The Research Agency (TRA) has extended its New Zealand’s Top 10 Favourite Ads survey, with KFC’s ‘Look on the Fried Side of Life’ taking out the top spot in the inaugural Australian rankings.

The AU/NZ Top 10 Favourite Ads Survey by TRA has revealed the most popular TV ads in Australia and New Zealand, with distinct differences in creative approach between the two nations. The survey, which polled over 1,250 participants aged 18 to 60 in each country, used TRA’s proprietary framework, Creative Edge, to evaluate the strength of the ad’s creative execution.

Following KFC, Australia’s top three ads were rounded out by Telstra’s ‘This is Footy Country’ and ALDI’s ‘Good different’. Cadbury, Woolworths, Toyota, AAMI, HBF, McDonalds and Kia all made the list as well.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, ASB’s ‘Ben & Amy’ took the top spot for the fourth consecutive year, followed by ANZ’s ‘We Do How’ and Turners’ ‘Tina from Turners’. PAK’nSAVE, Genesis, New World, McDonalds, KFC, Vogels and Lotto also cracked the top 10.

TRA’s Business Director, Alex Forrester, highlighted the strong link between the brand and the creative idea in the winning Australian ads.

“The common theme across the Aussie ad winners was the ads were remembered and resonated because the brands strongly linked their brand to the creative idea,” Forrester said. “KFC’s ‘Look on the Fried side of Life’ is a textbook example, a perfect combination of great human insight and brand truth.”

TRA’s Head of Strategy, Carl Sarney, noted the enduring appeal of familiar characters in New Zealand’s advertising landscape.

“One story, spread as big as you can afford to spread it, is creating highly effective, enduring icons that are loved by the public. It’s good news for everybody – campaigns loved by the public tend to drive results that are loved by the C-suite too,” he said. “Ben & Amy are a case in point, the ASB brand characters have resonated with Kiwis for years consistently earning them top spot since the characters were launched back in 2020.”

The survey also revealed two distinct differences between Australian and New Zealand advertising. New Zealand ads tend to leverage familiar characters and ongoing stories, while Australian ads focus more on branded storytelling and situational humour. Furthermore, New Zealand ads appear more settled with the idea of ‘Kiwi-ness’, whereas in Australia, the idea of ‘Aussie-ness’ is only approached indirectly by brands.

Australia’s Top 10 Ads

New Zealand’s Top 10 Ads