Analysis of this year’s crop of Christmas ads from ad testing company System1 has placed Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot at the top of the brand-building rankings with the maximum 5.9 star rating.

It’s the sixth consecutive year that the brand has scored highest in System1’s festive ad rankings. The ad has also topped Ipsos’ early rankings, which suggested 16% of people rank Kevin’s latest outing as their favourite Christmas ad so far this year.

Eight other brands have achieved the maximum 5.9 star rating for their Christmas ads, according to System1. Those are: Coca-Cola, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Cadbury, Disney, Amazon, Hotel Chocolat and M&S Food. The National Trust’s festive ad rounds out the top 10 for effectiveness, with a 5.8 star ranking.

System1’s star rating reflects a prediction of brand-building potential, with short term sales potential (measured through a separate “spike” metric) used as a tiebreaker for brands with the same star rating.

In its analysis of its top 10, System1 says the use of distinctive assets and the “commercial power of consistency” is what has contributed to many of these ads “exceptional” rankings. Those re-airing previous ads or using recurring characters and stories achieved a 5.6 Star rating on average, compared to 3.9 for completely new creative.

Nostalgia, emotion, storytelling: Is this the ‘most consistent’ year yet for Christmas ads?

According to System1, 14 brands have opted to go with consistency this year, double the number from 2024. Those ads utilising consistency see an average brand recognition of 91% compared to 84% for new ideas.

“This year has been remarkable for creative consistency, reaffirming that marketers tire of campaigns far faster than consumers do. Despite the backlash around Coke’s AI-driven Holidays Are Coming, the familiar assets and consistency still resonated,” says System1 chief customer officer Jon Evans.

Consistency in use of brand characters was a key theme pointed out by analysts in Marketing Week’s Christmas ads analysis, alongside nostalgia, emotion, and storytelling.

“Many winners this year featured character fluent devices like Kevin the Carrot and the Very flamingos—evergreen creations that extend into broader campaigns, driving brand-building success year-round.” adds Evans on the use of consistent brand characters.

Ads ranked at five stars and above on System1’s ad effectiveness ratings are classed as “exceptional”. Just 1% of ads normally break this barrier. This Christmas so far, 12 ads have scored five stars or above, continuing a trend of strong UK ad effectiveness over the festive period.

The long and short of it

For the first time, System1 also ranked Christmas ads based on their short-term sales potential, depicted through a spike rating. Aldi also topped this with a 1.86 rating.

Morrisons, ASDA, Coca-Cola, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Cadbury, Etsy, Disney, Amazon and Very.co.uk all follow with ratings between 1.55 and 1.77 – all classed as “strong or exceptional” by System1.

The spike rating evaluates an ad’s ability to evoke intense emotions and make a lasting brand impression.

The overlap between the ads that perform strongest on the brand-building ranking and those that do well on sales-driving supports the idea that brand-building ads can drive sales.

Brand-building ads boost short-term sales, and now you can prove it

Research published by System1 last year, building on Les Binet and Peter Field’s ‘The Long and Short of It’, suggested that brand-building ads can drive sales effects, but that sales-focused ads rarely deliver any long-term effects.

Branded assets, fluent devices, brand characters, melodic songs, cultural references and connection between characters were found to increase marks for brand recognition and intense emotions, which in turn act as a predictor for sales effectiveness.

“Strong storytelling filled with characters, humour, music and distinctive assets are helping brands quickly signal who they are and elicit intense, positive emotions that drive both the short and the long,” says Evans.