John Lewis Cadbury Tetley

John Lewis, Cadbury and Tetley Tea top ITV-backed effective ad list

By Imogen Watson, Senior reporter

January 29, 2020 | 3 min read

Measurement firm System1, in partnership with ITV, has revealed that John Lewis and Waitrose, Cadbury and Tetley Tea were the brands with the most effective ads that ran on screens last year.

John Lewis, Cadbury and Tetley Tea top rankings

The list was compiled using System1's 'Test Your Ad Service' which used tech that measures the emotions an ad generated in the consumer. It tested over 14,500 TV and digital ads than ran throughout 2019.

The report - dubbed FeelMore50 - found that the John Lewis' festive tale of Excitable Edgar received a score of 5.8, by virtue of the rollercoaster of emotion the Christmas ad takes its viewers on. With a score of 5.6, Cadbury was the highest-scoring non-Christmas ad with a spot created in partnership with Age UK that demonstrated how a small gesture can sweeten the life of a lonely elderly person.

The third place was taken by Tetley Tea, which dropped the Tetley Tea Folk this year. Scoring 5.6, to demonstrate that the brand can anyone talking, the ad sees the unlikely friendship between a pair of family pets.

The findings also showed there was a noticeable comeback of fluent devices, such as Churchill the dog, nostalgia like Coca-Cola's fresh twist on its classic Christmas spot and cultural relevance, such as the Woman's World Cup campaigns. Of the top 10 commercials, half were made for the festive season.

Watch the top 10 below.