15 December 2009 - London. TNS Research International has revealed the top 10 most motivating Christmas retail ads for this festive season. Boots tops the rankings with its ‘Christmas Gifts’ ad which features a group of predominantly female colleagues opening their secret Santa gifts to the soundtrack ‘Here Come the Girls’.
Other TV ads to hit a seasonal high note are Tesco’s recent ‘Finest Christmas’ ad and Morrisons’ ‘Fresh Christmas’ ad featuring Richard Hammond, finishing second and third respectively. The rankings are below:
|
1st
|
Boots
|
Christmas Gifts
|
|
2nd
|
Tesco
|
Tesco's Finest Christmas
|
|
3rd
|
Morrisons
|
Fresh Christmas Food
|
|
4th
|
Sainsbury’s
|
Jamie’s Christmas Tour
|
|
5th
|
The Co-operative
|
Four Weeks to Christmas – Festive Delights
|
|
6th
|
Marks & Spencer
|
Christmas Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without…
|
|
7th
|
Asda
|
(George) Party Week
|
|
8th
|
Argos
|
You Bring Your Christmas
|
|
9th
|
Waitrose
|
Christmas Time
|
|
10th
|
Littlewoods
|
Constructing Christmas Gifts
|
All the advertisements in this ranking have a good ‘motivation level’ – which in this instance represents how likely a customer is to go on and shop at that store. Several are well above the average motivation level for TV advertisements shown throughout the rest of the year.
“Christmas is a time which has a natural ‘feel good factor’ attached to it,” said Paul Baker, Head of Mercury at TNS Research International. “Ads which draw on positive emotions tend to do very well in converting sales. What is common amongst all the top performing ads is their success in conveying a level of Christmas cheer which has a resonance with viewers across all demographics - generating high levels of both engagement and motivation. Boots for example also does well amongst men.”
TNS Research International’s early warning ad tool Mercury has recorded the motivation levels of more than 250 TV advertisements from different categories, and enables advertisers to determine how consumers respond to their advertisements and those of their closest rivals.
“There is no stronger competition for capturing consumers’ attention than at Christmas," he continues. “How your ad resonates with the consumer can have a major influence on their purchase behaviour on and offline. At Christmas shoppers tend to separate their ‘Christmas shop’ from their regular purchases and are therefore open to trying different outlets. Since a brand has literally seconds to make an impression, it’s important that the TV ad you put out is one that reflects the mood of the target audience and is sufficiently engaging to influence their shopping choices. If competitors do this better then brands will lose out, possibly for life not just for Christmas.”
Notes to editors
The TNS Mercury ad rankings are extracted from its ongoing advertising evaluation measurement solution, which measures TV ads as they launch, enabling clients to take action quickly and effectively at a low cost. Mercury will be releasing its 2009 top 10 ‘most motivating’ ads league tables in early January; to receive details please contact laura.chatterton@tns-ri.co.uk.
The Christmas ranking was collated from select advertisements measured from October up to the end of November 2009.
Mercury uses a media intelligence system to alert the team the day after an ad launches on air. The new ad is immediately put into test with TNS’ 130,000-strong online panel. Panellists are assigned ads at random during a seven-day interviewing period, enabling TNS to analyse the ad’s effectiveness in the ‘real world’. Key research measures of recognition, message take-out, branding and viewer involvement are supported by TNS’ own unique measures of motivation and emotional positioning – developed through the leading AdEval™ and Needscope™ products.
About TNS
TNS, who recently merged with Research International, is the world’s largest custom research agency delivering actionable insights and research-based business advice to its clients so they can make more effective business decisions. TNS offers comprehensive industry knowledge within the Consumer, Technology, Finance, Automotive and Political & Social sectors, supported by a unique product offering that stretches across the entire range of marketing and business issues, specialising in innovation & product development, brand & communication, stakeholder management, retail & shopper, and qualitative research. Delivering best-in-class service across more than 75 countries, TNS is part of Kantar, the world’s largest research, insight and consultancy network. Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.
About Kantar
Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 95 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.
For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com
