Johnny Walker, Kraft Heinz and P&G's Tide are the grand winners of the Kantar's Digital Creative Awards SEA, which tested 300 digital ads using Kantar's ad testing solutions, Link, Context Lab and Brand Lift Insights.
According to Kantar, the finalists and grand winners told compelling stories resonating with Asians through pandemic lockdowns, built their brands to drive sales and increase long-term brand equity, and employed various tactics to guarantee viewer connection.
Johnny Walker's ad, called 'JW, Love for the street' (click 'Watch on YouTube' to see the ad below) and created by Virtue, was chosen to acknowledge the cultural context in Thailand in its messaging. It also won the Global Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards.
Heinz's ad called 'KV Motion' created by BBH India, was praised for its length, and P&G's Tide ad called '" #FlexYOKCK" and created by FUSE Omnicom Media Group was highlighted for reframing perspectives.
@tidephilippines Mas doble ang saya kapag kasama ang pamilya! Sama sama tayong mag-flex ng KCK with Tide Perfect Clean! Shop Tide Perfect Clean Now!
♬ original sound - tidephilippines
Pablo Gomez, Kantar Singapore's head of creative and media solutions, shared five 'digital sparks' that set apart the winning ads in 2021.
- Fluid content signatures: Creating unique brand content transcends screens and can be used across platforms.
- Demo 2.0: Using inventive ways to make the demo fun and real simultaneously because there is more than one way to deliver product news and not follow the prevalent trend on the platform.
- Reframing perspectives: Cleverly using behaviour to break category tropes and connect with empathy – all at the same time.
- Connecting cultures: Recognising, appreciating and embracing local nuances while adhering to brand DNA.
- Ad length advantage: Communicating the brand and message in a clever, compelling and concise way using ad length to their advantage.
"A big outtake from our winners is that brands can earn attention by entertaining and making people feel with and for the brand. Achieving this does not require full-fat measurements. All you need to get right is to measure the capacity of your creative to hold attention and land the brand message," he explained.