My weekly compilation of clutter-breaking creative ads was the source for the first part of my mega list of best ads of 2025. Here’s the second and final part. Hope you enjoy it. Five Star chicken: death of a salesman The hallmark of any top-notch advertisement is the right combination of creative strategy and execution. It takes a lot of smarts to figure out what needs to be said and then the ‘how it needs to be said’.…
A majority of ads are simply ignored – a fate worse than being disliked. Clutter-breaking creative ads are a rarity. My weekly compilation is a small tribute to brand teams who manage to create work that’s noticed. Uber Eats: get almost anything Unlike in India where Swiggy & Zomato seem to dominate the ‘delivery everything’ in the quick-commerce category (through Instamart & Blinkit), Uber Eats is a dominant brand for such a service in the…
The marketing world is abuzz with holiday ads and promotions for Stranger Things. In my weekly compilation this week: ads from Deutsche Telekom, Uber, Apple and more. McDonald’s Taiwan: dreamy breakfast Advertising’s potential to solve a business problem through a creative idea is amply demonstrated in this campaign to promote McDonald’s breakfast in Taiwan. The problem: many consumers wake up late and hence miss the breakfast served at McDonald’s as that service is available only…
The Christmas ad season is upon us. Several brands in Europe and the US, across categories (especially retail such as John Lewis & Waitrose) create campaigns that have a global fan following. In this week’s compilation of clutter-breaking creative ads, a few Christmas ads which caught my eye, among others. Waitrose: The Perfect Gift The context: the ‘Christmas ad’ is tough brief. While UK’s ‘big retail’ brands have a natural fit and reason to advertise,…
Every week, I attempt to curate a list of creative ads which break through clutter and information overload. In this week’s edition: ads from the US and Australia for Uber, a TVC for an e-commerce brand in Canada and more. Uber: master class in theme advertising and use of a medium Recently, I came across a campaign for Uber in the US which caught my eye in the context of two things (a) creating theme…
Every week I attempt to curate a list of clutter breaking creative ads. Occasionally, I comment on topics relevant to the ad industry – moment marketing, working late in advertising, copywriting, life in the 90s ad agency and so on. This week’s list includes ads from Lacoste, Apple and more. Lacoste: From a Crocodile to the GOAT The context: Lacoste launched a new global campaign created to support and pay homage to the famous brand…
Every week, I attempt to publish a curated listed to top new creative ads. This week, ads from Columbia Sportswear, Google Pixel 10 and more. Columbia Sportswear: Engineered for whatever My memory of Columbia Sportswear’s ads are of their print ads from the 1990s. Even though I am not their core target audience, the brand carries premium imagery and aspiration. Their latest ad has created a lot of buzz in social media for good. The…
Every week, I attempt to share a curated list of clutter-breaking creative ads. This week: ads from Nedbank, Apple, Sony Entertainment Television and more. Nedbank: Meet Anna & Yuto Many popular ads tell interesting stories – long before ‘storytelling’ was marketed as some sort of new invention in the era of digital campaigns or some rare skill which has to be learnt. Nedbank tells the story of Anna & Yuto in a format that has…
Every week I attempt to share a curated list of clutter-breaking creative ads. This week, ads from Dream11, Cadbury Dairy Milk and more. Dream11: aap ki team mein kaun It’s IPL season again in India. One can expect a bunch of cricket themed ads or edits meant to be run during the breaks on IPL. Most of them are mediocre and hence it is so refreshing to see a genuinely creative ad which ticks all…
The ‘Best ads of 2024’ lists I have come across recently in trade publications were usually short. I ended up picking 40 ad campaigns (see parts one, two and three) – mostly from the weekly compilation of clutter breaking ads. Here’s the last instalment of the list including ads from Apple, Uber Eats and more. Apple: M4 – no sweat The context: in October 2024, Apple ‘announced M4 Pro and M4 Max, two new chips…