Allianz’s ‘Care You Can Count On’ was Australia’s favourite ad, according to research from agency TRA. However, brand attribution remains a challenge, with respondents struggling to remember the brand behind the campaign.
The June 2025 edition of TRA’s bi-annual representative study asked over 1,000 Australians to name their favourite ad from the last 12 months. Topping the list is Allianz’s ‘Care You Can Count On’. Nearly half of the respondents could vividly describe the ad; however, they did not mention the brand behind it.
The top 10 list reflects a preference for humour, character-driven storytelling and long-running brand platforms. This is particularly apparent for the insurance category, which dominated the list with ads from Allianz, Budget Direct, Youi, RACQ, HBF and AAMI, despite only ranking seventh in Nielsen’s 2024 Advertising Spend Report.
Rounding out the list, ALDI returns as the sole supermarket brand, alongside creative heavyweights – KFC, Specsavers and the new brand platform from Telstra, ‘Wherever you go’.
Australia’s Top 10 Favourite Ads – June 2025:
- Allianz: Care you can count on
- Telstra: Wherever we go
- Budget Direct: Sarge, Jacs and Chief
- Youi: Shop around
- RACQ: You with RACQ?
- Aldi: Good Different
- KFC: FLG
- HBF: Quokkas
- AAMI: Lucky You’re with AAMI
- Specsavers: Should have gone to Specsavers
“This disconnect between emotional engagement and brand recognition presents an important and nuanced takeaway for brand marketers. It takes time to build connection and recall, but this campaign has overcome the biggest hurdle – it has captured attention. And we can already see the makings of distinctive assets with the eagle being cast as the ‘hero’ and bringing the logo to life. Providing Allianz commit to the creative idea, we can see this campaign only getting stronger with the benefit of time,” Alex Forrester, business director at TRA said.
“The challenge of attribution wasn’t unique to Allianz. Despite having distinctive platforms, brands such as AAMI, Youi and Budget Direct were frequently misattributed – often to one another. The storytelling format of accidents, errors and insurance-type scenarios, featuring across the brands, appears to confuse audiences. Allianz’s strategy to diverge from category norms may well work in their favour while building something unique over time.
“Media spend isn’t everything. Creating a favourite ad means tapping into emotion, while sustaining brand impact over time requires consistency and strategic use of brand assets. Brand marketers who balance these elements will drive long-term effectiveness,” Forrester said.
