WWF Campaign Shines as Model for Charity Advertising

An advert from the World Wildlife Fund’s recent ‘Prescription for Nature’ out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaign has earned an exceptional 5-Star Rating with Creative Effectiveness Platform System1, placing it in the top 1% of charity adverts ever tested.

System1’s Star Rating predicts long-term brand growth and is calculated by measuring emotional response to each ad, with a score of 5.0 or above considered “exceptional”. The average score for third sector commercials is 2.2 stars.

Along with its high Star Rating, the woodland-themed advert also earned a Fast Fluency Rating of 71% (the percentage of the audience that recognises the brand within two seconds), compared to an OOH average of 43%. Because audiences pay out-of-home commercials on average just two seconds of attention, Fast Fluency is particularly important for OOH. The creative also surpassed the average Star Rating for OOH, which is 2.2 stars.

According to System1’s ‘Test Your Ad’ platform, the advert’s strength lies its ability to evoke intense, positive emotions. The success of WWF’s advert highlights the power of natural imagery to build happiness, the feeling most closely associated with long-term brand growth.

Andrew Tindall, SVP at System1, said, “This ad demonstrates the power of positive feeling and consistency within a category focussed on driving immediate response and donations.

“While charity ads often tap into negative emotions such as anger or sadness for short-term results, they are on average less effective at long-term brand building. Steering away from such category tropes is not only going to build brand equity for WWF, but it will be more memorable, as it goes against what audiences are used to and expect from charity advertising.”

Another recent OOH advert from the WWF ‘Prescription for Nature’ series also scored highly with System1. The creative, which shows a flock of young ducklings, earned a “strong” Star Rating of 4.3.

Andrew added, “What’s so clever about these adverts is that they prove their own point. Audiences notice the poster, see the beautiful wildlife and feel happy. It’s a wonderful way to showcase nature’s mood-boosting powers, while encouraging audiences to protect it at the same time.”

Lisa Lee, executive director of brand, campaigns and communications at WWF, said, “Nature has the power to restore us, if we help restore it in return. We’re thrilled to have achieved the maximum Star Rating from System1 and to see our Prescription for Nature campaign’s positive emotional impact.

“It's exciting how our creative and strategic foundation has continued to grow through consistency, and we have big plans for its rollout this year to help everyone get their daily dose of nature.”