ITV identifies 7 elements for great TV ads

ITV, in partnership with System1 and D&AD, is marking its 70^th birthday with a report showcasing the most powerful and memorable ads in seven decades of TV advertising.

The 70 spots include the very first shown during ITV’s launch on 22 September: toothpaste brand Gibbs SR.

Living Room Legends — The First 70 Years of TV Ad Excellence aims to spotlight ads that achieve creative brilliance, proven effectiveness and cultural impact.

Across the 70 ads, 45% of viewers reported feeling happiness — 12 points above the UK TV average of 33%.

System1 analysed how modern audiences would react to those ads today using its Test Your Ad platform. It measured long-term brand-building potential, short-term sales potential and branding strength among 10,000 people and benchmarked against 35,000 UK TV ads.

The platform found that the 70 ads averaged 4.1 stars — considerably higher than the average of 2.7 stars for spots aired in the past year.

Suggesting that modern marketers have plenty to learn from these findings, Jon Evans, System1’s chief customer officer, said: “Great craft and creativity endure and continue to resonate strongly with modern audiences just as they did when first broadcast.”

7 steps to a great TV ad

From this analysis, the ITV report identified seven “timeless elements” for great TV advertising:

• Unconventional ideas: Breaking, changing or poking fun at conventions is often how advertising asserts its cultural relevance.
• Dramatic emotion: Audiovisual ads create the strongest emotional impact and narrative force over both the short and long term.
• Extraordinary craft: Good execution turns commercial creativity into an art form.
• Imaginative repetition: A consistent brand message that remains adaptable is a central part of effective consistency in advertising.
• Cultural relevance: Advertising aligns a brand’s values with its audience and acts as a catalyst for wider conversation.
• Entertainment value: A vital part of how advertising builds brands and makes money, entertainment value isn’t a luxury.
• Romancing the product: Framing a product in a new and interesting way can have a halo effect on the brand as a whole.

The study further outlined seven ads that fit the criteria and which shaped the industry in an enduring way:

• Cadbury Smash “Martians” (1973)
• Lego “Kipper” (1981)
• Skoda “Cake” (2007)
• Compare the Market “Aleksandr” (2008)
• British Heart Foundation “Vinnie” (2012)
• Three “The Pony” (2013)
• Sport England “This Girl Can” (2014)

ITV’s report found that advertising not only mirrors societal change but actively shapes it and has a unique role in influencing societal values and driving behavioral change.

Consistency, entertainment, strategic rule-breaking and prioritising lasting memory structures over fleeting attention are all considered key lessons for marketers.

The study also drew on knowledge from industry leaders including Wieden & Kennedy London chief creative officer Ana Balarin, IPA director of effectiveness Laurence Green and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief strategy officer Jo Arden.