What the Nation’s Favourite Ads of 2024 Reveal About Breaking Free from Category Tropes

The Nation’s Favourite Ads of 2024 Have Landed—Here’s What We Learned 

The results are in: The Nation’s Favourite Ads of 2024 have arrived, showcasing standout creativity from every corner of the industry. This year, brands defied category norms, familiar favourites returned to our screens, and some campaigns even shocked—or, dare we say, disgusted us. Whether you laughed, cried, threw the remote at your TV, or stopped in your tracks to admire a roadside poster, one thing is certain: 2024 was a year packed with emotion, depth, and creative brilliance. 

System1’s Andrew Tindall explored this year’s top-performing ads alongside ITV’s Kate Waters and Lydia Gough from Aardman, uncovering what resonated most with real consumers—and what brands can learn for 2025.  

Traditionally, The Nation’s Favourite Ads has celebrated outstanding campaigns using System1’s Star Rating, a predictive measure of long-term brand-building potential. While Star Rating is validated against market share growth and ROI, it’s not the only way to assess creative success. Short-term activation and sales also matter, as does a fundamental question: Did consumers even know which brand the ad was for? 

That’s why this year, we’re bringing a fresh perspective. In addition to Star Rating (long-term impact), we’re spotlighting ads that excelled in Spike Rating (short-term effectiveness), Fluency (brand recognition), and those that made a mark by dominating a single emotion, outperforming their category, or stealing the show during key cultural moments like the Euros or the Olympics. 

Taking inspiration from two of our most influential reports from 2024—“The Extraordinary Cost of Dull” and “The Magic of Compound Creativity”—we’ve also included bonus “best-of-the-best” ads to underscore two critical lessons for brands:  

1. Defeating Dullness: We identified ads that achieved the lowest neutrality scores in their category, demonstrating a masterclass in eliciting emotional responses (both positive and negative). As highlighted in The Extraordinary Cost of Dull, neutrality is a creativity killer, and these ads showcase the strategies for ensuring emotional resonance.  

2. Consistency in Creativity: From our The Magic of Compound Creativity research, we spotlighted exceptional examples of brands harnessing long-term creative strategies—ads that build on recurring brand characters, distinctive assets, and enduring creative partnerships. The research proves that consistent brands consistently outperform their peers, with the gap widening over time. Quite simply, dullness and inconsistency come at a cost no brand can afford.  

I know you’re eager to hear from our experts, so let’s explore some of 2024’s top-performing ads—along with insights from Kate, Andrew, and Lydia! 

Barbour | Aardman – Category Cut Through  

  • “Baa-Bour”  
  • Star Rating: 5.6 Stars  
  • Category Average: 2.5 Stars 

It’s only fitting that we kick off The Nation’s Favourite discussion with a standout creative from Aardman—accompanied by exclusive insider insights from Lydia Gough herself. 

Barbour returned to our screens this Christmas with a second instalment of its Shaun the Sheep collaboration, produced by Aardman Studios. As Kate Waters put it: 

“Literally drives a cart through all the tropes of fashion advertising. It’s incredibly brave in a category that seems to have established a single way of advertising.”  

This ad outperformed the entire fashion and leisurewear category, proving the power of breaking free from industry conventions. Claymation, a distinctive medium in fashion advertising, played a key role in its success. But beyond the animation style, it was the combination of humour, storytelling, and meticulous attention to detail that truly set it apart. 

In 2024, we took a deep dive into fashion advertising—a category that, despite its creative potential, often underperforms. The issue became clear: brands tend to focus too much on the product rather than the people who wear it, the personality of style, and the narratives behind fashion choices, occasions, and cultural relevance. Many brands struggle to translate catalogue-style imagery into engaging TV ads. Barbour, however, is the exception. 

“Barbour are about craftmanship. They have this heritage and we’re dedicated to craft, we’re dedicated to craftmanship. It’s such a natural fit it feels like it’s woven in already,” Lydia Gough, Aardman Studios.  

Dove | SOKO – Commitment to Positive Change & the Integration of AI 

  • “The Code” 
  • Star Rating: 4.6 Stars  

You can’t discuss the 2024 ad landscape without touching on AI. Many brands embraced this evolving technology last year—some more successfully than others. As Kate Waters pointed out, while AI may seem daunting to some, it can be a game-changer for others, particularly brands with smaller creative budgets. Used strategically, it can open doors to broader-reaching channels like TV. And while the debate around AI will undoubtedly continue into 2025, brands that adopt it must do so with purpose—just as Dove has. 

