Millward Brown’s Best Liked Ads List celebrates South Africa’s favourite television commercials and their advertising agencies, with FCB Johannesburg dominating the list for the final quarter of 2013 with three ads making it into the Top 10.
Chosen by consumers, FCB Johannesburg, formerly known as Draftfcb, took the first and second and eighth slots, while its sister agency FCB Cape Town was responsible for the commercial that made the 10th position.
Coca-Cola SA’s “Share a Coke’ ad got the most votes and is a locally originated creative concept for the local implementation of the international “share’ campaign. Due to the ad being so favourably received by Coca-Cola’s international marketing team, the campaign will be used as the blue print in 50 countries.
Oreo cookies’ Oreo Princess was South Africa’s second favourite ad while FCB Johannesburg client Wimpy came eight with its Antifesto ad. Long-standing FCB Cape Town client Distell’s Savanna Dark ad took the 10th spot in the list.
Managing Director Alistair Mokoena commented on the agency’s performance: “We have a reputation for building South Africa’s favourite ads using ideas and executions which regularly see us accounting for at least one, but often more, in this respected line-up.
“Even so, each time the list is published, we’re thrilled to see our name up there because it means we are doing the job our clients expect us to do in a way that connects with the people that count, those that buy and support their brands. Well done, team,’ Mokoena added.
“Capturing authentic South African moments is key to creating ads that resonate. In the Coke commercial, this authenticity meant that instead of casting actors, we identified real “crews’ – collectives of young South Africans talented in their own right to star in the ad,’ said Jonathan Deeb, FCB Johannesburg’s executive creative director.
“Wimpy is another example, where the quirky and positive tone of language reflect the fluidity and flexibility with which South Africans use language to portray themselves,’ Deeb continued. “Alongside the traditional “howzit’ we now have “shap-tadada-hoezit’ that has been been adopted by the twittersphere, feeding back these “sticky’ phrases verbatim.’
No stranger to the Millward Brown lists, the FCB South Africa group agencies performed impressively in 2008 when four ads made it into the Top 10 on the LSM 8 – 10 list and an astonishing five out of the Top 10 on the LSM 5 – 7 list.
