Benchmark ads in the Kantar Digital Creative Effectiveness Awards for APAC are built on meaningful moments

SINGAPORE, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oréal Paris was today awarded as the brand delivering the most creatively effective digital ad as judged by consumers in the 2025 Kantar Digital Creative Effectiveness Awards for APAC. The global skincare and cosmetics powerhouse connected with consumers with its 'Revitalift Oil Control TikTok' in Thailand.

The success of the L'Oréal Paris creative is due to it effectively leveraging platform-native nuances to drive intentional attention. It directed viewers focus exactly where it matters thus ensuring the message lands and the brand shone through it all. The portrayal of Thai actress and L'Oréal Paris' spokesperson felt warm yet aspirational, creating a sense of shared intimacy that encouraged viewers to linger and connect.

"Overall, the content felt purpose-built for TikTok. It's the type of content that feels right at home on the platform, so viewers are more likely to be drawn in, be entertained and enticed," says Irene Joshy, Kantar's Head of Creative for APAC. "Having taken second place in the 2024 awards too, L'Oréal is a stellar example of a marketer who invests in consumer insights and creative development to guide creative choices that resonate in context."

Garnier earned runner-up honours for its 'Turbo Bright Double Action Face Wash' ad, which resonated with Indian consumers by showcasing how the brand empowers men to navigate the challenges of urban life. Reflecting the relevance of maintaining one's appearance while leading an active lifestyle amidst a polluted environment, the ad combined dynamic visuals, purposeful settings, and music tailored to appeal to the modern Indian man.

Mama Sita's 'Divers' ad from The Philippines rounds up the top three. The ad delivered a humorous twist on food category tropes leading to a fun family moment. The light-hearted narrative, combined with mouth-watering visuals, created a joyful family moment that resonates deeply with Filipino viewers.

Overall, the 2025 winners represent a vibrant showcase of brands, categories, and markets all reflecting the rich diversity of the region. Each campaign is unique in how it makes meaningful moments matter with platform-first thinking through powerful storytelling with emotional clarity.

"Great advertising is not about the loudest voice or the flashiest display or the most impressive content partnerships; it's about creating meaningful moments that resonate deeply, inspire action, and build lasting connections. Without this, brands are wasting precious dollars," explains Irene.

Joshy also adds that the top-performing ads in the region share a common foundation: "The ads that resonated most with APAC consumers are built on five key tenets making moments more meaningful to build deeper audience connections and drive greater brand preference."

How brands can create Meaning in Moments:

• Strive for intentional attention: Intentional attention is the reward for content that connects intuitively with consumers. It stops the scroll and gets them in the flow state of experiencing the content. The trigger- it entertains and fits in naturally in the context it is served.
• Creating legacy through moments they own: The focus shifts from why consumers need a brand to what the brand meaningfully contributes to their lives – sometimes quietly working its magic in the background. These standout ads reframed brand heritage in emotionally resonant ways, weaving together themes like gratitude and care to create relevance and link it back to the brand's story.
• Putting the 'me' in meaning: being meaningful starts with the consumer reality. The most effective ads foster spaces where authentic emotional connections can emerge. The brand reminds us to connect, keep it real and make meaningful moments happen in our lives.
• Deriving meaning through creative optimisation journeys - Success favours those that boldly optimise and never shy from gathering consumer content intelligence. Early testing translates into a 15 per cent greater likelihood of short-term sales uplift¹so they start at a very early stage building strong ideas that become foundational for their content across media. These are the early birds that sing to the bank.
• Meaningful Tech: Leveraging AI to experiment, innovate and learn – iteratively and at scale has proven to deliver full funnel impact to the pioneers. They have embraced technology and used it meaningfully, augmenting human and artificial intelligence for business success.

The uniqueness of the Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards is that the winners are determined by real consumer feedback through Kantar's LINK+ ad testing solution and qualitative evaluation of Kantar's diverse creative experts based on analysis of over five hundred ads tested in 2024. LINK+ is independently validated to predict both short-term sales impact and long-term brand growth. Creatively effective ads identified through LINK+ are four times more likely to drive sales and deliver stronger returns on marketing investment².

The most creatively effective digital ads in APAC in 2024:

APAC digital ads recognised in Kantar's Global Creative Effectiveness Awards 2025

Three standout ads from the region were also celebrated in Kantar's 2025 Global Creative Effectiveness Awards.  

Digital / Social Top 10:

LINK AI Tested:

 

About the Kantar Creative Effectiveness Awards

All the ads we showcase are brought to us by our clients and their agencies. We select our winners on a quantitative level from our LINK+ scores 'as judged by the consumer' and a qualitative level by review across the global creative team of our top scoring ads. Our LINK solution gives us benchmarked creative performance metrics and a validated predicted short-term sales lift, meaning our winners are a magic combination of creativity and effectiveness, driving sales and brand equity.

About Kantar

Kantar is the world's leading marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world's top companies. We combine the most meaningful attitudinal and behavioural data with deep expertise and advanced analytics to uncover how people think and act. We help clients understand what has happened and why and how to shape the marketing strategies that shape their future. www.kantar.com