Telstra’s ‘Wherever We Go’ voted most unforgettable ad – and most hated
New research from creative effectiveness consultancy Cubery has named Telstra as the most “unforgettable” brand advertiser in recent months, with a new quarterly ranking system.
The system comprises of the top 10 most recalled ads and a love/hate sentiment score. Research was conducted via an ongoing online survey of Aussies aged 18 and over, totalling around 5,000 responses.
The new quarterly ranking hopes to reveal how ads resonate emotionally with everyday Aussies. Cubery’s senior consultant Caitlyn Ferruccio said it represents a “new barometer” for marketers and agencies to show what’s “really cutting through, getting noticed, and striking a chord”.
While Telstra’s spot was the most unforgettable in Q2 2025, voted by 28% of respondents, it was also the most hated with a 51% love/49% hate split.
Allianz’s recent repositioning, ‘Care You Can Count On’, came in at second, with 15% of the votes. Insurance brands Youi, Budget Direct, RACQ, and AAMI featured on the list, as did KFC, Australian Retirement Trust, and Paramount+.
Some key trends emerged from the research — the power of character-led narratives, using the “right” soundtrack, and the importance of framing a brand in a positive light.
According to Ferruccio, RACQ’s “chatty critters” or Australian Retirement Trust’s “big blue monster” show that developing a protagonist that “elicits intense warmth” is a sure-fire way for a brand to be remembered.
“…These brands demonstrate that characters can come in all shapes and sizes,” she said in a release.
She also said the music used has the ability to completely alter how people engage with an ad — which proved fundamental for many of the top 10 brands.
“Advertisers shouldn’t treat music as an afterthought,” she said.
“From the instant earworm of Telstra’s whistle to the upbeat tempo of KFC’s ‘I Love It’ and the stirring soundtrack of Allianz — the latter skyrocketing up the rankings despite only being launched late in the quarter — the transformational power of music was on full display.”
She did, however, warn that just because an ad is effective or “unforgettable”, doesn’t mean it is enjoyed. Memorability is ultimately a function of both creative power and media power. She said relying too heavily on that latter can be a “slippery slope”, with excess media exposure running the risk of adversely affecting how people respond.
Take Telstra’s ‘Wherever We Go’, for example.
While it topped the chart, the audience was split “right down the middle” on the love/hate sentiment, according to Ferruccio.
“While branded memorability is the cornerstone of short and long-term effectiveness, equally important is framing the brand — and the problems it helps solve — in a positive light,” she said.
This means “the jury’s still out on this strategy”.
But memorability is ultimately a function of both creative power and media power. Ferruccio explains: “Relying too heavily on the latter can be a slippery slope, with excess media exposure delivering on the goal of keeping the brand top of mind but running the risk of adversely affecting how people respond to a piece of creative over time.”
Interestingly, Cubery’s findings are very similar to those of yesterday’s report from research agency TRA.
TRA conducted a study asking over 1,000 Australians to name their favourite ads from the last 12 months. Seven of the ads in Cubery’s list made it on TRA’s too — Telstra, Allianz, Youi, Budget Direct, RACQ, KFC, and AAMI.
TRA’s report found that brand attribution continues to be a key challenge, especially in the insurance category, which evidently dominated both rankings. Allianz topped the list, with nearly half of respondents able to vividly describe the ad. However, they were not able to name the brand behind it.
According to the report, the “significant” lack of brand attribution could be due to the “newness of the communications” or a lack of brand codification. The report said that over time, the eagle could become a more salient asset, but it is early days.
It also found that Budget Direct, Youi, and AAMI ads were often misattributed to one another.
Telstra was second in TRA’s ranking. The other three brands featured on TRA’s top 10 list were HBF, Specsavers, and Aldi.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Forced exposure is not the same as advertising in the real world.
When you put an ad like Telstras in the real world, the “effect” they are looking will not occur, because the branding is right at the end, and news flash! Consumers don’t watch ads all the way through, we’ve known this for at-least 10 years now.
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This list just shows media spend. Telstra spent most, followed by Allianz, followed by Youi etc. etc.
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Hi there, @Realistic marketer! This ranking was based entirely on consumer recall, with no prompting on our end. ?
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So, like Vegemite then, you either love it or you hate it. And Vegemite goes OK
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If memorability is ultimately a function of both creative power and media power, what does love and hate have to do with it? Thinks can be memorable without loving or hating them. Someone has run a survey here without properly thinking about why…
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Advertising has rapidly deteriorated over the years! The creativity is not to the same high level that it used to be! The excellence is simply not there any longer, must be a sign of the times!
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KFC really missed a trick by not securing the Charlie XCX/I don’t care rights for longer than the 12 months or so they ran it for. It was so perfect for the brand.
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A silly and likely expensive ad that achieves very little; branding of Telstra is completely well established in the Australian psyche. Possibly this ad and many others of late are infect a negative profiling for Telstra. Focus messaging on reducing costs across the offering would be clients’ money in growing bills better spent. Likely too bolstering loyalty in a highly competitive business category. Or is it? When comparisons are made and those Telcos needing to conduct purchasing from Telstra then stack up add-ons to match see the actual costs virtually the same. Surely this is more a deliberate pricing structure scenario forced by Telstra, and capable given no true open-market competitiveness.
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@Caitlyn Ferruccio
That is a fair comparison, I take my comment back!
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Love your work Cubery, but also interested to know whether since you’ve been doing this type of tracking have see any campaign that’s hated by more Australians than this one?
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Hey @Realistic media buyer: While media spend is obviously important, interestingly, none of Australia’s five biggest advertisers (Harvey Norman, Mcdonald’s, Reckitt Benckiser, Woolworths, Amazon) made it into our top 10.
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