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Repetition and frequency are drilled into every advertiser as key to winning eyeballs and new consumers. Ads are notorious for being more effective after many viewings, as repeating a message multiple times can increase brand awareness and consumer recall, if done correctly.
But some ads make great first impressions. They grab the viewer immediately and connect emotionally, either through humor, great storytelling, incredible visuals or a combination of all of those elements. They are short pieces of art, begging to be viewed again in greater detail for further discovery.
Creating those ads requires knowledge of the audience, the culture, the timing and how to entertain and sell at the same time. Combining all those key elements can make for an ad that sticks in someone’s memory for decades.
Adweek asked a diverse group of creatives to go back in time and review which ads they wish they could watch for first time, and why that ad made such an impact on them. The spots they recalled represent different eras of advertising, with some being all-time classics and others bubbling under, but all have that one intangible element: instant connection.
Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Klarna: ‘Smooth’
Aaron Sedlak, chief creative officer, Anchor Worldwide
Yes. It’s just a dog in a swimming pool, but somehow it’s both hypnotic and musically mesmerizing. You spend the first few seconds just wondering what you’re looking at and as this sleek, angelic fur thing transforms into something that looks slightly more like something that actually exists, the animal’s long fur continues to effortlessly ripple in the water as it turns to face you before blending back into a shapeless rippling mass. More art than advertising, it shows just how strongly you can communicate when you commit completely to one singular message. Financial ads are typically so full of stock-like scenes of family and life and percentage rates and offers, that they just blend into their own noise. Klarna just popped from the first second it appeared. It was completely and entirely different from anything I’ve ever seen in advertising—though you could argue it’s a distant relation to Cadbury’s Gorilla (another perfect example of hypnotic yet joyful advertising).
Coca-Cola: ‘Hey, Kid, Catch’
John Connors, CEO and co-founder, Boathouse
We used to go down to Boston College every Saturday and sit there and high five all the football players as they went in. I think it was the relatability of watching that kid in the commercial because I lived that. I looked up to the football players and the hockey players at Boston College when I was growing up. If you grew up in that era, the brands were just starting to really roll. Think about the number of agencies built around TV in that era. I remember eating Swanson TV dinners—it was a big deal—and watching that ad.
Orbitz: ‘Dirty Mouth Test 37’
Jordan Dinwiddie, associate creative director, Wieden+Kennedy Portland
The ad that’s always stuck with me the most is the Orbitz legendary dirty mouth campaign, specifically “Dirty Mouth Test 37.” I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a commercial in my life. It’s what happens when a ridiculous script meets damn good comedic timing.
Nike: ‘Revolution’ by Wieden+Kennedy
Jamie Venorsky: partner and chief creative officer, Marcus Thomas
Nike’s “Revolution” was an early inspiration for me. It was anthemic, emotionally charged and broke category norms. It didn’t look like any other work I’d previously seen in the shoe category. I recorded it on VHS so I could play it on repeat.
Ikea: ‘Lamp’ by Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Laura Etheredge, creative director copy, Barker
I’m extremely sentimental, a keeper. So, Spike Jonze’s 2002 “Lamp” spot surgically located that tender underbelly and went to work on it hard. The unceremonious unplugging. The warm living room receding as the lamp is carried, step by bobbing step, out to the curb. Leaves hassling it as night falls, its exposed goose neck shivering in the wind. And then—that so-quick but so-satisfied caress of that new lamp’s cheek, painful all the more so for it being so casual. I burst into tears. The whole thing was such a sensitive, well-plotted read on the object attachment we didn’t know everyone else had. Plus the economy and dense emotion in every shot, trigger after trigger and the speed with which the trap snapped back. I’ve never forgotten it. And I wish I could ride the emotional roller coaster again for the first time.
Levi’s: ‘Blind Man’ by BBH
Susan Golkin, executive creative director, Wunderman Thompson New York
Good old-fashioned storytelling with a twist. What is better than an ending that you just didn’t see coming? I remember being so jealous of this old Levi’s work. Runner up: Ikea’s “Lamp.” Storytelling and craft at its best. I felt bad for a lamp. A lamp.
Bing: ‘Decoded’ by Droga5
Jenna Capobianco, executive creative director, Common Good
The sheer 360-ness and the rabid harnessing of so many surprises and storytelling mechanisms made me grin and made me super jealous. To turn advertising into an interactive art and scavenger hunt was straight up genius. Clues on pages of the book were found on billboards, pool bottoms and burger wrappers. The maps on Bing helped lead people to other clues which might be hidden in a Run DMC mural or on guitars. Social posts and apps all played a part in the interactive game and the winners got ticket to a New Year’s Eve Jay-Z/Coldplay concert in Vegas. And the winningest winner got the real golden ticket—two lifetime passes to any Jay-Z concert anywhere on the planet. This is the kind of fantastically colorful, cool, greedy work that every ad geek in the business wants to make. The kind that wins awards, surprises and delights, makes noise, gets people using the product—people had to use Bing 3x per day to get the online clues—and creates cultural wallpaper that is not soon forgotten.
Adidas: ‘Adidas Originals House Party’ by Sid Lee
Seth Jacobs, executive creative director, Anomaly
That film was the first time I remember the perfect marriage of an incredible song with great celebrity casting doing something I’d never seen before—creating a real party, a party the entire world wished they were invited to. It was real and visceral and shot stunningly. The song, an old track [by Frankie Valli], was made new, and every shot seemingly “caught.” That ad, for me, was the birth of the real ad. Not bright, not a commercial, not saying what a brand believes with VO. All that film asks is, “don’t you want to be a part of this?” And my answer was yes.
Nike: ‘Find Your Greatness’ by Wieden+Kennedy
Patrick Holly, executive creative director, Upwork
This ad came out around the time I was just a tadpole of a copywriter and is one of the most captivating pieces of work I had seen at the time—or since. Not only is the writing top-notch, the concept is so beautifully simple and encapsulates the spirit of the brand as one that doesn’t gatekeep athleticism but encourages everybody to see themselves as an athlete. I’m not crying, you’re crying…
