren’t necessarily ideas people think about day to day — so they feel very relatable but not overdone. They’re often connected to family, friends, pets, routines, general frustrations, etc. that people connect to. 

One great example is Ollie’s “Feed The Obsession: Mom Mode.” Pet owners are notoriously obsessed with their pets, so this ad depicts what an obsessed dog mom does for her dog in a funny, relatable and sweet way. The ad doesn’t need to use words to describe what’s happening for viewers to relate — it’s just a clear human truth for pet owners. 

Then Ollie does an excellent job tying that insight back to the brand in a credible and distinctive way — showing that their product is what the pet-obsessed reach for to feed their fur babies. It’s a great way to drive emotional engagement and purchase intent for the brand.

💡Insight is what makes an ad feel true, and helps audiences relate to the ad.

Music serves to instantly set the tone and amplify the emotions the ad is trying to convey. 

We’ve seen in our research that the more prominent the music, the higher the overall emotion. Ads with no music or barely any music saw only 22% of people on average react to them with love. For ads where music is a little bit, moderately and very prominent, this rises to 27%, 29% and 31% respectively. 

Dove’s “The Code” is a good example of using music to set the tone and amplify emotion. The music starts off haunting as the ad lays out the impact AI will likely have on women’s self-esteem in the next few years. But the music shifts to inspirational and uplifting when the ad shows how Dove has been committed to real beauty for two decades — and how it will continue to address it in the future. 

With no spoken dialogue in this ad and all of the action taking place through AI prompts and images, the music helps to set the tone and make the message truly come to life so audiences feel it very deeply. 

💡Using music intentionally can elevate an ad and drive a deeper connection with your audience.

As humans, we connect to stories. We get sucked in by a compelling tale and want to see how it ends. We want to see characters succeed and achieve their goals.

Fast openings with interesting characters, settings and scenarios hook attention. Clear narrative arcs hold interest and make people feel different emotions. And strong endings that resolve on a high note make people feel positively toward the brand and drive memorability. 

Waitrose’s Christmas ad is a great example of this. The ad is structured like a classic romantic comedy — hitting all the typical beats of a romcom like the introduction of the main character, the meet cute where the romantic leads meet, the montage where they fall in love, the moment that threatens the relationship, and the big romantic gesture and reconciliation at the end.

It’s a compelling story where we are rooting for the couple and want to see how it ends! 

💡Humans are primed to connect to stories. Think like a storyteller!

It can be very impactful to tie your brand to a cultural moment (like a trend, sporting event or holiday) because you can resonate with what people are feeling and thinking about in the moment.

But it can’t feel forced. And most importantly, your brand needs to effectively tie into the moment without getting lost in it. 

For example, your holiday ad needs to include holiday-related visual cues and convey the right emotion, but also fit with the brand and give the brand a role in the story. Ads that tie into sporting events need to connect to that event but also say something meaningful and relevant about the brand. 

Tide’s ad “Stains Happen to the Best of Us” from the 2024 Summer Olympics does a great job of this. It features various young athletes and Olympic athletes spilling food on themselves, each one suspecting that this experience doesn’t happen to other athletes. Tide’s message is that everyone gets stains on their clothes, no matter how famous they are, and Tide is there for those moments. 

It’s a relatable, down-to-earth message that perfectly highlights both the event and the brand. 

💡Cultural relevance is a multiplier, not a strategy on its own.

The strongest brands build platforms, not individual ads. 

As we’ve covered, when a brand is already known for something (a key message, character, slogan, action, etc.), people are more likely to identify the brand immediately when they see it in an ad. 

Plus, audiences are more likely to have a deeper emotional connection to an individual ad when a brand has been consistent over the years. Because that one ad doesn’t have just 30 or 60 seconds to evoke strong emotions — it can tap into all the emotion audiences already have built around that message, character, etc. over the years. 

The trick is repeating characters, formats, ideas or a tone of voice in a way that doesn’t feel stale. We always talk about “fresh consistency” — taking what a brand is known for and approaching it in fresh ways or making it relevant to the modern day. 

Dove is a great example of this. The brand has stood behind its Real Beauty campaign for over 20 years, but each campaign cleverly highlights a new area of the idea — and evolves the idea to touch on the biggest threats to real beauty and women’s confidence at that moment. We already talked about “The Code” — which focuses on a more recent threat to women’s self-confidence in AI. “Change the Compliment” is another great example, which urges people to change how they approach complimenting young girls.

Dove’s message is always deeply resonant and the angle is always unique, so even though each ad is consistent and builds on what has come before, it doesn’t feel stale. 

A more comedic example of consistency is Airheads. The brand has used its iconic floating heads since the early 2000s and it continues to use this DBA, like in “Oh Snap” last year. The floating heads are silly and fun, but they also serve to visually convey the experience of eating Airheads and illustrate the brand’s playful personality.

After years of featuring the floating heads, they help audiences recognize the Airheads brand right away and feel more strongly about each ad.  

💡The best ads don’t stand alone — they compound.

Unexpected twists that surprise the audience can often grab attention, but they must connect back to the message and the brand. A random surprise can be confusing, but a surprise that’s relevant to the brand, connects to the story or enhances the core insight can be distinctive and memorable.  

Liquid Death is one of the best at delivering unique and often surprising situations. Its ad “Kegs for Pregs” started with high levels of surprise as it appeared that a heavily pregnant Kylie Kelce was drinking beer. It was quickly revealed that she was drinking Liquid Death water, and then an entire bar of pregnant women began dancing to the original (and ridiculous) song “Kegs for Pregs” to promote the brand’s kegs of water. 

In this case, the surprising element of the ad is related to the brand: Liquid Death looks like beer, but it’s water. And the entire tone of the ad — irreverent, offbeat and funny — is exactly the tone of Liquid Death. It’s a polarizing approach, but it’s very on-brand. 

💡Make sure your surprising or shocking moments are clear, not confusing.

Showing a product in action can increase believability and purchase consideration — if done well. It is especially useful for functional products that require that kind of explanation of how the product works.

Therabody’s “Introducing the New Wand in Indigo” is a great example of showing how a product is used in a fun and engaging way. The ad is set in an airport, where a male TSA staff member is going through a woman’s luggage. He finds her Theraface Depuffing Wand and says he needs to check it. What happens next is a Sailor Moon-style transformation from his TSA uniform to a robe and head towel as he tries out the product. Ultimately the ad not only shows how you use the product, but also what it feels like to use it (relaxing and transformational).

In that category, a product demo is usually straightforward and potentially a bit dry. But in this ad the demo is done in a humorous way that audiences of all genders enjoyed. 

💡Showing can be more powerful than saying if done right!

One thing that’s clear after over 100 editions of AdMiration is that you never know exactly how an ad will perform until you test it out. 

Sometimes the humor doesn’t land or is more polarizing than we realize. Sometimes what we thought was clear (because we read the article about the ad) isn’t obvious to respondents without any additional context. We’re a lot more engaged in the advertising world than the average consumer, and what resonates with the AdMiration team doesn’t always resonate with the world at large. 

It’s only through testing an ad with consumers that we know for sure what lands. 

This is why pretesting is so critical. When you’re developing your ads, always remember that you are incredibly close to the work. You are not the best judge of how successful it will be. Run it by your audience in advance to find out how it will land and what you can optimize to put out your best and most effective creative. 

💡Never assume an ad will be successful just because your team likes it — you’re too close to the work!

There’s so much value in each edition of AdMiration — it was fun to look across over 100 of them to see what we can learn about advertising overall. Did any of these surprise you? 

 Let us know over on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter while you’re there so you can stay on top of our weekly insights.