• About
    • About Us
    • Leadership Team
  • Products
    • Test Your Ad
    • Test Your Innovation
    • Test Your Brand
    • Case Studies
    • Methodology
  • Insights
    • Latest
    • Digital – TikTok
    • Compound Creativity
    • The Extraordinary Cost of Dull
    • The Multiplier Effect
    • Orlando Wood
    • Advertising Principles Explained
    • Lemon
    • Look Out
    • Advertising Effectiveness
    • Category Insights
    • How Creativity Boosts ROI
    • Ritson on Ad Effectiveness
    • Sports Sponsorship
    • Unlocking Profitable Growth
    • Nation’s Favourite Ads UK
    • Nation’s Favorite Ads US
    • Cultural Moments
    • Super Bowl
    • The 12 Gifts of Christmas
    • Olympics Advertising
    • Olimpíadas (Portuguese)
    • World Cup
    • Futebol (Portuguese)
    • Media Channels
    • Audio
    • Digital – TikTok
    • Digital – Pinterest
    • Out-Of-Home Advertising
    • TV
    • Representation
    • Feeling Seen USA
    • Feeling Seen UK
    • Wise Up!
    • Sustainability
    • The Greenprint USA
    • The Greenprint
    • The Greenprint Brazil
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Ad Of The Week
    • Blog
    • Uncensored CMO
    • In the Press
    • OOH of the Month
    • Events
    • How to Make Your Performance Advertising Perform Even Better
  • Investors
    • Investor Info
    • The Board
    • ESG
  • Work With Us
    • Careers
    • Culture
  • Contact Us
    • Get In Touch
    • Offices
  • About
    • About Us
    • Leadership Team
  • Products
    • Test Your Ad
    • Test Your Innovation
    • Test Your Brand
    • Case Studies
    • Methodology
  • Insights
    • Latest
    • Digital – TikTok
    • Compound Creativity
    • The Extraordinary Cost of Dull
    • The Multiplier Effect
    • Orlando Wood
    • Advertising Principles Explained
    • Lemon
    • Look Out
    • Advertising Effectiveness
    • Category Insights
    • How Creativity Boosts ROI
    • Ritson on Ad Effectiveness
    • Sports Sponsorship
    • Unlocking Profitable Growth
    • Nation’s Favourite Ads UK
    • Nation’s Favorite Ads US
    • Cultural Moments
    • Super Bowl
    • The 12 Gifts of Christmas
    • Olympics Advertising
    • Olimpíadas (Portuguese)
    • World Cup
    • Futebol (Portuguese)
    • Media Channels
    • Audio
    • Digital – TikTok
    • Digital – Pinterest
    • Out-Of-Home Advertising
    • TV
    • Representation
    • Feeling Seen USA
    • Feeling Seen UK
    • Wise Up!
    • Sustainability
    • The Greenprint USA
    • The Greenprint
    • The Greenprint Brazil
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Ad Of The Week
    • Blog
    • Uncensored CMO
    • In the Press
    • OOH of the Month
    • Events
    • How to Make Your Performance Advertising Perform Even Better
  • Investors
    • Investor Info
    • The Board
    • ESG
  • Work With Us
    • Careers
    • Culture
  • Contact Us
    • Get In Touch
    • Offices

Our Test Your Ad Premium database has cemented its place as the world’s largest subscription-based ad database, made possible by our ongoing commitment to testing ads with real consumers to measure emotional responses to creative.

Each January, as part of our highly anticipated Nation’s Favourite Ads program, we celebrate standout campaigns from our unparalleled database using the prestigious Star Rating to measure emotional impact and predict long-term brand-building potential. For 2024, we’ve added a fresh focus on key moments that captured national attention—like Christmas, the Euros, and category-specific highlights—spotlighting brands delivering emotionally engaging work when audiences were most attentive.

But we didn’t stop there! Taking inspiration from two of our most influential reports from 2024—“The Extraordinary Cost of Dull” and “The Magic of Compound Creativity”—we’ve 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 Cost of Dull, neutrality is a creativity killer, and these ads showcase the strategies for ensuring emotional resonance.

      2. Consistency in Creativity: From our Compound Creativity report, we spotlighted exceptional examples of brands harnessing long-term creative strategies—ads that build on recurring brand characters, distinctive assets, and enduring creative partnerships. 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.

