Marketing's Adwatch of the Year 2011

In the toughest business environment in recent memory, achieving cut-through with consumers has never been higher up the agenda. Adwatch of the Year, which aggregates data from Marketing's weekly table, suggests that brands are having mixed success in meeting this challenge.

Adwatch of the year is the industry's most respected barometer of which TV ads are most memorable to consumers.

This year's table, which aggregates results from November 2010 to October 2011, shows clear winners (Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Kellogg, National Lottery and Comparethemarket.com) and losers (Asda, Sainsbury's and The Co-operative). It also features brands that have made comebacks, such as Direct Line and Currys/PC World, both of which have been revitalised by M&C Saatchi campaigns.

Also notable is that DFS turned in its best-ever performance - third in both the highest ad recall and best recall tables - but fired the agency responsible. New-to-TV brands including Wickes and Autoglass make their Adwatch of the Year debut, while B&Q is absent from the top 20 for only the second time in 15 years.

It is no surprise that the table is dominated by retailers, with Morrisons taking the top spot. Broadcast advertising manager Pavan Riyat attributes this to the brand's consistent message and a strong tone of voice. 'We set out this year to capture the mood of the nation and hit the right note with customers, and we have ensured that our advertising has a value layer, as well as a strong brand layer,' he says.

Morrisons' most significant advertising move this year was signing former cricketer Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff, whose down- to-earth persona struck a chord with the brand's target market. In the three months following Flintoff's debut 'Let's Celebrate' ad at Easter, Morrisons recorded an 8% sales uplift on the same period in 2010.

Remarkably, across the year, Morrisons spent considerably less than its main rivals. Morag Blazey, global practice leader for advertising intelligence at Ebiquity, which sourced this year's budget data, says: 'Although Adwatch inevitably favours advertisers with a constant television presence, the table shows that memorability isn't just about spend. It clearly illustrates the value of a consistent and recognisable positioning, which lets retailers such as Morrisons weave themselves into the very fabric of TV.'

Consistency and recognition have underscored Autoglass' messaging for the past seven years, and the brand is riding high not just in the Adwatch of the year table, but also in the marketplace. Radio specialist Radioville devised the brand's 'repair/replace' jingle in 2005, and recently created a Tellyville division to help Autoglass replicate its success on TV.

Autoglass marketing director David Meliveo says: 'Our advertising is all about trust, reliability and professionalism. The ads' credibility comes from the fact that we feature only real Autoglass technicians.'

It is a similar story for Wickes, which hired FMCG marketer Rob Murray as its marketing director four years ago. He appointed MWO, which created the Timothy Spall-voiced 'It's got our name on it' campaign. Three years on, the brand makes it debut in Adwatch of the year. The campaign, which targets tradesmen and domestic DIYers, is rooted in the idea of shared pride in a job well done, and played a big part in Wickes growing its revenues at 2% in the first half of 2011.

No commercial break is complete without the price-comparison sites, and this year's big mover is Comparethemarket.com, which not only tops the best recall in a single week table, but makes its first appearance in the highest recall across the year table, where it is the only price-comparison site. In 2011, the meerkat creators at VCCP brought Alexsandr and Sergei into 'our' world for the first time. The first ad in the series proved the most memorable commercial of the year.

Executive creative director Darren Bailes says: 'As Alexsandr turns up in Steve Smith's office, we wanted to capture the reaction of the kid in ET, when he sees ET for the first time - a feeling of "what's this weird little thing at the end of my desk?"'

Weird or not, the meerkat continues to make a monkey of the rival marketer who dismissed the original commercial with the words: 'Nice ad, but the campaign can't last more than a few months'. In tough times, where every pound counts, consistency of messaging is paying dividends.

Highest recall: across the year
11	10	Brand	Agency/ TV Buyer	Men- tions	Pts.	Adspend (£m)
						TV	Total
1	3	Morrisons	DLKW Lowe/ MEC	36	409	22.71	66.21
2	1	Tesco	The Red Brick Road/ Initiative	34	374	44.89	120.54
3	6	DFS	Uber/ Brilliant Media & Mediacom	19	295	31.35	73.59
4	8	Marks & Spencer	Rainey Kelly Y&R/ Walker Media	20	290	33.27	68.23
5	7	Sky TV	WCRS+Co, Sky Creative & Brothers & Sisters/ Mediacom	16	269	66.13	181.33
6	4	Argos	CHI & Partners/ Mindshare	25	267	34.11	54.4
7	2	Asda	Saatchi & Saatchi/ Carat	19	255	38.86	95.13
8	-	Currys & PC World	M&C Saatchi/ Walker Media	22	202	34.58	49.69
9	16	Kellogg's	Leo Burnett/ Carat	13	180	43.09	68.22
10	18	National Lottery	AMV BBDO/ OMD UK	11	134	20.3	31.87
11	-	O2	VCCP/ Zenith Optimedia	9	125	16.09	60
12	5	Sainsbury's	AMV BBDO/ PHD	18	118	29.96	57.59
13	-	Wickes	MWO/MEC	10	117	18.32	30.7
14	-	L'Oreal	McCann- Erickson/ Zenith Optimedia	13	116	43.79	60.14
15	13	McDonalds	Leo Burnett/ OMD UK	9	115	34.37	52.18
16	-	Autoglass	Breakfast & Tellyville/ Starcom	6	107	11.9	18.63
17	-	Compare themarket .com	VCCP/ Zenith Optimedia	5	99	19.36	23.07
18	-	Direct Line	M&C Saatchi/ Mediacom	6	98	37.28	49.28
19	19=	KFC	Bartle Bogle Hegarty/ Walker Media	10	97	17.99	29.97
20	12	The Co- Operative	TBWA Manchester/ PHD Rocket	11	94	10.8	15.3

This table scores a brand's total number of mentions across the year (column five) ranked by a value-added point score (column six).

Every top Adwatch position during the year scores 20 points, second position scores 19, third 18, down to a score of one point for a mention in 20th position.

*Adspend data for the period Nov 2010-Oct 2011 supplied by Ebiquity (total adspend includes press, TV, radio, DM, outdoor, online display and cinema)

Best recall: in any single week
11	10	Brand	Agency/TV buyer	Recall	Issue	Adspend (£m)
				(%)	date	TV	Total
1	4=	Compare-themarket.com	VCCP/ Zenith Optimedia	67	10.08	19.36	23.07
2	2	Marks & Spencer	Rainey Kelly Y&R/ Walker Media	64	19.01 2011	33.27	68.23
3	6=	DFS	Uber/ Brilliant Media	62	26.01 2011	31.35	73.59
4	6=	Gocompare	In-house/ MEC	60	02.02 2011	24.71	27.23
5	-	Walkers	AMV BBDO/ OMD UK	59	03.11 2010	8.08	8.79
6	3	Sainsbury's	AMV BBDO/ PHD	56	19.01 2011	29.96	57.59
7=	1	Morrisons	DLKW Lowe/MEC	55	19.01 2011	22.71	66.21
7=	-	Asda	Saatchi & Saatchi/ Carat	55	9.02 2011	38.86	95.13
9	-	Churchill	WCRS&Co/ Mediacom	54	10.08 2011	19.13	24.58
10	-	Ocean Spray	Arnold Worldwide/ Mindshare	53	17.08 2011	2.12	2.17

* Data for the period Nov 2010-Oct 2011 supplied by Ebiquity

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk