Ads on Instagram face tough competition for attention on a platform dedicated to connecting users with loved ones and chosen accounts.

Ensuring content is designed to be an enjoyable part of people’s Instagram experience and not an “unwelcome disruption” to their personal feeds is key to helping earn and retain attention.

Both M&S clothing and Innocent Drinks have successfully navigated those challenges and leveraged Instagram’s format to create effective ads, according to Kantar’s latest edition of ‘The Works’, which measures the effectiveness of advertising formats.

The study, which is produced in association with Marketing Week and the Advertising Association’s Trust Working Group, asks 750 consumers to give their thoughts on the top Instagram ads over the period. It also tracks the facial expressions and eye movements of those viewing the ad.

Single-mindedness is key to effectiveness.

Lynne Deason, Kantar

M&S’s school clothing advert grabs attention from the beginning, landing at the top of Kantar’s UK database of tested ads for its ability to make people ‘stop and look’.

The 14-second ad features young children dressed in school uniforms. It focuses on sustainability and has the tagline: ‘Durable. Responsible. Hand-me-downable.’

According to Kantar, the ad lands in the top 5% of all UK ads for relevance and the top 1% for enjoyment. Moreover, it prompts emotional engagement, with expressiveness levels in the top 1% of all ads tested in the UK.

“The human brain pays attention to things that are different, entertaining, highly personally relevant or emotive, so using these levers to earn attention and retain it is key to effectiveness,” Kantar’s head of creative excellence, Lynne Deason tells Marketing Week.

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According to Deason, emotionally engaging digital and social ads are four times more likely to drive long-term brand equity and four times more likely to cut through. But to benefit from this, characters need to feel authentic to the brand and story, and the brand must “connect intuitively” with the audience.

From the opening second, the ad immediately grabs attention with M&S’s distinctive font, reinforcing the brand’s identity while spotlighting the durability benefits of its school uniforms.

This strong branding effort places the ad in the top 18% of all UK ads. Additionally, 49% of viewers said they ‘couldn’t fail to remember’ the ad was for M&S clothing – significantly above the average UK level of 38%. Meanwhile, 34% of people played the entire ad – over double the average of 16% for an ad of this length.

The ad also proved effective over time, with facial coding recognising bigger smiles from viewers at the end of the ad in the second view.

“This M&S ad builds a meaningful connection with people via its sustainability messaging,” says Deason. “A message that is highly appreciated and likely to stick with viewers during heightened concerns around over-consumption and the cost of living crisis.”

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Innocent Drinks is another brand that effectively used the six-second ad format, this time by blending visuals with humour.

“The advert uses high-quality, striking visuals, leveraging colour contrast to draw the eye away from other clutter,” explains Deason.

As a result, viewers watched, on average, 73% of the ad – well above average for a six-second spot – placing it in the top 4% of the UK Kantar database for branding.

The ad begins with a voiceover that says: “Smoothies with even more fruit, veg and vitamins that we can fit in a six-second advert”.

As the ad progresses, the speed of the voiceover and words on the screen quickens before abruptly ending. This lighthearted approach means the ad ranks in the top 3% for enjoyment. It also scores high for promoting a healthy image and lands in the top 10% for the feel-good factor.

The ad communicates that Innocent’s Energise smoothie contains “more fruit, veg, and vitamins than regular smoothies,” a claim that ranks in the top 9% for ‘key message check’ and top 15% for offering new information.

Deason highlights that short and simple messaging is key to creating impactful Instagram content, and Innocent’s approach delivers a “single-minded, highly persuasive message”.

By staying single-minded, Innocent scores in the top 15% for persuasion, proving that brands don’t need to overload an ad with claims to drive purchase intent – focus and clarity win out every time.

“Single-mindedness is key to effectiveness,” she adds.