Now, it’s time to unveil the Nation’s Favourite Ads of 2024 and celebrate the creative teams behind these standout campaigns. Let’s honour the very best in advertising excellence!

Category Standouts

We recognise how challenging it can be to create emotionally compelling and creative ads, depending on the category you’re in. Categories like chocolate and ice cream naturally drive strong appeal, consistently achieving high scores, while others face more hurdles. This year, we’re celebrating the ads that stood out the most, outperforming their category averages with exceptional creativity that positions the brand for commercial success.

1
Save the Children / Aardman

“The Knit Before Christmas”

The Charity category is known for generating low levels of neutrality and high emotional intensity, leading to a significant spike in short-term sales and donation potential. However, in terms of long-term effectiveness, it scores among the lowest, with 69% of the category achieving just a 1-Star Rating, indicating no market share change. Achieving a maximum Star Rating in such a challenging category is a phenomenal accomplishment—one that truly deserves the title of Nation's Favourite!

View Report
2
Disney / adam&eveDDB

“The Boy and The Octopus”

Disney knows emotion better than anyone—they’re famous for it! Unlike many brands in their category, Disney’s distinctive, storytelling-first approach truly stands out, outperforming the category average by an impressive 3.2 Stars. In 2024, Disney achieved one of the highest Emotional Dynamism Index scores, meaning their ad took consumers on a literal rollercoaster of emotions, keeping them deeply engaged throughout.

View Report
3
BBC / Aardman

“Wallace and Gromit Idents”

Aardman brought their magic to the BBC last year with their Wallace and Gromit idents, helping the broadcaster achieve a rare feat—a maximum star rating! It’s uncommon for TV broadcasters to reach this level, let alone idents. The nostalgic charm and craftsmanship of Aardman ensured these short spots captivated audiences between shows while perfectly teasing their upcoming movie, “Vengeance Most Fowl.”

View Report
4
Amazon

“Midnight Opus”

Amazon’s success is built on many factors, but their dedication to exceptional storytelling is a standout. By championing everyday heroes, they craft simple, relatable narratives grounded in universal human truths—consistently delivering strong performances. Their work also highlights the power of in-house creativity, proving that talented teams can deliver exceptional results time and again.

View Report
5
Barbour / Aardman

“Baa-Bour”

Barbour’s 2024 Christmas campaign, featuring another Shaun the Sheep collaboration, stood out in the leisurewear category. Once again, Aardman Studios delivered a standout performance, using their distinctive animation style and nostalgic characters to elevate brands through emotional appeal and a unique visual identity.

View Report

Beyond Christmas

1
Wall’s

“The Taste of Happiness Since 1922”

2024 was a year of major brand birthdays, with Cadbury, McDonald’s, and Walls celebrating milestone anniversaries. Walls stood out in its category by delivering exceptional emotional appeal—a significant achievement in one of the most inherently engaging categories in our database. Its uplift versus the category average was the highest non-Christmas performance of the year.

View Report
2
Tourism Australia / Accenture Song

“Come and Say G’Day”

Tourism Australia made a strong return with their Kangaroo fluent device, standing out in an already emotive category. The familiar brand character remains a year-on-year success, showcasing the power of consistent and distinctive storytelling – proof that standing out within an emotional category is possible after all!

View Report
3
Comparethemarket.com / VCCP Blue

“Don’t Wombat it, Meerkat it”

Fluent device characters continue to prove their value as a standout strategy, with Comparethemarket.com delivering another strong performance. This year, they introduced a comedic Wombat cousin to join their iconic meerkats, who consistently excel in emotional appeal and distinctiveness within the Insurance Comparison category. The meerkats are a testament to the power of characters in transforming a low-appeal, challenging category.

View Report
4
Starling Bank / Wonderhood Studios

“The Bank Built for You”

Starling Bank stood out in a typically low-appeal category, where the average ad scored just 2.4 Stars, and none reached 5-Stars in 2024. Among the top 2% of ads achieving 4.0 Stars or higher, Starling Bank’s success was driven by strong humour, a simple narrative, and clear messaging—proving the power of effective storytelling even in challenging categories.

