Disney’s Animated Festive Ad Is The Most Moving Australian Campaign Of 2020

Ads from Coca-Cola, Big W and McDonald’s also in top 10 as Xmas campaigns dominate ad platform Unruly’s annual ranking of most emotionally engaging ads

SYDNEY– January 8, 2021 – Disney’s Christmas campaign “From Our Family To Yours” is the most emotionally engaging Australian ad of 2020.  

That’s according to new research from video ad platform Unruly, which has released a ranking of the most moving campaigns of the year using its content testing tool, UnrulyEQ. Christmas ads dominate Unruly’s chart, with six ads in the top 10 and Disney’s festive campaign taking the no.1 spot. 

The animated ad, which tells the heartwarming story of a grandmother’s relationship with her granddaughter and the importance of family traditions during Xmas, finished top after almost half of Australians who watched the ad had an intense positive emotional response to the content, making it more than twice as emotionally engaging as the average Australian ad. 

That put it just ahead of Coca-Cola’s Christmas campaign, “The Letter”, in second spot. The two-and-a-half minute ad, which follows the story of a dad trying to deliver his daughter’s letter to Santa against all the odds, generated an intense positive emotional response from 43.4% of viewers. 

Big W’s festive campaign “Bring On Christmas” is third, just ahead of an ad from Mercedes that celebrates the car company’s 120th anniversary. Toys “R” Us’s festive campaign, “Make It A Christmas To Remember”, is fifth.  

Other brands to feature in Unruly’s top 10 include Kitchen Aid, Jaguar, McDonald’s and Australian radio station Triple M, plus Xmas campaigns from LEGO and The Australian Post. Ads from Volkswagen, NRMA Insurance and Ferrero Rocher just missed out on the top 10.  

Most Emotionally Engaging Australian Ads Of 2020  

Rebecca Waring, Global VP of Insights at Unruly, said: “With emotions heightened during Christmas, it’s no surprise to see festive ads dominate our ranking. But what really stands out in our chart is that, alongside the Christmas blockbusters, we also saw some more product-driven ads do exceptionally well among Australian consumers. Videos from Mercedes, KitchenAid and Jaguar, which focused on brand heritage and product features, evoked amazement and inspiration, as well as very high knowledge. The learning for advertisers: don’t be afraid to put your brand centre stage!” 

The ranking was created using UnrulyEQ, Unruly’s suite of proprietary, data-driven ad solutions designed to supercharge brands’ performance across the entire campaign lifecycle.  

Unruly’s ANZ MD David Haddad said: “At a time when media budgets are being squeezed and the need for efficiency is greater than ever, it’s critical to understand how a video creative will perform before a single media dollar is spent.  

“Our UnrulyEQ solution provides advertisers with the data they need to maximise the impact of their video content across multiple screens, ensuring they reduce media wastage, smash their business goals and keep their key audiences engaged. Seeing these results underlines just how important creating an emotional connection with viewers is to driving these outcomes and why the importance of good creative should never be underestimated.” 

Methodology 

Unruly analysed the emotional responses of consumers across Australia to 195 ads released in 2020 using its content measurement tool, UnrulyEQ, which helps advertisers maximise the impact of their video content across multiple screens to more effectively land brand metrics and target receptive audiences at scale. At least 220 Australian viewers saw each ad as part of the study.  

The results were then compared to Unruly’s database of thousands of ads. Ads were ranked on the intensity of viewers who felt an intense positive emotional response to the content.