The open apology letter from the Surrey theme park was rated particularly highly by readers for engagement, according to a study by Kantar’s The Works
In a report co-produced by Kantar, Marketing Week and the Advertising Association’s Trust Working Group, the long-form ad about the theme park’s new Jumanji World attraction was identified as an example of high-quality work through its particularly distinctive nature.
The ad landed in the top 2% of static ads and the top 6% of distinctive ads. What’s more, while text-heavy ads can run the risk of losing readers’ attention, Chessington’s campaign avoided this by using humour to keep engagement — one in four people felt the ad is “very interesting”, compared to a benchmark of one in seven.
The study assessed effectiveness by asking 750 consumers their thoughts on five top ads (150 consumers per advert) from news brands. The study also tracked the facial expressions and eye movements of those viewing the ads.
Kantar UK’s head of creative excellence Lynne Deason pointed to the impact of a headline and humour to captivate and maintain engagement with readers. She said: “The attention-grabbing and eye-catching power of the ad dominates what people like about it, but they also appreciate the animals, the humour and the colours used.
“We can really see this brought to life with how people describe what they like about it in their own words.”
Read more from the report on Marketing Week.