View Report
5
Volkswagen / adam&eveDDB

“YourWagen”

This is a perfect example of breaking free from category stereotypes and a standout case of our Shifting Gears research in action. By leaning into their identity as the "People's Car," Volkswagen focuses on championing people, rather than following the typical product-centric approach of the category. The result? An ad that’s both distinctive and highly relevant to the brand.

View Report

Spotlighting Stars

2024 saw unique campaigns and ads with standout qualities truly shine. Our collaborative work with ITV explored topics like representation in advertising, sustainability, and the challenges of breaking through as a new-to-TV advertiser—qualities that are tough to get right. We also witnessed the rise of new tools like AI, while some brands opted to master creative elements such as music and character to drive impact. So, who stood out on these creative qualities? Let’s find out!

Commitment to Positive Change

Dove / SOKO

“The Code”

Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, launched in 2004, has consistently challenged unrealistic beauty standards. In a world increasingly shaped by AI-generated “perfect” models, it remains a timely reminder of Dove’s mission to celebrate real beauty. This ongoing commitment, strong brand message, and exceptional execution deserve recognition.

View Report

Returning Advertiser

Jammie Dodgers / McCann Manchester

“Jam-Packed with Mischief”

Returning to screens after over a decade, Jammie Dodgers are a standout example of embracing a unique brand personality to break through on TV. By adhering to many of the principles System1 identified in ITV’s Breakthrough research, Jammie Dodgers shine in a category where first-year advertisers typically score just 2.4 Stars. Their use of showmanship helped them break through with a memorable impact.

View Report

Most Emotional Dynamism

British Airways / Uncommon

“May we Haveth One’s Attention”

A 15-second digital ad campaign is challenging enough to capture emotional engagement, let alone a 5-minute safety briefing. Yet, in their latest safety video, British Airways sparked a remarkable response, achieving the highest emotional dynamism of 2024. This means consumer emotions shifted the most throughout the 5 minutes, a significant achievement for a typically functional and disengaging category.

View Report

Happiest Ad

Cadbury / VCCP

“Yours For 200 Years”

To celebrate 200 years of consistent customer commitment, Cadbury repurposed their 2018 “Mum’s Birthday” campaign, achieving an exceptional Star Rating. With their signature brand codes and storytelling style, this ad reinforces that Cadbury truly knows their customers. It was the happiest ad on System1’s Premium Ad Database in 2024, outperforming the Christmas buzz with a whopping 74% happiness!

View Report

Star Studded Partnerships

Santander / House337

“Banking With the Enemy”

Celebrities shone brightly in 2024, with one of the standout partnerships being Santander’s long-standing collaboration with Ant and Dec, focusing on their rival bank, Antanddec. Ant and Dec are a prime example of using celebrities effectively, leaning into their familiar personalities and humour, and returning as winners among consumers.

View Report

New Character

Funky Pigeon / VCCP

“Give a Funk?”

Characters are a proven way to drive emotional appeal and category distinctiveness, so it’s only fitting to celebrate brands that leverage this strategy. In 2024, Funky Pigeon introduced a new character and saw strong performance as a result. Fun, unique, and brand-centric, it’s a fantastic example of how to soar with a fluent device!

View Report

Humour

Irn-bru / Leith

Humour remains one of the rarest features in advertising and has steadily declined over the years. Yet, as identified by Orlando Wood in Lemon and Look Out, it is also the most effective form of happiness for driving long-lasting business effects. This year, Irn Bru stood out as a top contender, using irony, satire, and misplaced hope to create a comedic and unexpected campaign—one that was perfectly aligned with its brand. Despite the rarity of humour in ads, Irn Bru’s approach shows how it can still be a powerful tool for brand differentiation and impact.

View Report

Family Favourite

OXO / Above + Beyond

“Made with OXO, Made with Love"

Storytelling emerged as a winning recipe for brands in 2024, with a focus on universal human truths like family, love, connection, and compassion driving highly emotional campaigns that resonated widely. One standout was OXO, with a simple yet powerful narrative featuring a father and daughter. This campaign topped the effectiveness charts, offering a key lesson for brands: sometimes, simplicity is the key. By focusing on how their products enhance everyday pleasures, brands can create more meaningful connections with their audience.

