The System1 Top 10 of 2024

One thing is certain in marketing – we’re an incredibly busy bunch, working on new product launches, ad campaigns, brand books, in-person activations, partnerships and sponsorships, thought leadership and more! There’s often little time left to keep up with the insights and learnings that industry leaders are regularly publishing.  

Thankfully, the start of the new year is a perfect opportunity to carve out time to review what you might have missed in 2024. We’re rounding up the most downloaded and sought-after content from System1 all in one place. And if this is still too dauntingly long, just check out the TLDR (too long didn’t read) summaries for bite-sized overviews of the best-of-the-best content.  

Take a look at our top 10 below.  

Must-watch Series  

 1. Uncensored CMO 

2024 brought some of the most interesting guests and stories to the Uncensored CMO podcast, hosted by System1’s Chief Customer Officer Jon Evans. Every week, Uncensored CMO drops a new episode, featuring a CMO, agency exec, author, thought leader or another memorable marketing figure. Here are a few of the top episodes from last year:  

TLDR: You’re going to want to be in the room for these interviews. Listen weekly here (or Spotify, Apple, etc.) and watch via YouTube. 

 

2. Ad Of The Week

Every week, we celebrate recent work that’s captivating consumers. Our US AOTW and UK AOTW showcase work from their respective regions, and LATAM Ad Of The Month can also be accessed here. Are you on the edge of your seat waiting for the weekly feature? If you haven’t yet done so, sign up on our website so you can get AOTW in your inbox every Thursday. This year, we featured plenty of Super Bowl standouts, gold-worthy Olympics ads, festive Christmas favorites and everything in between.  

TLDR: Our weekly feature will inspire you to make entertaining ads.  

 

 3. Innovation Of The Week 

This year, we launched our Test Your Innovation platform, which helps brands predict and optimize the in-market potential of new products, claims, taglines, packaging, concepts and more. And because we love getting a pulse on the emotional response consumers have to the latest ideas, we regularly feature blogs showcasing the top-performing products, activations and more. Some of our favorites include a look at advent calendars, Wicked film collaborations and Heinz innovations 

TLDR: Our weekly feature (found on our blog) will inspire you to make better ideas.  

In-depth Reads 

 4. Compound Creativity  

Don’t let the 4th place slot mislead you, “The Magic of Compound Creativity” is our most downloaded report EVER following its release in October. Developed with data from the IPA Effectiveness Databank, this first-of-its-kind research takes a closer look at the compounding business impact of creative consistency and introduces a Creative Consistency Score for brands to assess how consistent they are across their ad campaigns and wider comms. Re-airing ads to allow wear in? Using your brand character regularly? Holding steady you’re your agency of record? They’re all important components of consistency. Download it here 

TLDR: Our report explores the compounding benefits of consistency in advertising. 

 

 5. The Cost of Dull 

The biggest threat to advertising effectiveness? No, it’s not AI, it’s actually dullness. That’s right – the majority of ads evoke no feeling whatsoever in audiences. How can brands overcome the negative impact that neutrality has on their marketing? In “The Extraordinary Cost of Dull,” eatbigfish’s Adam Morgan, Peter Field and Jon Evans explore the problem with dull advertising, its financial implications and ways to defeat it, thanks in part to Test Your Ad data from System1. We promise you won’t find it boring. Download the report here 

TLDR: Discover how to defeat dull advertising in this joint report from eatbigfish, Peter Field and System1.  

 

 6. The Perfect Poster  

Despite launching this research with JCDecaux UK in 2023, it continued to drive interest in 2024 – it’s clear we all love OOH! OOH is one of the most interesting and innovative mediums, but the majority of ads are too cramped, confusing or dull to engage audiences. After all, you’re competing with everything else that’s happening in the great outdoors! Our report highlights how OOH can better capture attention and support brand building, based on findings from our testing with JCD UK.  

TLDR: OOH advertising provides incredible reach, but there are grabbing and sustaining attention to drive effectiveness. Learn more.  

 

 7. Break Through 

TV is still one of the most important media channels for advertisers, especially considering its wide reach and ability to capture and hold attention among viewers. Yet many TV ads fail to effectively entertain audiences and new-to-TV advertisers or those returning from an extended break can have trouble breaking through and making a long-term impact with consumers. This joint report from System1 and ITV explores the benefits of TV advertising and strategies for successful TV ads, with inspiring examples based on System1’s Test Your Ad data.  

TLDR: New to TV or returning advertisers want to maximize their spend. System1 and ITV’s report offers practical tips for creating the best brand-building work.  

Rankings to Review 

 8. Christmas rankings & insights 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the holiday ad season! This year, we tested more than 350 Christmas and holiday ads to compile the most merry recap of festive advertising ever unwrapped! Not only did our System1 elves pull together a nice list of effectiveness insights, we also showcase some of the most successful holiday ads from the US and UK. This is truly the gift that keeps on giving! Download “The 12 Gifts of Christmas” here. To access the comprehensive Christmas ad rankings, subscribe to Test Your Ad Premium, our database of 150,000 ads.  

TLDR: We gift you Christmas advertising insights and feature top-performers in our report 

 

 9. Super Bowl rankings & insights 

The biggest annual advertising event in the US, the Super Bowl, is once again around the corner. And every year System1 tests all the ads with consumers to determine the MVPs of brand building. Our postgame analysis also breaks down how to replicate the success of the fan favorites. Access the “How to Win the Super Bowl” report here and stay tuned for our forthcoming webinar counting down the top Super Bowl LIX ads. To access the comprehensive Super Bowl ad rankings from 2020 to present, subscribe to Test Your Ad Premium, our database of 150,000 ads.  

TLDR: Score a brand-building touchdown with our Super Bowl ad insights. 

Continuing Education on Creativity  

 10. Advertising Principles Explained (a.p.e.) 

And of course if the above isn’t enough, there’s always the avenue of continuing education. This year, System1 Chief Innovation Officer Orlando Wood, Sir John Hegarty and The Garage launched Advertising Principles Explained (a.p.e.), a comprehensive advertising effectiveness course, comprising 8 masterclasses and numerous thought leaders to help you master the art of showmanship advertising. The next cohort launches the week of March 17 – register your interest here so you can be part of the next group of learners. For a peek at the course’s content, you can watch “The Next Creative Revolution” webinar here, featuring Orlando Wood and Sir John Hegarty.  

TLDR: A creative effective course that’s so informative, it’s bananas. Sign up.

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