The People’s Jury was already in a Christmas mood when we got to
them this month, placing Woolworth’s - the only obviously seasonal
commercial in the 20 listed - top of the tree.
The Woolworth’s ads, backed by a pounds 5 million spend, promote the
store once again as a ’winter wonderland’. The ad features Father
Christmas leaving Woollies to load up his sleigh. He sweeps across an
urban landscape magically transforming the boring gifts children have
been given into something a little more exciting. The ad was
particularly appreciated by women, who gave it 7.5 compared with 6.3
from the men. It was also preferred by jurors in the Midlands, who gave
it a resounding 7.6 compared with a less festive 6.5 from
Southerners.
Every month, Campaign lists the 20 new ads that score the highest TVR.
These are then put to our jury who are asked to give each ad a mark out
of ten.
Delaney Fletcher Bozell will be delighted with the performance of its
commercial for Ambrosia creamed rice, which made it to second place and
espouses the traditional virtues of the West Country. The quirky
50-second ad, which features a man riding a cow while singing the Pet
Shop Boys’ anthem, Go West, has clearly captured the public imagination.
The ad was more popular with our older jurors, landing 7.5 from the
over-55s compared with 6.0 from 15- to 34-year-olds.
Ford’s launch of the Focus, its replacement for the Escort, also pleased
our jurors, sharing 6.1 with George at Asda. The 60-second Focus
commercials are backed by the catchy, life-affirming track, You’ve Gotta
Be, by Des’ree and feature fashionable twenty- and thirtysomethings
refusing to accept second-best in their day to day lives. Young &
Rubicam, which became Ford’s lead agency shortly after winning the Focus
launch, can feel well-pleased with the campaign’s reception so far.
At the bottom of the table, Lowe Howard-Spink, the new agency for
Courts, might have a bone to pick with our jury. There was a time when
Bruce Forsyth playing an over-the-top judge performed well for Courts in
People’s Jury.
Lowes ditched Forsyth and instead created a series of tongue-in-cheek
ads starring the Fast Show’s Paul Shearer as a Roger Cook-style TV
investigator. The campaign is backed by a pounds 20 million spend.
Sadly, jurors in the 15- to 34-year-old group, who should have got the
joke, gave the ad one of the worst scores ever, a dismal 3.9.
Now on to our questions. We asked the jury whether they had a problem
with the binning of News at Ten in favour of an 11 o’clock bulletin. The
Independent Television Commission will be troubled to learn that 59 per
cent disapproved.
We also asked the jury if Rupert Murdoch should have been allowed to buy
Manchester United without investigations by the Department of Trade and
Industry. Fifty-eight per cent said no, with just 17 per cent in
Murdoch’s favour.
TOP 20 ADS
Rank Ad campaign Agency Points
1 Woolworth’s Bates Dorland 7.0
2 Ambrosia Delaney Fletcher Bozell 6.6
3= Ford Focus Young & Rubicam 6.1
3= George at Asda Publicis 6.1
5 Asda stores Publicis 6.0
6 Crosse & Blackwell McCann-Erickson 5.7
7 Knorr Soup Taste Breaks BMP DDB 5.6
8= Gillette Mach 3 Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO 5.5
8= Duracell Ultra Ogilvy & Mather 5.5
8= IBM O&M 5.5
11 Kingsmill Bread Publicis 5.4
12= Glade candles FCB 5.3
12= Nice ’n’ Easy FCB 5.3
14= Douwe Egbert’s Cafinesse Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO 5.1
14= Comet Catalogue Saatchi & Saatchi 5.1
16 Laboratoire Garnier Movida Publicis 4.9
17 Comet Delivery Saatchi & Saatchi 4.8
18 MFI sale Publicis 4.7
19 The Mirror M&C Saatchi 4.6
20 Courts Lowe Howard-Spink 4.5
Source: Audience Selection
Tel: 0171-608 3618
Audience Selection carried out the telephone interviews between 20 and
22 November, selecting 1,000 adults from a representative cross-section
of the population.