View Report

Representation

Doritos / Goodby Silverstein & Partners

“For the Bold in Everyone”

Surprise is a key emotion measured by System1, positively influencing star ratings. In 2024, brands averaged 11% surprise, but Doritos broke the charts with 27% in their stereotype-defying campaign. As highlighted in our Wise Up! report, over-55s are rarely shown in advertising with independence, humour, and agency—three qualities Doritos nailed. This campaign serves as a lesson for brands to break free from stereotypes around age, gender, and ethnicity, showing that all audiences want to be entertained and represented in an empowering, fun way.

View Report

Most Disgusting

Pot Noodle / adam&eveDDB

“Nothing Satisfies like Pot Noodle”

Disgust is one of the rarest emotions in advertising, accounting for just 1% of emotions in 2024. While most brands shy away from this feeling, Pot Noodle embraced it to create one of the spikiest campaigns of the year. With the highest percentage of disgust at 30% and exceptional short-term sales potential, it proved that any emotion is more powerful than none. This campaign highlights the importance of using emotions to stand out and drive sales, showing how brands can leverage even the most unexpected feelings to be distinctive.

View Report

Christmas

In the UK this year, Christmas ads averaged an impressive 4.3 stars, making it a consistently high-performing time of year as brands and advertisers deliver their most emotive work to drive seasonal sales and long-term market share. These ads often tap into a range of emotions, creating compelling and dynamic journeys that make us laugh, cry, and smile. Here are the sensational stars that stole Christmas this year:

1
Aldi / McCann

“Get into the Christmas Spirit with Kevin the Carrot”

View Report
2
Coca-Cola / Secret Level, Silverside AI and the Wild Card

“Holidays are Coming”

View Report
3
Sainsbury’s / The Roahl Dahl Company

“Phizz-Whizzing”

View Report
4
Lidl

“Lidl Presents a Magical Christmas Ad”

View Report
5
Save the Children / Aardman

“The Knit Before Christmas”

View Report

The World of Sports

Cutting through in sports advertising is no easy feat. Our research with sports and entertainment marketing agency Fuse, in the Sport Dividend report, revealed that, on average, sports ads score just 2.4 stars among a broad audience, despite the excitement surrounding these events. This year, however, has seen phenomenal performances across major events like the Euros and Paris Olympics, with brands stepping up to create emotionally resonant campaigns that truly connect with audiences. Below is the effectiveness podium for 2024: 

1
Irn Bru / Leith

“Optimism Back In Scotland”

View Report
2
Aldi / McCann

“Aldi Olympics”

View Report
3
BBC

“Paris 2024 Olympic Games”

View Report
4
The National Lottery / Leo Burnett

“Changing lives every day”

View Report
5
BBC

“More Twists More Turns”

View Report

Dull-defeating Ads

In his collaborative research with Adam Morgan from EatBigFish and Peter Field, Jon Evans explored quantifying dull advertising by analysing consumers’ emotional responses from System1’s premium database. “Neutrality” emerged as the most prominent emotion, and when audiences feel nothing, they do nothing—hindering sales potential both in the short and long term. We examined ads by category—some from more “dull” categories than others—to identify which brands were defying dullness and standing out for commercial impact against the competitive set. Here’s what we found: 

1
Disney / adam&eveDDB

“The Boy and The Octopus”

Achieving just 16% neutrality compared to the TV streaming category average of 47%, Disney showcased the power of connection, friendship, and universal human truths—proving itself a true defier of dull advertising!

View Report
2
Amazon

“Midnight Opus”

This stunning campaign proves that ads don’t need complexity to resonate—sometimes the simplest stories touch our hearts the most. With just 18% neutrality compared to the retail category average of 49%, it’s a true showstopper!

View Report
3
Virgin Media / VCCP

“Walrus Whizzer”

In one of the most neutral categories, Broadband Providers, Virgin proves that defying dullness is all about breaking free from category conventions. By unleashing an emotive campaign, they achieved just 27% neutrality—half the category average—showing the power of bold, unconventional storytelling.

View Report
4
Morrisons / Leo Burnett

“Christmas 2024”

Returning for a second year, Morrisons’ Gloves continue to drive massive emotional appeal as the brand’s latest characters. Who would have thought a humble household object could combat dullness and cut the Supermarket category’s average neutrality of 48% in half?

