Warc shares insights from the world's best campaigns
Amy Rodgers, research editor, Warc, and author of the report, says:
We've deep-dived into the Creative 100 rankings to provide learnings from creative successes that will inspire and lead the way to greater creativity.The three key trends from the Warc Creative 100 are:
1. Purpose-led strategies evolve
The use of purpose as a driver for marketing strategies continues to be a regular feature of the top creative campaigns and was central to the number one campaign, Palau Pledge, which created an immigration policy for the island of Palau to protect the nation from environmental damage.
Whilst purpose has become commonplace, several brands in this year's Creative 100 evolved their purposeful messaging, from driving awareness to encouraging consumers towards behavioural change.
In campaigns with this approach, the brand purpose was actually actioned by customers themselves, driving engagement through participation and subsequent diffusion of conversation.
Alex Grieve, executive creative director, AMV BBDO, says:
What's interesting about the evolution of purpose towards changing behaviour is that it mirrors a broader trend in marketing. In asking people to affect change, brands have realised they too need to change.2. Casting customers
This year's most creative brand, Burger King, had its customers dress up as clowns in a campaign that trolled its competitor's mascot, Ronald the Clown. Skittles cast one superfan as the star of its Superbowl campaign (ranked #4) and Marmite (#7) asked their customers to take a DNA test.
Participation elements can turn ads into acts, and in a low-attention economy, this approach has become an important way of gaining attention.
Martin Beverley, strategy director, adam&eveDDB, comments:
Many ideas in the Warc Creative 100 aren't just ads, they're acts - designed to impact popular culture and make a dent in the real world.3. Creativity across the experience
Bodyform's '#Bloodnormal' (ranked #2) a social idea at its heart, used influencers, designers and stylists to create visual pieces to champion a cause and rightly played in the channels where consumers could share and support. Tide's 'It's a Tide Ad' (ranked #5) used traditional media in an innovative way, highjacking the brand awareness generated by other ads, and turning it into awareness for Tide whilst creating a choreographed brand experience. A similar approach was used by Budweiser in their Tagwords campaign (#32), which harnessed print and outdoor to drive the audience to online search.
These brands created experiences for consumers, who then actively wanted to engage.
Kate Stanners, chairwoman and global chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, observes:
This to me is modern storytelling. All three campaigns explored the possibilities of the channels they were in. Weaving from real physical spaces to virtual experiences creating more powerful and lasting connections with their audience.A summary of Warc's Lessons from the world's best creative campaigns report can be downloaded here.
