Effective Communication! 2024

Creative communication drives effect, but what type of creative approaches actually works best?

In last year’s 100-Watts report (Communication for effect! 2023), the focus was on channels and media choices. In this year’s report, we shift the focus to creative content.

It is obvious and well documented that the content of communication has a considerable effect. The content presented has a huge effect on the impression left in the minds of the target audience. When brands succeed with content, they create leverage that multiplies the effect of their media investment. And vice versa: big budgets and the right channels won’t go far if the content is all wrong. If it is ignored or misunderstood, linked to the wrong brand, or just irritates the target audience.

We also know that creativity pays off and delivers more effect (see last year’s report), but creative communication can be achieved in many different ways. And with many different types of creative approaches. For example, humour, shock or realism, or a catchy music jingle. Of course, what works best depends on the context and how it is used. It’s not possible to say that one type of content will always have a big effect, for all brands in all categories.

At the same time, previous international research shows that there are indeed some creative approaches that generally seem to work better than others. They increase the chance of success. In this report, we want to add Swedish data to that research and at the same time guide Swedish brands and agencies in how they can create larger effects. By identifying the creative approaches that have had the best results among all the 100-Watt entries.

In this report, we focus on a number of creative approaches that have been studied in previous research. We look at the extent to which different creative approaches are used, how the use of approaches varies with different campaign objectives and target groups, and which creative approaches have the greatest effect on a number of key campaign effect metrics. To put the results in perspective, we will also refer to and compare with the academic research conducted in the field.

See and download the Swedish version