Sustainability Starts with Your Ads: The Case for “Wear-In,” Not Wear-Out

Fast fashion, fast food…these days, it seems everything is made to be disposable, used for a short while and then discarded. All this waste harms our planet, our wallets, and can take a toll on our mental health. How can we look and feel our best when all we see is trash? 

The world of advertising is no exception to this rule. In the United States, the average number of days a TV ad spends on air is about 150. In the UK, the duration is even shorter, just 81 days. Considering production costs for a nationally airing commercial can reach anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, this could amount to a huge amount of waste by brands. This waste is not only financial. It includes the energy and resources used in producing creative, and the brand-building potential that might remain in the discarded ads. 

 But don’t brands need to consistently cycle out old ads so audiences won’t grow tired of them? Don’t ads “wear-out”? Surprisingly, System1 research has found that the opposite is true. Like a well-made pair of boots, high-quality brand-building ads “wear-in” over time. 

At times, brands are like the proverbial person complaining they have nothing to wear, despite having a closet full of clothes. Consumers don’t get tired of ads; marketers do, even though their advertising “closet” is probably full of wonderful pieces the brand can keep using, season after season.  

With economic and environmental challenges looming, it’s more important than ever for companies to make the most of their resources. So how can brands leverage their assets to ensure they’re making sustainable creative? 

Know your personal style  

It’s important not to jump on every trend. If a brand’s media mix is filled with seasonal pieces, such as limited-time price offers or references to the latest viral phenomenon, it will “go out of style” every few months. Constant creative reinvention can waste money, time, and even brand equity as consumers are constantly faced with a new suite of assets and offers. 

Like building a wardrobe, brands need to identify their “evergreen” core pieces that can be displayed year-round. These can be values or positioning statements, as well as key brand assets that highlight them, such as a character or slogan. These build up the brand over time, reinforcing its position in the mind of the consumer, making it more familiar and top-of-mind when it’s time to make a purchasing decision. 

Yorkshire Tea is an excellent example of a brand that makes the most of its existing creative to reinforce core brand messaging. Its slogan of 8 years, “where everything’s done proper”, not only references its British identity but also communicates the brand’s long-standing commitment to making tea “properly” from sourcing to brewing. Often exaggerated in a highly amusing way, each of Yorkshire Tea’s ads tells a story demonstrating this commitment, and because it’s always true, the brand often airs the same ad for a year or more before creating a new one, several times the average lifespan of a British advert! By showing its core value in an amusing way, Yorkshire Tea reaps significant brand-building potential, with the brand’s average Star Rating sitting at 3.8 stars, well above the UK average in System1’s database, 2.5. 

Find your investment piece  

Since the myth of ad wear-out persists, brands may try to save money on their ads, assuming they will soon be scrapped for something new. For this reason, ads which emotionally engage viewers through a dynamic story with characters and quickly cue the brand with well-developed brand assets can be something of a rarity. These elements yield stronger long-term business effects, like market share gain, but they can require significant investments of time and money to develop. Although it may seem counterintuitive, the best way to save money in the long-term may be to make the up-front investment, creating an ad which can emotionally resonate and continue to “wear-in” over the years. 

In 1996, Mars did just that with their M&M’s Christmas ad. The sweet story features a surprise encounter between the iconic red and yellow M&M’s and Ol’ St. Nick himself, with the punchline “they do exist!” Despite having aired for nearly 20 holiday seasons, the 15-second spot continues to entertain, pulling a 5.5 Star Rating in December 2024. Rather than boring audiences, Mars delights them year after year with an ad that has become a heartwarming signal that Christmas is on its way. 

However, wear-in can be a year-round phenomenon, too, as Booking.com demonstrated with its musical 2023 Superbowl ad “Somewhere, Anywhere” featuring comedic actress Melissa McCarthy. With a good 3.3 Star Rating at its pre-Superbowl release, the ad was well-positioned to deliver long-term gains for the brand. Booking.com continued to make the most of the ad, with a second rollout in the summer of 2023, giving the ad at least a 6-month tenure on air. Although Melissa McCarthy’s star power, not to mention a fully-produced music video, undoubtedly took significant financial and creative investment, this up-front work paid off: Nearly a year after its debut, in January of 2024, System1 tested the ad again and found the rating had risen to 4.3, a full star; evidence of ad “wear-in” in action.  

Create with Confidence 

How can you ensure you’re making the most of your brand’s creative resources? System1’s Test Your Ad can help you discover your ad’s short- and long-term potential and identify key drivers that resonate with your customers. Make testing part of your investment while developing an ad to ensure it’s having the desired impact. 

Plus, with System1’s TYA Premium database, you can explore the performance of previous ads to spot those that still have potential to entertain, so your best-performing ads never go to waste.