Ads That Entertain And Surprise Consumers Perform Best In Asia-Pacific – WARC report

A new report has been released by WARC Creative finding that brands are using partnerships to increase the reach of their campaigns, and the effective use of competitions and humour in ads are tactics used to entertain and surprise consumers.

Lead image: Amy Rogers, WARC.

“Our deep-dive into the multi- award-winning campaigns, brands and agencies in APAC featured highly across the three league tables provide an evidence-based insight into what led to their top ranks. Reflecting on these remarkable results and how they came about will inspire more successes,” said Amy Rodgers, head of content, WARC creative, and author of the report.

Key takeaways outlined in ‘WARC Rankings: APAC summary report’ were:

• Using partnerships to boost reach.

The top 10 APAC campaigns from each of the three rankings reveals brands using partnerships to increase the reach of their campaigns. In ‘Bundy Mixer’, Bundaberg Rum promoted women’s sports through a partnership with the NRL in Australia; in ‘LEGO City Goes Nitro’, The LEGO group formed a partnership with action sports brand Nitro Circus to promote a new product, and numerous other campaigns collaborated to gain credibility when tackling social and environmental subjects.

• Less non-profit and cause marketing. More humour and entertainment.

When compared to the EMEA region in particular, the top APAC campaigns were less dominated by not-for-profit campaigns and advertising ‘for good’. Instead, they showcase a diverse range of tactics to relaunch brands, launch new products and generate brand awareness.

There are examples of the effective use of competitions in the top 10s, and humour is also more widely used in this region than others, with many of the campaigns lighthearted, and designed to entertain and surprise consumers.

Top APAC campaigns for creativity:

#1 ‘Knock Knock’ for Korean National Police Agency by Cheil Seoul

#2 ‘The First Digital Nation’ for Government of Tuvalu by The Monkeys Sydney

#3 ‘Phone It In for Skinny’ for Skinny by Colenso BBDO Auckland

Top APAC campaigns for media:

#1 ‘Phone It In’ for Skinny by PHD Auckland / Colenso BBDO Auckland

#2 ‘Thumbstopping Beauty Biases’ for Dove by Mindshare Mumbai

#3 ‘The Missing Chapter’ for Whisper by EssenceMediacom Mumbai / Leo Burnett Gurgaon / Leo Burnett Mumbai

Top APAC campaigns for effectiveness:

#1 ‘Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad’ for Cadbury by Ogilvy Mumbai / Wavemaker Mumbai

#2 ‘Keep Girls In School’ for Whisper by Leo Burnett Mumbai & Gurgaon / EssenceMediacom Mumbai & London

#3 ‘The Last Performance’ for Partners Life by Special Auckland

Top brands in APAC:

#1 Creative 100: DOT

#1 Media 100: Cadbury

#1 Effective 100: Cadbury

Top advertisers in APAC:

#1 Creative 100: Samsung

#1 Media 100: Spark

#1 Effective 100: Samsung

• Australia is top for creativity. India is most effective.

Taking into account all awarded work that took place in APAC tracked by the WARC rankings, India accrued the most points for both media and effectiveness. Across the top 10 APAC campaigns in the three rankings, 10 out of 30 came out of India, five of which were in the media ranking.

However, for creativity, Australia leads the way, with two of the top 10 campaigns and five of the top 100, punching above its weight in terms of relative ad spend.

Top agencies in APAC:

#1 Creative 100: Leo Burnett Mumbai

#1 Media 100: PHD Auckland

#1 Effective 100: Ogilvy Mumbai (creative) and Wavemaker Mumbai (media)

Top agency networks in APAC:

#1 Creative 100: Leo Burnett

#1 Media 100: Mindshare

#1 Effective 100: Ogilvy

Top holding companies in APAC:

#1 Creative 100: Omnicom

#1 Media 100: WPP

#1 Effective 100: WPP

Top countries in APAC:

#1 Creative 100: Australia

#1 Media 100: India

#1 Effective 100: India

WARC rankings are the ultimate benchmark for marketing. Celebrating excellence in creativity, media and effectiveness, they offer an opportunity for marketers to reflect on the best campaigns in the business and to review the impact their own work has on their brands. They are compiled by applying a rigorous, unbiased and transparent methodology.