The cluttered state of video advertising makes it increasingly difficult for brands to grab consumers’ attention, and even harder to get them to like and emotionally engage with ads. However, there are a select few spots that capture and captivate audiences while inspiring marketers.
Against this backdrop, the 2023 Ace Spotlight Awards were born. These awards pause and give recognition to the best of the best. There are a myriad of justifiable and relevant objectives for advertising, and campaigns may succeed in one or more areas. Over time, we will examine success in many of these lanes leveraging iSpot’s Ace Metrix Creative Assessment. In this first installment, we award the early 2023 Top Breakthrough Video Ads.
Top Breakthrough Video Ads (January – April 2023)
Of the 3100+ video ads released and tested during the first four months of this year, the spots featured in the top 25 ranking have soared to the top in terms of Breakthrough performance, which is measured by a combination of Attention and Likeability Scores. These ads grabbed attention in a highly likable manner across the broad gen pop audience to literally break through the clutter.
Below are highlights from the top 3 award-winners.
Panda Express “Fire-Kissed”
Attention Score: 786 | Likeability Score: 779
Panda Express laid down a pulsating track from British rock band The Darkness against authentically yummy visuals of flaming woks and colorful floating shrimp and vegetables to achieve the top ranking breakthrough ad of 2023 so far. Music and food make for a great combination, as the ad had 80% Brand Recognition and 79% Positive Purchase Intent, while also garnering 12% more Attention than the norm for the category, and 14% more Likeability.
Subaru “Dog Tested: Garage Ball“
Attention Score: 779 | Likeability Score: 783
Subaru certainly knows how to blend cute dogs with ingenious storytelling to stand out from the crowd. This memorable ad (with 92% Brand Recognition), which features a golden lab attempting to park a Subaru Crosstrek, is no exception.
Jeep “Electric Boogie“
Attention Score: 787 | Likeability Score: 768
For Super Bowl LVII, Jeep delightfully connected the brand’s EV ambitions to an updated version of the nostalgic and ingeniously appropriate 1983 hit, “Electric Boogie”. Viewers expressed positive intent at a rate +12 points over non-luxury auto norms, and the ad led at grabbing Attention while outpacing Likeability norms for the category by triple digits.
Congratulations to these outstanding top 3 winners! Download the report to see the full top 25 list with creative and media insights behind every ad.