The North Face, Highsnobiety and Zalando all encouraged us to touch some grass, eos got New York commuters all hot and steamy and Autodesk got us excited about the Winter Olympics.
It’s been quite a week in advertising. But with so many of us leading busy lives, it can be hard to keep up with the latest ads. So, to help you stay up-to-date with all the latest ad activity, each week DAIVID shines a light on some of the highest-performing ads of the week.
Not just the ones making the headlines, but the campaigns that truly move people.
To do this, we use our AI-powered creative testing platform to find the ads that are delivering creative effectiveness. Our AI models are trained to identify ads that not only deliver positive emotional engagement, but also attract high scores for attention, brand recall and inspire action.
So, which ads got our AI all hot and bothered this week?
Let’s take a look!
1. The North Face, Highsnobiety and Zalando: “Touch Grass”
The North Face, Zalando, and Highsnobiety have teamed up once again for a new social campaign aimed at Gen Zers. The new campaign flips the TikTok insult “Go touch some grass” – aimed at people perceived to be permanently online – and flips it around to encourage people to literally go outside and reconnect with nature.
Starring Berlin DJ Lovefoxy, the campaign fuses fashion with nature, proving that outdoor adventures can be stylish, fashionable and inclusive.
How did it perform?
The ad performed very well, with the ad generating a Creative Effectiveness Score – a composite metric that measures overall effectiveness based on a creative’s ability to generate positive emotions, attract attention and score highly for brand recognition – of 6.93 out of 10. Now, that may not seem like a huge score, but it puts it in the top 15% of ads in DAIVID’s database for effectiveness.
A major contributor to this success was the ad’s ability to evoke strong, positive emotional responses. It consistently generated intense positivity, performing nearly 10% above the average ad for positive emotions overall. The leading emotions included hope (+122% vs. norm), entrancement (+74%) and aesthetic appreciation (+52%).
The ad also sustained audience engagement throughout, with attention levels in the final three seconds 12% higher than the industry average. Despite featuring three different brands, it also achieved above-average brand recall, and viewers were more likely to share the ad online and search for the featured brands compared to the industry norm.
“Touch Grass” – Emotions Map
2. eos – “Window Into Self-Care”
Gen Z body care brand eos got commuters in New York all steamed up with a really interesting OOH campaign.
Created by independent agency Lanfranco&Cordova, the activation transformed 250 digital billboards across the city into fogged-up shower scenes, instantly grabbing attention and evoking the brand’s playful personality.
Each execution cleverly paired a scent with a mood – from Vanilla Cashmere symbolising tenderness to Coconut Waters embodying chaos – resulting in a campaign that felt fresh, immersive and unmistakably original.
How did it perform?
The ad campaign managed a decent CES of 6.74, outperforming 79% of ads in our database. Unsurprisingly, key to the ads’ success were their ability to maintain people’s attention throughout. People were intrigued, with attention levels in the final three seconds actually 6% higher than the industry norm. People were also 26% more likely to remember the brand than the industry norm.
While the ad could easily have fallen into the trap of being seen as voyeuristic – watching women showering – instead the ad generated intense feelings of calmness (+89% above industry norm), warmth (+82%) and even trust (+55%). There were some negative emotions, however, with feelings of embarrassment and shame both slightly above the norm. Clearly, not everyone was comfortable.
“Window Into Self Care” – Emotions Map
3.Autodesk: “Let There Be Anything”
To mark 100 days until the Winter Olympics, set to take place next year in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Autodesk has launched its first-ever Team USA campaign.
Created by Giant Spoon and directed by Jay Walker, the spot – titled “Let There Be Anything” – celebrates athletes who use technology and innovation to push the boundaries of what’s possible in their pursuit of becoming faster, higher and stronger.
The film features Paralympic snowboarder Mike Schultz, Olympic speed skater Erin Jackson and freestyle skier Colby Stevenson, each embodying the spirit of creativity and determination at the heart of the campaign.
How did it perform?
The campaign scored in the top 21% of ads for overall effectiveness. Although overall positive emotions were slightly below average, the ad managed to generate feelings of trust (+49%), entrancement (+40%), admiration (+34%) and hope (26%) that were all well above the industry average.
Attention was also slightly above average throughout, while viewers were 16% more likely to correctly recall the brand.
However, the ad was slightly less likely to inspire action than the average ad, with viewers’ willingness to recommend, buy and search for the brand all below the industry norm.
“Let There Be Anything” – Emotions Map
