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Grey tops the Kantar Best Liked Ads of 2020 rankings with 3 of SA's top 10 commercials

Kantar's Best Liked Ads celebrates South Africa's favourite TV commercials. These are the ads that have been rated as the best liked by South Africans, whom we believe to be the most important critic - the person who, ultimately, chooses to buy your brand or not.
Grey tops the Kantar Best Liked Ads of 2020 rankings with 3 of SA's top 10 commercials

In a year when the advertising business had been upended by the coronavirus and advertisers hit the brakes hard, Grey, and clients Distell and GSK, found a way to connect with audiences, offering relief to lockdown life through humour, compassion and advice.

“The fact that the agency achieved this during the pandemic with conceptualisation and production during lockdown is testament to our talented team working closely with our clients to get through a seriously challenging period together,” Grey Africa CEO Paul Jackson commented.

“A single commercial in the top 20 Kantar's Best Liked Ads is a coup. Being recognised for three out of the top 10 was a real surprise and our agency is immensely proud,” says Fran Luckin, chief creative officer of Grey Africa.

The third-most liked commercial, “Hold My Hunter’s”, by the Grey/WPP LIQUID team offered a (virtual) reality check, flipping the script on how we’ve come to expect VR to overlay real life. In a realistic “Hold my Hunter’s” video call with friends, we see just how tech-enhanced our lives have become. And, of course, the cute dog did not go unnoticed!


Thando Mafongosi, strategy director at Grey Group Advertising on WPP’s Team Liquid, adds: “With all the uncertainty and devastation of 2020, people were feeling quite disempowered by everything that was happening to them. In an incredibly entertaining way, the ad reminded us of South African ingenuity and the spirit to overcome whatever is put in our way. In a time where we had to be quite conscious of observing Covid-19 protocols, both in how we recorded and told the story, we acknowledged the times we were in, without creating a ‘Covid ad’. That’s why people liked it – it’s a story that’s still entertaining to watch today, without feeling that you’re stuck in 2020.”

Ranked fifth was Grey’s commercial for Calpol:“A Mom's Headache” for global client GSK. Reflecting on the ‘new normal’ was relatable to consumers and effective at establishing the brand as a South African go-to product for pain and headaches with an emphasis on the need for speed.


Ranked in ninth place was Savanna “Birds”. Produced by the Grey Africa/WPP Liquid team, we got consumers ‘humming’ with a crisp, witty and uplifting commercial for the new innovation Savanna Jean.


“The Grey team has enjoyed a phenomenal year of accolades and achievements. Recently, Grey was ranked number one in Creative Effectiveness according to a 2021 Warc (World Advertising Research Centre) study. Seeing our creativity being acknowledge in the 2020 #BestLikedAds rankings reinforces the effectiveness of the work we do for our clients, which, ultimately, is the most gratifying of all,” concludes Jackson.

#BestLikedAds – You can read the story behind the Kantar Top 20 Best Liked Ads winners on Bizcommunity, in the Financial Mail and on Redzone, and watch the countdown video here:

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