“AI is the driving force that transforms our industry whether we like it or not. This is a brilliant brand ad that happens to use a technique in alignment with their brand platform,” Kate Waters, ITV. 

In a masterful campaign, Dove ensured its brand identity remained at the heart of the creative. Rather than using AI as a gimmick, the brand seamlessly integrated it into a powerful narrative that reinforced its Real Beauty platform—challenging the unattainable beauty standards often shaped by technology and social media. The emotional impact of the ad speaks for itself, resonating deeply with viewers.  

“From a media perspective, no seconds were wasted here. People felt emotions for one and a half minutes and landed on a peak-end effect,” Andrew Tindall, System1.   

Santander | House337 – Star-Studded Partnerships  

  • “Banking with the enemy” 
  • Star Rating: 3.3 Stars  

With the Super Bowl around the corner and teaser ads featuring some of the biggest stars, the debate over celebrity endorsements in advertising is more relevant than ever. Star power can drive fame and short-term sales, but does it come at the cost of brand identity? If a celebrity outshines the brand, is the investment really worth it? And how can brands strategically leverage celebrity partnerships for long-term impact?  

A great example comes from Santander and its long-running collaboration with comedy duo Ant and Dec. The fictional Bank of Antanddec has been a satirical rival to Santander for years, consistently earning high Star Ratings and resonating emotionally with audiences. But why does it work? 

As Andrew Tindall and Kate Waters pointed out: 

“There’s a difference between not having a creative idea and bringing in a celebrity,” Andrew Tindall, System1.  

“Celebrity can be immensely powerful. We do a lot of campaigns using ITV talent, and the real challenge is to use a celebrity in a way that makes sense for the brand and where the celebrity doesn’t outshine the brand. That’s where the magic happens,” Kate Waters, ITV.  

Santander has successfully embedded Ant and Dec into a strong creative idea. Their fictional rival bank, paired with clever wordplay, creates humour—one of the most effective tools in advertising. This is especially notable in consumer banking, a category that typically underperforms in emotional engagement. Financial services often take themselves too seriously, rarely breaking from industry norms. 

Yet Santander stands out by balancing distinctive brand identity with entertainment. While their ads defy category conventions, they maintain clear brand assets, colour codes, and messaging that keep the campaign unmistakably Santander. 

Virgin Media | VCCP – Least “Dull” Ad  

  • “Walrus Whizzer”  
  • Star Rating: 3.8 Stars 
  • % Neutrality: 27% 
  • Average % Neutrality Broadband Providers: 54% 

As Andrew Tindall highlighted in The Nation’s Favourite Ads 2024, the true heroes of advertising are the ads that outperform their category. A 3-Star Rating may seem modest compared to a 5-Star ad, but when viewed in context, it’s often a remarkable achievement. 

Take broadband, for example—a category often perceived as “dull.” A 3-Star ad in this space is working significantly harder than, say, a 4-Star ad in a naturally engaging category like travel or chocolate, both of which had lower-than-average neutrality scores and an average Star Rating of 3+ Stars in 2024. 

Our report, The Extraordinary Cost of Dull, revealed that “dullness” is measured by the percentage of neutrality felt by audiences. When consumers feel nothing, they’re unlikely to take action. Any emotion—positive or negative—drives commercial impact in both the short or long term. The real danger for brands is falling into the neutrality trap. 

“The only real failure in advertising is to make your audience feel nothing,” Andrew Tindall, System1.  

A standout example of category disruption comes from Virgin Media with its bold and unconventional Walrus Whizzer campaign. In a category that typically lacks excitement, Virgin defied expectations, broke industry tropes, and created a memorable, emotionally engaging campaign that won over audiences. Look at your category—and do the opposite. The brands that break the status quo are the ones that reap the rewards. 

Create with Confidence  

The Nation’s Favourite Ads 2024 list is now live—featuring outdoor standouts, Olympic champions, and campaigns that mastered both creativity and consistency. This year, we saw brands push creative boundaries and forge deep emotional connections with audiences. But will 2025 bring more re-airs, re-works, and the return of beloved brand characters? I certainly hope so.  

If you’re looking to build on your current creative foundations and unlock the full commercial potential of your advertising, now is the time to act. Whether you’re testing a script, boardomatic, radio ad, poster, or finished film, our team is here to support you throughout the entire creative cycle. 

As a final thought, I’ll leave you with one of my favourite insights from Kate Waters on the power of creative consistency: 

“When you land on a great idea, you can then learn how to execute it better and better,” Kate Waters, ITV.  

Now, let’s see what 2025 has in store. 

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