Welcome to our annual list of the Nation’s Favourite Ads – the fifty ads which won audience hearts in 2023. These are proudly feelgood commercials. At System1 we know that emotion is the key that unlocks effectiveness, and these brands all know how to make audiences happy and entertain for commercial gain. And yes, that means there’s a lot of Christmas ads in here – it’s the time of year when marketers really let emotion off the leash and go all out for joy.
One of our big themes in 2023 was that “wear out” is a myth – ads do not get less effective over time, and if you have strong creative we’d advise you to keep screening it, re-use it, and really get the most out of it. So for the first time this year we’re including re-released older ads on the list. In amongst the new 2023 work you’ll find classics dating back to 1991. Those older ads are working just as hard – let’s face it, harder in many cases – to sell brands as the new ones are.
As usual we’ve ranked the ads according to Star Rating, which predicts an ad’s long-term potential for brand-building. Where there’s a Star Rating tie – and a lot of ads got the maximum 5.9-Stars this year – we’ve used Spike Rating, which predicts short-term sales impact, to resolve it. We hope you find your favourites on the list – and if you don’t, and want to know how they did, get in touch!
Here’s to another stellar year for UK ads. Now enjoy the Nation’s Favourites.
