We are now halfway through summer, but there has been little real summer yet. Fortunately, a number of commercials give us that summer feeling so we can get into the mood. We saw that all summer commercials on our platform were rated higher than the average in our benchmark. In this column we discuss a number of striking commercials from the month of July.

We start with the Kruidvat summer commercial, designed by DDB Unlimited, in which Lies goes camping with her children in Italy. She is on her own to set up the tent, it seems, but soon many (Italian) men come to help. She takes advantage of this by enjoying herself while the men continue setting up her tent.

In this commercial, the role of Lies comes into its own and this is also highly appreciated by the viewers, which is evident from this reaction: "Nice commercial, presented with humor and conveys the holiday feeling in the right way."

Albert Heijn's summer commercial, designed by TBWANEBOKO, is also very popular with the well-known family, with an important role for grandma who follows the family to the campsite because they have forgotten their groceries. Grandma brings the groceries, but also herself, to Ilse and her family's holiday. This commercial also shows the now well-known family very well and that is also appreciated: “What a cheerful and pleasant commercial. Perfect for this time of year.”

The commercial of Fijn Wonen, Van Wijnen's housing product, focuses on the housing shortage and the solution to it in a humorous way. The commercial was developed by Junction creative + digital agency and was on TV for the second time in July, now also with a tag-on.

The message of this commercial is very relevant and will therefore certainly appeal to young people. The extreme image of the older youth who lives with his mother again and is cared for by her provides a clear, slightly exaggerated representation of reality. The commercial is positively assessed, which is evident from this response: “Suits the times, humor, clear, concrete.”

Commercial four from last month is by Dirk, designed by Total Design. The campaign shows twins, Ed and Ad, who live next to each other and do everything the same, except for the groceries. Ed goes shopping with Dirk and Ad goes shopping at a “store with blue branding”. Ed saves so much on A-brands that he can go on holiday every year while Ad cannot. Fortunately, he can then take care of the plants.

In this humorous way, Dirk draws attention to the fact that, according to Dirk, A-brands are much cheaper than at other stores. The commercial is well received by viewers, which is well summarized in this response: "Nice commercial, original and cheerful. Of course a bit exaggerated because of that difference on holiday, but the message is clear."

Libelle's commercial, designed by Entertainment by DPG Media, also certainly stood out. This commercial shows in a playful way that “Libelle is a bit of all of us” and that many people from the target group secretly read Libelle (from their mother).

This brand campaign attracts attention and is extra strong because of the bit of self-mockery it contains. This response summarizes well why this TV commercial can certainly help Libelle with its image, even among people who do not necessarily fall into the target group: “​​Nice, humorous. I am absolutely not the target group but I like it. A bit of self-mockery but that works.”

We close this month with the commercial from Univé, which has a commercial on TV for the first time in seven years. This commercial was developed by Dept Agency and aims to show and feel 'the mentality of the brand'. The aim of the campaign consists of conveying four pillars: The power of being there for each other, the principle of 'people first', more than just insurance and the operating model. These four pillars are all highlighted in the commercial and this seems to have been successful given the responses, of which this response is a good summary: “Univé is beautifully portrayed as an insurer with a 'warm heart.'”

Despite these beautiful and partly summery commercials, we still hope that it will really be summery in the near future. The commercials already put us in the right mood. Now for some sun!

Read the column on MarketingTribune here