View Report
5
The Perfume Shop 

“The Perfume Shop Christmas”

Fragrance is a category often dominated by similar, indistinguishable ads, but this campaign is a brilliant example of how breaking from the status quo can pay off. With a low neutrality score of just 23%, it stands out as the most emotional campaign in the category.

View Report

Out-Of-This-World OOH

2024 brought exciting new collaborations in the world of outdoor advertising, with our partnership with JCDecaux providing deeper insights into outdoor effectiveness, showcased in our monthly column with OOH Today. This year, we saw the highest-ever outdoor Star Rating achieved, as brands rose to the challenge of creating standout, well-branded ads that captured attention in just two seconds—a crucial feat for outdoor creatives. Now, let’s celebrate the Nation’s Favourite Outdoor Ads of the year: 

1
Cadbury / VCCP

“Secret Santa Postal Service”

View Report
2
Jaffa Cakes / TBWA\London

“We’re a Cake You Biscuit”

View Report
3
Calpol / TEN

“Someone’s Feeling Better”

View Report
4
Walkers / Sips & Bites

“It’s Crunch Time”

View Report
5
Corona / Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam

“Naturals”

View Report

Committed to Consistency

In 2024, System1 launched Compound Creativity, using the IPA Databank to showcase the compounding commercial impact of consistency in advertising. From enduring agency-brand partnerships to creative codes like character, colour, and tone, as well as consistency across the media mix, these elements drive long-lasting business effects. To celebrate the brands leading the way for a more consistent 2025, here are some consumer consistency highlights: 

Yorkshire Tea / Lucky Generals

“Tina’s Leaving Do”

Yorkshire Tea is one of the UK's most consistent brands, celebrated for its long-lasting ads (averaging a two-year lifespan), enduring agency partnership, and signature visual and narrative codes. This unwavering approach earned them recognition as a standout brand in our Compound Creativity report with the IPA. Their 2022 ad, "Tina’s Leaving Do," featuring Patrick Stewart, exemplifies this consistency. Running through 2024, the ad is a masterclass in maintaining the brand’s iconic witty narrative style and distinctive codes.

View Report
Very / The Gate

“Toys”

Since launching their "Make it Sparkle" brand platform in 2023, Very has continued to leverage their distinctive pink flamingos in 2024, achieving the highest score for TikTok ads with their "Toys" campaign featuring Coral the flamingo, a cut-down version of the TVC. The brand also re-aired their Christmas creative for a second year, delivering exceptional results.

View Report
Moonpig / Modern Citizens

“Moonpig Strut”

Moonpig returned in 2024 for Christmas with their beloved brand mascot, a character synonymous with the brand, leveraging consistency across the media mix to reinforce their message and drive strong engagement.

View Report
Marks and Spencer

“The Journey”

Returning with Dawn French for Christmas and Tom Kerridge in their Farm to Foodhall series, Marks & Spencer demonstrated the power of creative consistency in 2024. Achieving an average Star Rating of 3.9, they stood out for their emotional appeal, familiarity, and strong creative foundations.

View Report
Thatchers / Aardman

“Perfection in Every Drop”

Thatchers has extended its collaboration with Aardman Studios into 2024, continuing to release visually striking campaigns during cricket and football broadcasts. Originally launched in 2023, these well-crafted ads have established a distinctive identity for the brand, consistently outperforming the category average of 3-Stars.

View Report
Argos

“There’s More to Argos”

Though many brand characters make an appearance at Christmas in the UK, few maintain their presence year-round. One brand that has successfully done so is Argos, with the introduction of characters Connie and Trevor. Since launching these characters, Argos has seen a significant boost in effectiveness, thanks to consistent communication across all channels.

View Report

Test Your Ad Premium 

Test Your Ad Premium subscribers can access the full list of Nation’s Favourite Ads in our database, plus additional standout ads from Christmas, Outdoor, the Olympics and other key cultural events.  

Learn More

Get the Ad Of The Week in your inbox

By subscribing you agree to the use of your data in accordance with our privacy policy

Got a specific question? Get in touch

  • Instagram icon
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Contact
  • Company Info
  • Financial Info
  • Share Details
  • Investor News
  • Shareholder Info
  • Corporate Governance
  • AIM Rules

Please note that www.system1group.com is the official and trusted source for information about our company and services. Exercise caution when accessing information from other sources.

© 2025 System1 Group PLC. All rights reserved.